You may have noticed something of a paradigm shift on our websites recently.

Registration and digital subscriptions have now been introduced across the Farnham, Alton, Bordon and Haslemere Herald sites, as well as the Petersfield Post and Woking News & Mail.

Of course, our printed newspapers will continue as normal and are available from local retailers each week.

For readers who get their local news online, many stories will still be available to read for free.

Readers can access a limited number of articles before being asked to register and, once they reach their free article allowance, subscribe to continue reading.

Some stories, however, will be available to subscribers only from the outset.

A digital subscription costs £1 for the first month, followed by £4.99 a month, with a minimum three-month term.

An annual subscription costs £54.89 – around £1.06 a week and equivalent to getting one month free compared with the standard monthly rate.

Readers can also use the code SAVE10 to receive £10 off an annual subscription, bringing the price down to £44.89.

As well as unlimited access to all our content, subscribers will also get a cleaner reading experience, with fewer adverts.

We’re hugely grateful to everyone who has already signed up.

We also know the change will not be universally popular, especially after readers have become used to getting much of their local news online without paying.

The reason for the change is that journalism’s traditional model has been fundamentally altered by the digital age.

Advertising income for local publishers has fallen sharply in recent years, while much of the market has shifted online to global giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Meanwhile, the costs of producing local journalism remain much the same.

We still require a pool of reporters to cover courts, councils, crime, planning, businesses, schools, sport and the human-interest stories that matter, while being out and about in the communities we serve.

That is why subscriptions are becoming an increasingly important part of funding our industry.

The Farnham Herald has been serving its community since 1892, while our other titles also have long histories in the Surrey and Hampshire towns and villages we cover.

We want to make sure we’re still here for many years to come.

If local newspapers are to continue covering the stories that matter locally, our work has to be funded.

We hope you agree that around £1 a week is a fair price to help keep strong local journalism going.

Thank you for reading — and for supporting your local newspaper.