Skywrighter goes digital Oct. 14 Published Sept. 21, 2022 By Brian Dietrick 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Official Skywrighter masthead. (Air Force graphic by David Clingerman) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – All good things must come to an end. For printed versions of Skywrighter, that day is Sept. 30. After nearly 12 years, the contracted partnership between the base and the Dayton Daily News will expire. Moving forward, a digital version of Skywrighter will be available only on Wright-Patt’s official website: www.wpafb.af.mil/Skywrighter. “Although we are losing an important communication platform for our readers inside and outside the fence line, we’re not calling this the end of an era,” said Bob Purtiman, 88th Air Base Wing chief of public affairs. “We are taking this opportunity to start a new era — a digital era. The same information will be available, just in a different place.” The new digital Skywrighter will go live Oct. 14, with updates pushed out biweekly. Readers won’t see a change in accessing content they want. This change will make it easier and more convenient to get information as the WPAFB website’s news feed will be updated in real time, instead of once a week every Friday morning. Skywrighter’s digital version is actually an upgrade to the traditional newspaper. Readers will be able to click on links for external content, watch videos and much more. It’s more interactive, smartphone-friendly and aligns with the technology trends of society today. For those who consistently picked up the weekly paper from one of the 70-plus locations basewide, the public affairs team will be posting QR-coded information that points directly to the digital Skywrighter. “As communicators, we have seen this change coming for a few years as hundreds of newspapers have been shut down across the nation,” Purtiman said. “The digital Skywrighter, paired with our Wright-Patt Weekly Bulletin, will provide our audience the information they are looking for when they need it.” The public affairs team is always looking for feedback. Readers who feel they are missing something or want to share an idea with the staff should feel free to contact us at 88ABW.Skywrighter@us.af.mil. The first edition of Skywrighter was published Feb. 5, 1960, and released on base newsstands every Friday over the decades that followed. Roughly 3,100 issues have been printed over the newspaper’s 62-year history. For readers seeking past editions, archived versions of Skywrighter from Sept. 2, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2022, will also be available on Wright-Patt’s official website.