Sonoma Index-Tribune going greener with hybrid options

N&T Staff Report

The twice-weekly Sonoma (Calif.) Index-Tribune is hoping its readers join the revolution as the newspaper moves to reduce its paper and energy consumption.

To that end, the 129-year-old newspaper launched a SmartEdition digital newspaper produced in partnership with NewspaperDirect.

Publisher Bill Lynch said that the Index-Tribune has already racked up a list of green initiatives, including using recycled newsprint, soy-based ink and backing a commitment to recycle every bit of waste it can.

“We cut back on the number of sections and pages we print and deliver by more than 30 percent but the most important change is getting our readers to join us in the biggest green revolution in the history of newspapers — going paperless,” he said.

Each story in the paper is available in 12 languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese and Japanese and SmartEdition also offers audio capabilities, thus allowing subscribers to listen to the news stories.

The NewspaperDirect software also lets readers print out articles, perform keyword searches, share articles, read offline and post content with such social networking sites as Facebook, Digg and Del.ico.us.

“Just as hybrid cars are transitional to some future vehicle that will not use any fossil fuels, this is our hybrid phase,” Lynch said. “We still use paper, but a lot less and NewspaperDirect’s SmartEdition is loaded with features that will make this transition easier.”

The paper said it’s also working with TownNews to add more features that attract readers and help local advertisers reach prospective customers.