Eagle announced subscription changes

by Nathan Arneal
Published 10/1/25

This July the Burt County Plaindealer, the newspaper in Tekamah owned by Lee Enterprises, published its final issue and closed up shop.

That’s a town of nearly 2,000 people and a county seat without a newspaper. No one covering Tekamah city council. No one reporting on Tekamah-Herman sports, activities or school board. No one telling the interesting stories of the community.

That is not going to happen in North Bend. We at the Eagle are all in. We hope that you, our readers and subscribers, come with us.

Like everyone everywhere, we at the Eagle have seen our expenses go up. The fact that everything in all walks of life has gotten more expensive has made me gun shy about adding the Eagle to the list of growing expenses.

But changes need to be made and we think the Eagle still provides great value, even with an increase in price. The goal of this article is to be transparent in our reasoning for our price increase.

It costs us $738.59 every week to print and mail the paper. Last week our printing bill was $398.37 and postage was $295.78. The software we use to produce the paper requires a licensing fee of $192.58 per month, or $44.44 a week (It used to be that you bought a package of software for $1,100 and used it for years. Then Adobe figured out they could make more money by requiring a monthly subscription. Now you reach that $1,100 in matter of months.)

The Eagle’s subscription numbers are very close to the highest they’ve been under our ownership, which began in 2006. If you divide out what we get at the current $45 in-state subscription, it comes out to $679.32 a week. If you add in e-subs, which require no printing or mailing, it’s $718.55.

In other words, it costs 87 cents to print and distribute a paper to each subscriber while each subscription brings in 85 cents per issue. Staff salaries, computers and camera equipment costs are not figured into that cost.

We are currently losing money on subscriptions. Yes, ad revenue keeps us in the black, but we have decided if we are going to stay in business – and we are – we should no longer lose money on subscriptions.

As of Nov. 1, a yearly in-state subscription to the Eagle will be $65. That is a significant leap from the current rate of $45, but if you break it down it’s just $5.42 a month. $1.25 a week. 18¢ a day.

Isn’t it worth 18¢ a day to support local news? To receive a product that takes hundreds of man hours and thousands of dollars of equipment to assemble?

As illustrated by the graph above, an Eagle will still be cheaper than a snack or a cup of coffee.

The current business model for newspapers began in 1833. Andrew Jackson was president. The Civil War was still three decades in the future. That’s when the penny press model started, determining news should be dirt cheap. Ever since, newspapers have relied on advertising to stay afloat.

Today that model doesn’t work like it used to. Some advertisers think their money is better spent in Mark Zuckerberg’s pockets than the local newspaper. Other digital advertising has crept in. Classified ads have nearly disappeared.

However, we think the North Bend Eagle is still the best way to get word about your product, service or event in front of North Bend and Morse Bluff area residents. Let us help you. Our advertising rates will not be increasing anytime soon.

The rate for out-of-state subscribers – which carry significantly higher postage rates – will be $75 per year ($1.44 a week. 20.5¢ a day). A full-color e-sub, delivered to your e-mail in-box on Tuesdays, will be $58. You can get both the print and e-edition by adding $12 onto the cost of your print subscription.

More than 3,200 U.S. newspapers have closed in the last 20 years, according to Northwestern University’s State of Local News project.

The Eagle is not going to be one of them. We are all in. We hope you will be, too, for just 18¢ a day.

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