Letter from a reporter - we need you to help keep The Star in Sheffield
and live on Freeview channel 276
But that isn’t the case - and I’m here to say we need you to subscribe to the thestar.co.uk urgently.
The paper has published the news, the sport and everything in between since 1887.
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Hide AdIt’s staffed by people who love the job, care for the city and want to tell the truth about what’s going on.
I’ve worked for The Star for 20 years and believe it is a force for good - just as much today as in the year 2000.
But while our aims and ideals haven’t changed, it’s time to face up to a hard truth and acknowledge, simply, that we are a business too.
And there are no magic beans to keep us going.
Reporters like me rarely, if ever, have to think about what makes The Star tick.
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Hide AdOur job is to unearth facts and write stories, not worry about income. But like so many organisations this year we have been hammered by the virus.
Sales of the paper have plunged because the shops have been shut. Advertising has plummeted because companies have been closed. That leaves me appealing to you to subscribe.
From just £1 a month initially (£7.99 per month after two months - or what I like to think of as the price of two takeaway coffees) you can be here for us and have ad-lite access to a faster-loading website with exclusive content including puzzles and access to the digital edition of the newspaper.
Producing the news costs money. Although we do it for the love, the reality is we need a salary to live. This may not bother you much.
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Hide AdBut it’s always worth considering the flip side - Sheffield without The Star.
Imagine Sheffield City Council making all its decisions in private. Or not knowing what happened at the criminal courts. Or the people in power not being answerable to anyone. Or only hearing gossip about the football.
I think a proper newspaper is a key part of an self-respecting city.