As we reported a month ago Lee Enterprises newspapers are reducing their publication schedule to three days a week. We then didn’t know if other Lee papers would follow suit and jump in. Well, it seems the publisher is going into the pool one toe at a time. A few days after that first group went thrice weekly the next group has announced the same action, with the same boilerplate statement, will go into effect on July 11, 2023.
The Missoulian, The Glens Falls Post-Star, and The Elko Daily Free Press were among the Lee newspapers revealing their intentions today. The Free Press was already down to 5 days a week in print, but The Post-Star and Missoulian were still 7 times a week. The reduced publication schedule will be a big shock to those print subscribers.
feature image from The Target Report
I note that the Post-Star will still be a seven-day paper if you get the e-edition. When I lived there (and worked for the Post Star) I took the e-edition because the carrier refused to come up the hill when it snowed and I wasn’t going to walk down to search for it in my jammies on those days. With this change, I sure wouldn’t drive to the post office to get the paper before I’d had my morning coffee.
This looks like a plan to shift readers away from print.
Shouldn’t CNHI (formerly Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) be on the “Not So Local Newspapers” list? They oversee at least a few dozen papers.