Dear Fellow Subscriber:
I published the first issue of Undercurrent in August
1975. It was after my girlfriend and I had flown to Jamaica
for a dive trip because we had read a glowing story in
SkinDiver Magazine. But the “dive hotel” was empty of divers.
Meals arrived an hour after we ordered them. The
reef was uninteresting and it was barren of fish. Only
afterwards did I realize the story was driven by advertisements:
buy a full-page advertisement and SkinDiver will
write kindly of you. I decided divers needed the truth.
Thankfully, SkinDiver let me use its mailing list (publisher
Paul Tzimoulis, trapped in the Skin Diver business model,
was happy to help us). My first story was titled Red Stripe
and Reggae Beat the Diving.
Since then, the Undercurrent formula hasn’t changed
much. We added an online presence more than a decade
ago. While print subscribers have been able to get their
issue online as well, many subscribers only get each
Undercurrent issue online. They print out the issue or read
it online, and store them for future reference. The format
is the same as the printed issue – and online subscribers
never worry about the USPS ripping pages, delivering the
issue late. . .or not at all.
And now, we’re going to ask that all Undercurrent subscribers
accept their issues online If you’re of my generation,
you may balk at reading any publication online, but
you’ll be able to print it out and read it at your leisure,
while storing it on your computer for future reference.
As you’re well aware, the periodical print industry has
changed dramatically. The very changes that affect newspapers
and magazines affect Undercurrent. Paper prices
have increased; we print on recycled paper and, oddly,
it costs more than original paper. Postage has increased
Printing and mailing Undercurrent runs more $6000 a
month, a cost we must reduce and eventually eliminate.
Still, you don’t see any advertising in the pages of
Undercurrent. We live off subscriber income. But our subscription
rates have remained virtually the same since
1991. And now, with fewer new divers entering the sport,
and more aging divers hanging up their fins, there’s a lot
less dive travel. Our subscription base is slipping as well.
All this has led to my decision to offer Undercurrent only as an online publication. Undercurrent is a nonprofit
organization, so we’re not talking about squeezed profits.
We’re talking about having income to meet expenses.
We’re talking about having the income to continue publishing publishing
the factual, no-holds-barred information you have
come to appreciate.
You get the unvarnished truth because subscription
income allows me to write that truth. In my years of publishing,
I can honestly say I have never taken as much as
a single free dive or free meal from anyone in the dive
industry. Except from Bret Gilliam, who has bought me
three meals and not allowed me to reciprocate. But those
came 20 years after I reviewed his St. Croix dive operation;
he didn’t know who had reviewed his operation until
I introduced myself. Besides, I’m not sure anyone with a
black AMEX card needs reciprocation.
What this means practically is that if we have your
email address, you will receive an email in early January
saying your January issue is ready. “Click here to read it,
download or print your issue. ” It will look just like this
issue, but you’ll have to punch your own holes unless you
print it out on punched paper.
For anyone for whom we don’t have an email address,
we ask that you go to Undercurrent, click on Log
In, and register your email address. Your cooperation will
help keep Undercurrent alive and kicking.
We know that some subscribers, believe it or not, don’t
use computers. If you’re one, we will mail you an issue
for a few more months, but we do hope you can provide
us an email address. For everyone else, we will deliver our
issue online.
Of course, the 2010 Travelin Diver’s Chapbook will still
be mailed to you in December, as long as your subscription
is current. It’s at the printer now and, as usual, it’s
chock-full of solid information, the good and the bad,
money saving tips, guides to seek out, guides to avoid
... all the great information you have come to depend upon.
In the meantime, thanks for your understanding and
support. We exist only because of loyal divers like you.
PS: I did think about pitching this change as
“Undercurrent is Going Green,” but that’s what every
publication that goes online says. Besides, it’s not the
primary reason for the change and I want to be truthful.
Regardless, a lot of people will read it on their computer,
so paper will be conserved.
So, thanks again for your support. If you have never
logged into our website, Undercurrent, please do
so now. Just go to the website, click the Log In banner,
and follow the instructions.
– Ben Davison, Founder, Publisher, Editor