Bob CollinsIn a world of a 24-hour news cycle, If you’re not publishing daily, are you still a newspaper?
The Red Wing Republican Eagle announced today that it will publish only two days a week starting in September.
“We will deliver more local news to subscribers — but twice a week in larger newspapers instead of in five smaller papers. This change will allow our staff to concentrate only on the local market,” publisher Steve Messick said on the Web site today.
It’s another attempt to save money but right off the bat, revenue from subscriptions will drop by about $50 per subscriber.
It’s not a new concept, of course. The Capital Times of Madison switched to a twice-a-week print schedule more than a year ago, also promising to put more energy into its Web site. The Detroit Free Press publishes only three times a week.
More than 100 newspapers nationwide have made the cut, according to Editor & Publisher magazine. So far, nobody’s died because of it, and most of the problems the move causes seem generally to involve the comics and Friday night high school football scores.
