Stars and Stripes offers free electronic newspapers Published April 30, 2004 By Army Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Servicemembers who do not have access to the Stars and Stripes newspaper but do have access to a computer can now go online to read or download an exact replica of the paper at no charge.Stars and Stripes officials said the electronic version of the newspaper is an effort to reach readers in remote areas.Free online versions of the newspaper's European, Pacific and Middle East editions became available April 26.Tom Kelsch, the newspaper's publisher, said the free online newspaper is geared toward servicemembers in remote locations, but that any servicemember assigned anywhere in the world, as well as family members, can use the service."We have many military (people) stationed in places where it just isn't practical to get the printed edition to them, and this is a way to be able to reach (them) wherever in the world they're stationed," Mr. Kelsch said.Servicemembers and their families can read the paper online or download it in portable document format at estripes.osd.mil. Officials recommend that readers who want to print the paper and read it that way use the "fit to paper" option when printing. The site also offers free access to past newspapers for seven days.The electronic newspaper is a cost-effective way to get the Stars and Stripes to servicemembers at bases in isolated places overseas, such as Iceland or Crete, where delivery is expensive, Mr. Kelsch said. It is also a way for the newspaper to reach servicemembers stateside at bases "where circulation is low or the paper is not offered," he said.Offering Stars and Stripes free online to servicemembers does not mean the printed edition is going away, Mr. Kelsch said. Evidence indicates most people still want to hold a newspaper in their hands, and the online version really is most valuable to people who cannot get the paper otherwise, he said.Printed editions of the paper still will be delivered to servicemembers in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, where computer access is limited, he said. Each day nearly 45,000 copies of the paper are delivered throughout the Middle East region, and plans call for increasing that number, he said. The newspaper delivers about 25,000 copies to Iraq, another 3,500 to Afghanistan and 15,000 to Kuwait, he said.Mr. Kelsch said the primary reason for the free offer is to help the newspaper fulfill its mission to get the paper out to servicemembers."We have a mission to serve, and we intend to serve that mission," he said. "This is a way that we can do it very well, and so we're going to do it."Last year, Stars and Stripes began offering a paid subscription service for the electronic version of its daily paper. Mr. Kelsch said that few readers subscribed to the electronic edition.