Formatting Newsletters Online: Climate Canada

By Stuart Slayen, International Institute for Sustainable Development
May 2001

Climate Canada: A Canadian Lens on Global Climate Change was launched in October 2000 as a bi-weekly publication about climate change science, policy and news for an informed Canadian audience. The newsletter is funded by Environment Canada.

The newsletter carries at least one feature story followed by sections called Canadians in Action (Canadian climate activities); News and Views (a roundup of recent stories gaining media attention); and Upcoming Events (a listing of pending meetings and conferences related to climate change).

Each item, wherever available, offers a URL where readers can go for further information. Usually, that link is the original media source, other organizations' background materials or organizations hosting events.

Climate Canada is produced exclusively as a PDF document. It is distributed by e-mail to a Lyris subscription list and posted on the IISD Web site at http://www.iisd.org/climate/climate_canada/cccnewsletter.htm. The newsletter is not commercially printed nor mailed out by post.

The subscription list has grown to 1,200 and as many as 800 people have downloaded the newsletter from the Web site.

The PDF format in this case is useful because the newsletter is of substantial length (typically eight pages) and therefore easier to read on paper than on screen. The format also allows us to employ some print design techniques (e.g., two column format) for easy reading in print format.

Anecdotally, we have learned that the format is effective because the issues are often saved by librarians; used in briefing packages for politicians, business people and civil servants; and otherwise filed.

Anecdotally, we have also learned that our "print thinking but Internet acting" approach is somewhat flawed. We have taken one major step toward corrective action and are in the process of taking more.

Some subscribers have reported that their e-mail attachment was coming across as a confused collection of random letters and symbols or that they couldn't open it at all. While we have almost always successfully helped readers troubleshoot their issues on a case-by-case basis (and in desperate times, simply faxed a print copy), it was becoming clear that we needed to take a different course of action. There were at least two or three problem deliveries with each issue.

Further, some readers who were able to access the file didn't like the fact that they had to wait so long for the download. Those complaints typically came from rural Canadian readers who have slower connections. The file size of the newsletter was about 220 KB.

The solution so far:

We are creating the PDF file differently. Rather than "print optimizing" the output, we are now "screen optimizing" the output. The result is that the newsletter is now less than half the size of its formal file size. We do compromise some of the integrity of the visuals, particularly the Institute's wordmark which now appears blurry.

There have been no reader complaints following the distribution of the first three issues under the new saving method.

Additional solutions under consideration:

The Climate Canada team remains committed to producing a PDF version of the newsletter, but is considering ways to add value to the product.

• Plain text e-mail with attachment – The newsletter would be originally created in PDF with the text reformatted into the body of an e-mail message. The message to the list would also include the attached PDF version for those who prefer the print version.
• Plain text e-mail without attachment – The newsletter would be originally created in PDF with the text reformatted into the body of an e-mail message. The message to the list would not include the PDF attachment, but would offer the URL for the PDF version.
• Directing people to URL – The newsletter would be created in PDF only. The message to the list would simply be the link to the Web page for downloading the PDF. Highlights of the issue might be noted in a short paragraph of text.
• Web-based newsletter – There has been some discussion of not using the PDF format and instead re-launching as a Web-based newsletter. While the idea has merit, it will likely not be pursued in this case.