Detroit newspapers offer free online editions, cut down home delivery to three days a week
30 Mar 2009
The publishers of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News offered free copies of their newly slimmed-down editions on newsstands Monday, looking to jump-start a bold experiment in the economics of the US newspaper industry in which both papers will be delivered to subscribers only three days a week.
Gannett Co. and MediaNews Group Inc., the companies that publish the newspapers in partnership, said more than 500,000 copies were distributed free for the first time in their history.
"We believe in great newspapers seven days a week," said Dave Hunke, CEO of Detroit Media Partnership and Publisher of the Detroit Free Press. "Both the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News have been redesigned with readers' needs in mind. You will find more local news within these pages quickly and easily and content that no other source in Michigan can provide," Hunke said.
The restructuring involves cutting down on home delivery to Thursday, Friday and Sunday, the most popular editions among advertisers. Both papers have added new features, but will be kept to about 32 pages on the four days they don't deliver, meaning less editorial content.
Newspaper advertising, which accounts for 70 per cent to 80 per cent of industry revenue, went into free fall over the past several months, mostly because of the economy but also because of advertisers moving away from print into other media. While some newspapers have been forced to reduce content and staff, some others have had to shut down completely. The transition to online editions is an effort to cut losses and retain readership.
See: USA Today publisher Gannett asks employees to go on unpaid leave
See: Hearst's Seattle Post-Intelligencer to shut print shop
See: US publisher McClatchy to fire 15 per cent of its workforce
See: Philadelphia Inquirer, New Haven Register file for Chapter 11
