As the global content harvesters such as Google, Twitter and Facebook (among others) have made billions from paying nothing for their content – content which has cost others to create – regional journalism has clung to a niche overlooked by the monoliths of money.

Since 1872 the printed version of The Standard has had a cover price. But it was only this week that we introduced a local news subscription package for our website, meaning anyone who wants to read more than just the headlines on Facebook or Twitter needs to sign up.

We’ve worked hard to get the message out there that this change was coming and the positive support we’ve received from people of the south-west has been humbling.

It’s been a pleasure talking to people who care deeply about our region, just like we do. And we are greatly encouraged by the support of our new digital subscribers.

Our thanks to those who have signed up so far to remain informed and connected. To those who signed up to help support local organisations who use The Standard to communicate and fund-raise. To those who signed up to support local jobs and the small team here at The Standard committed to providing the south-west’s most comprehensive news coverage.

Nonetheless, it’s natural enough that after publishing our local journalism online for years, some people might baulk at the prospect of now paying for it.

Simply put, community journalism costs money. More money than the cover price of the paper.

There is an increasing cost involved in sending a reporter to a council meeting on a Monday night, or to the courthouse on a Wednesday, or to the football on a weekend.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. We remain fiercely determined to tell the stories that matter to the people of the south-west, just as we have been doing since 1872.