No doubt, I’m a guy who loves his daily print.

Every working morning The GazetteI pour myself a cup of coffee, sit at my desk and read our newspaper cover to cover – news, sports, obituaries, commentaries, the whole shebang.

I will then wash the ink off my hands.

It used to be that when I traveled out of town, reading the local paper was the highlight of the day, preferably at breakfast with three or four cups of black coffee.

But, I’m also a guy who’s almost 67.

A guy who thinks Neil Diamond is the greatest singer-songwriter of all time.

A guy who hasn’t attended a Super Bowl halftime show since Bruce Springsteen in 2008.

A guy who still likes to listen to baseball on the radio for god’s sake.

And, a guy who, in the morning, he does not work, reads the electronic edition of The Gazette online on his iPad.

“The times”, to quote Bob Dylan, who is perhaps the worst singer-songwriter in the world, “they change”.

Many people no longer take the time to settle down with the newspaper over a coffee.

Many people prefer to access their news on their schedule and on the device of their choice, not when the print product arrives in the pre-dawn darkness on the sidewalk or in the driveway.

In other words, many people prefer a digital subscription to our newspaper, and it will never be cheaper or easier to get such a subscription than it is now.

By the end of the month, Monday, February 28, a six-month subscription to our digital product is only $1. It’s true. No printing error. A digital subscription can be purchased for around 16 cents per month.

Want an even better deal?

On Tuesday, February 22, also known as 22-02-2022, you can purchase a two-year digital subscription for just $22.

It’s true. Just a dollar a month for the next two years.

And what do you get for this big outlay of money?

Well, for the openers, you have access to our daily E-Edition. This means you can go to our website, click on the E-Edition tab at the top and see today’s edition of The Gazette exactly as it appears in the print.

You can turn pages as you would if you were holding the printed product, blast stories, even “clip” stories to email or post on social media.

In addition, the Daily E-Edition often includes special sections prepared by USA TODAY on topics such as sport, science, the environment and politics.

The Daily E-Edition, however, is only the beginning of what you will receive as a digital subscriber.

All the stories on our website, including those dedicated to breaking news which are likely to be updated several times during the day, are at your disposal.

Do you prefer to receive your news on Facebook? All stories posted on our Facebook page are also available to you.

Become a digital subscriber and you will never have access to our paywall again. You will never be told that you have reached your story limit.

Everything we produce — news, sports, obituaries, even this old man’s column — is available as soon as we put it online.

I will end by being honest.

The past two years have not been kind to The Gazetteor any other newspaper in the country.

COVID-19 and the resulting business slowdown has hit us hard.

Our revenues have plummeted and our staff size has been significantly reduced.

But we proudly remain your local news source and we continue to take our job and our responsibilities seriously – to print the news, tell the truth and ask the necessary questions.

If you want to support local journalism, it’s never been easier or cheaper to do so.

(Want to learn more about a digital subscription. Just go to the bottom of The Gazette web page at gastongazette.com and under the “Stay Connected” logo, click on the “Subscribe Today” tab.

Bill Poteat, who would rather listen to a cat run over by a lawn mower than Bob Dylan, can be reached at 704-869-1855 or [email protected]