On Twitter, a common theme is to say half-jokingly that because of self-isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, you've lost track of what day it is.
But now newspapers are actually losing days because of the shutdown of the American economy caused by COVID-19.
In just the past fortnight, at least 10 dailies and four weeklies have dramatically reduced the publishing frequency of their print newspaper.
Among them are storied newspapers that have published continuously for more than a century, including most recently the Rust family’s Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau; the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg, Florida; and The Times-Leader in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania — all of which dropped three days from their print schedules in a single stroke.
All the newspapers reducing print frequency tell the same story of an utterly unexpected economic freefall that virtually shut down their revenue streams.
"Like most businesses in our community, we did not anticipate having to make such changes before COVID-19 arrived and dramatically disrupted our lives," said Leonard Woolsey, publisher of The Daily News in Galveston, Texas, and president of Southern Newspapers. Starting April 4, the Galveston daily will be printed and home delivered five times a week. (See The Daily News story on the reduction here.)
Tampa Bay Times Chairman and CEO Paul Tash sent the same message, as he announced that — starting the week of April 5 — the Saint Petersburg, Florida-based newspaper will print and deliver copies only on Wednesdays and Sundays. Subscribers will get a digital replica all other days.
“While we are in the depths of this pandemic, we simply cannot afford to produce the ink-and-paper version every day,” Times Chairman and CEO Paul Tash wrote in a note to readers.
Tash characterized the reduction in frequency as temporary, but an FAQ for subscribers suggested the paper might not return to seven-day printing immediately after the crisis abides. “As we are able, we look forward to re-introducing print days,” one FAQ read. (See the America’s Newspapers story on the Times print reduction here.)
The Southeast Missourian is now printing only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday as a direct result of a steep falloff in advertising from shuttered retailers, Publisher Jon Rust said.
"As readers know, you can usually find a lot of inserts in the newspaper: from Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, you name it," Rust said. "But with them closing temporarily, along with other local businesses, we basically lose money every time we print. That's why we so appreciate and thank our loyal readers for staying with us. The only way we can continue as a business — keeping our reporters providing this valuable content — is if people maintain their subscriptions and new readers sign up."
In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, The Times Leader lopped off three days from its normal seven-day print publication. It said it would offer only digital replicas of the newspaper on Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays.
The Times of Gainesville, Georgia, published by Morris Multimedia, also is cutting three days in print starting this week. The print newspaper will be mailed to print subscribers’ homes and delivered by mail on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The content that subscribers are accustomed to receiving on Sundays will be in the weekend edition and will be delivered to homes via U.S. Mail on Saturdays. The Times will continue digital publishing Tuesday through Saturday, and will update its website daily with news and community information. Read more from the announcement made by Charles Hill Morris Jr.
While several dailies reducing print framed the measures as temporary, The Meridian (Mississippi) Star said it was permanently ceasing print production and delivery on two days. The paper will print only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Publisher Bill Atkinson said.
“Discontinuing two print days of The Meridian Star will allow us to focus our resources on producing more local news more timely on MeridianStar.com, our seven-day online news site, as well as more in-depth coverages in print on the remaining three days,” he wrote in a note to readers. “The Saturday paper, as before, will be produced as a weekend edition that will include advertisements, news enterprise and other content now contained in the Sunday paper.”
The collapse of advertising from the coronavirus pandemic proved to be the tipping point for the Star, Atkinson said.
“The sudden loss of advertising business has added to what already had been an eroding economic condition and has caused us to restructure our resources so we can continue to fulfill our mission,” he said. “Readership changes, newsprint prices, print production expenses and delivery cost have resulted in many community papers publishing fewer days of the week to remain economically viable in the future.”
For weeklies, the decision to pause, or drop, print publication means no physical paper at all will appear.
In Wellington, Florida, the Town-Crier said the coronavirus had forced it to cease print publication for an indeterminate time.
“As we go (to) press with this issue of the Town-Crier, I recognize that it may be a while before we are able to produce another printed issue of the newspaper we all know and love,” Publisher Barry S. Manning wrote in a front-page note in the March 27 issue. “If you would have told me three weeks ago that I would be writing those words, I would not have believed you.”
Manning said the coronavirus had put “severe constraints” on the paper, including tightened access to the mall where the weekly has its office.
The Press newspapers in the Bay Area of California also paused print publications of four of its weeklies, saying it might return to print after California lifts its stay-at-home order during the pandemic.
For alternative weeklies — dependent on clubs, movie theatres, concert halls and other entertainment venues not just for advertising, but also distribution of its newspapers — the pandemic has been a perfect storm.
Among those suspending print editions are such iconic publications as DigBoston, The Stranger in Seattle and the Reader in Chicago.
CITY newspaper in Rochester, New York, announced it is permanently ceasing print publication after 49 years. The pandemic “has been a two-pronged attack on alternative weeklies," Editor David Andreatta said.
In March, two more McClatchy dailies dropped their Saturday print editions, moves that had been planned before the pandemic. On March 14, The Kansas City Star and the Miami Herald printed their final Saturday editions.
