It's the product of an effort at Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) that started back in 2010 - coincidentally, the same year that ERR News was launched.

We believe the development team has given us a powerful and flexible platform and a streamlined, very Web 3.0-ready site. We hope you find it easy to use and clear to read. It will also allow us to factor in results of the readership survey conducted this summer.

Fans of Sketchbook, Exposures and The Small Screen will notice that these sections are largely unavailable at the moment. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have these components up and running soon. 

A word about ERR's budget cuts, which you may have heard about recently.

It's important to keep in mind ERR is a non-profit media organization that is entrusted with a major responsibility to Estonian taxpayers - nothing short of perpetuating Estonian culture. In a dry year, ERR News will have to give up some of the features that added "seasoning and spice" to the content.

Although some readers have expressed concern that ERR News will turn into a mere "translated news" site, we hope to work with management and our sister news services to find a middle road - to continue as a leaner (and hopefully not meaner) outlet. We will be more concise, but we will also still provide more context than other English-language news sites in Estonia.

Anyone worried over ERR possibly bowing out of covering major sporting events should look no further than November's Estonia-Liechtenstein football game for a success story. Coverage was completely handled by ERR Online and they did a great job. In a way, it was a symbolic blueprint for future operations.

In times of more limited resources, the role of reader feedback will only increase. We hope to continue to hear from you about how we can improve and better meet your needs for news from Estonia.

Yours, 

The Editors