The Westerner website went live on 3rd March 2005 opening new scope for the local fortnightly newspaper. News, photos, polls, surveys, competitions, writer’s guidelines and advertising details are now online and the newspaper has noted a marked increase in reader interaction. “It’s been quite extraordinary,” said Editor Carolyn Hammond. “We’ve always had quite a bit of interaction with our readers through letters and phone calls, but now that we’ve made it easier for them we are getting more suggestions and article ideas sent to us via the quicklinks on our website. “Our reader contacts have almost doubled.” “We’ve also put a survey on reader’s opinion of our work and the paper’s content and the feedback we’ve received has been excellent material to assist us with planning. “I’d thought about a postal survey in the past but the cost was too prohibitive for us.” www.thewesterner.com.au