The Economist Launches Web Edition

Posted on June 16, 1997

The Economist newspaper is launching its new Web site. The Web Edition, which is available at http://www.economist.com, contains the full contents of each week's Economist and a 2-year archive of Economist articles.

Each week's edition of The Economist will be available on the new site every Friday morning. Some Web Edition readers, particularly those based abroad, will be able to enjoy their issue of The Economist one or two days earlier than before. The back-issue archive will be updated weekly.

Access to the Web Edition will be free to subscribers of the print edition of the paper during 1997. Non-subscribers can buy an annual Web Edition subscription at an introductory price of *30 / US$48 (+ VAT where applicable). Searching the back-issue archive and displaying headlines is free, while retrieving an article will cost $1. Archive transactions will use real-time credit-card validation.

All visitors to the site will be able to read selected articles of The Economist for free. Those who register will receive five free retrievals from the searchable archive. They can also receive two free weekly E-mail news bulletins, Politics this Week and Business this Week, and The Economist Screensaver. The screensaver contains world time clocks, a navigable globe with country statistics and future events.

The "Marketplace" section of the site contains The Economist Shop and the Subscription Centre which allow visitors to buy Economist publications, diaries, business accessories, subscriptions and a comprehensive selection of business books. The Web Edition of The Economist has been produced by its electronic-publishing team and editorial staff working closely with Online Magic, a leading Web- production house who will be providing continuing consultancy and support.