The Reporter has been covering Boston’s biggest neighborhood since 1983. We have more readers than ever— mainly thanks to our website, DotNews.com, which has seen tremendous growth since it was launched in 1995.

The website is free— and we don’t intend to change that anytime soon.

We want as many people as possible to read our work and become engaged in the issues we raise every week. The more the merrier.

But producing high-quality community journalism is decidedly not free. We mainly rely on the revenue that comes from paid advertisers to finance our operation, pay our trained and diligent reporters, print the editions, get it to stores, and keep the lights on in our offices.

I'm pleased to say that we have an amazing family of advertisers who continue to support our work. The state of the Dorchester Reporter is strong.

This week's Dot Day edition is a testament to the depth and quality of our news team and our advertising base. It's the strongest edition we've published in five years in terms of advertising content. From my perspective as the publisher, that's a real tribute to our readers, our staff and the clients who value our newspaper and associated platforms.

It's just as important to us that our readership is as robust and diverse as our coverage. And, that's where you come in.

This week, we are launching a new campaign to ask regular readers of the Reporter to consider buying a $50 annual subscription. In exchange, the newspaper will be delivered (via USPS) to your home, office, or to the door of someone you know who might want the print edition.

We cannot remember the last time we mounted an aggressive subscription drive. Lately, we have heard from some regular online readers that they want to support our brand of journalism— but have never been asked to pay for it.

This brought to mind the story former Speaker of the US House Tip O’Neill told in his memoir, “Man of the House.”

He recalled a longtime neighbor who told Tip that she was going to vote for him in his first election even though he hadn’t asked her to.

“People like to be asked,” his well-meaning neighbor told him.

Fair enough.

If you like the Reporter— and value the kind of journalism we do here in our neighborhood— please consider this an invitation. We would love to add you or your friends and family to our list of subscribers. Even if you don’t necessarily want to get the print edition delivered, consider sending it as a gift to someone on your street or in your building who might enjoy it.

There are a few ways to do this: You can order and pay here with a credit card or Pay Pal.

You can call us at 617-436-1222 and do it over the phone.

Or, if you’d prefer to send us a check with your name and address, that’s cool, too. There is a form on page 16 of this week's edition.

Whatever you choose, thanks for reading the Reporter.

Happy Dorchester Day!

Bill Forry is the editor and publisher of the Dorchester Reporter.