Hansconian under new ownership, PA to focus on Web news delivery

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. C. Michaela Walrond
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  The Hansconian will be managed and owned by a new entity next week. 

The Sept. 28 Hansconian is the last issue to be produced by the 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office. The current publisher of the newspaper, Community Newspapers Company, will assume ownership and all production responsibilities of future issues of the paper, said 1st Lt. Lisa Spilinek, 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs internal information chief. 

After the Hansconian changes hands, PA Office members will focus on delivering news to the base community electronically via the Hanscom Public Web site, www.hanscom.af.mil.  

"The Hanscom newspaper has been published by the base Public Affairs Office since 1955 in one form or another. While it is a bit sad to see this era come to an end, we will still provide the base community with current news regarding base events, albeit in a new format," Lieutenant Spilinek said. 

In turn, some of the PA Office's news stories will be selected by CNC for publication in CNC's version of the Hansconian. The paper may also contain information from other CNC publications, which include the weekly local town papers, she said. 

The streamlining change of eliminating base newspapers in favor of the Web is occurring at bases across the Air Force under the service's Public Web initiative, she said. 

"Focusing our efforts on Web delivery rather than print delivery will eliminate the time consuming processes of layout and design; which require approximately 80 man hours per week. This streamlining change is necessary to overcome manpower reductions," she said. 

In addition to freeing up time for PA Office personnel to focus on reporting the Hanscom story, the Web site has other advantages as well, the lieutenant said. 

"Almost all Hanscom personnel have access to a computer during the duty day where they can read up-to-date news via the Hanscom Public Web site. Even better, the site is accessible from anywhere you can access the Internet, so you can be deployed or serving a temporary duty assignment somewhere and can still find out what's going on back home," she said. 

The PA Office will remain committed to telling both the Air Force's and Hanscom's stories, Lieutenant Spilinek said. 

"We have some amazing people here who do amazing things, but people won't know that unless those stories are told. We need the base community to stay engaged with the 66 ABW PA Office and let them know when and where news is happening," said Col. Tom Schluckebier, 66 ABW commander. 

Many services that are currently offered by the Hansconian will carry over when CNC produces its own version of the paper. The paper will continue to be delivered to base facilities and throughout base housing. To inquire about delivery issues, readers should call CNC's circulation line at (800) 722-1914. 

Another service that will remain in place after the transition is the availability of free classified advertising to base-affiliated personnel; however, the process for placing an ad will change. To place a free classified advertisement in the Oct. 5 or later issues of the Hansconian, base-affiliated personnel should call CNC advertising line at (800) 624-7355. 

For more information on the Hansconian transition, call Lieutenant Spilinek at (781) 377-5027. To view up-to-date stories featuring Hanscom events and people, visit www.hanscom.af.mil.