The St. Louis Jewish Light and Jewish Federation of St. Louis have agreed on a change that will enable the Jewish Light to continue providing the community with a top-notch Jewish newspaper and website for years to come.

The Jewish Light has made significant upgrades in its publication to better serve the St. Louis Jewish community. A new Publisher and Editor, comprehensive and award-winning news coverage, a revamped newspaper design, a high-quality website, strong multigenerational appeal and a quarterly magazine head the list of major changes in the last two years alone.

This change, effective for 2011, will mean that both Jewish Federation donors and the general public will pay an annual subscription directly to the Jewish Light to receive home delivery. A significant discount will be available for Federation donors.

The plan calls for most subscriptions to be $36/year for Jewish Federation donors and $45/year for the general public. Subscriptions will also be offered through various Light donation programs and discounts will be provided to those experiencing financial hardship.

The new model will replace the previous one in which both those who gave $10 or more to the Jewish Federation, and those who contribut ed directly to the newspaper, received a subscription to the Jewish Light.

The Light has been the only independent metropolitan Jewish newspaper that hasn’t charged a market subscription. The new subscription rate for the Jewish Light is wholly in line with other metro Jewish papers such as the Cleveland Jewish News ($49.95/yr), Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle ($42/yr) and Chicago Jewish News ($40/yr).

The Jewish Light will continue to receive an allocation from the Jewish Federation to plug the gap between its other funding resources and its increasing operating expenses. “We are very grateful to the Jewish Federation and its generous donors for continued financial support,” said Jewish Light Publisher/CEO Larry Levin.

“By adding what we feel is an affordable subscription revenue stream to our advertising, donations and Federation allocation, we will be able to absorb the costs required to provide first-rate service to our community, and at the same time stave off the need to request additional resources from the Federation,” said Levin.

“We are fortunate to have a high quality Jewish news source in St. Louis,” said Barry Rosenberg, executive vice president of the Federation.  “‘The Light is a beneficiary agency of Jewish Federation.  We have worked hand in hand with them to ensure that thousands of St. Louis Jews received the newspaper through their Federation Community Campaign donations. We continue to work cooperatively with the Light to help them achieve their vision and, at the same time, fulfill a central need of our community with a first-rate source of Jewish news.” 

More details will be forthcoming both in the Jewish Light newspaper and website (www.stljewishlight.com) and in letters to supporters of both groups this summer and fall.