Times-Tribune to switch to digital format on Mondays, eliminate print edition

Mar. 14—When The Times-Tribune and its sister daily newspapers in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pottsville transition to a digital-only format on Mondays effective April 10, eliminating their Monday print editions, they will be latecomers to a growing movement within the industry.

The change, announced by James Lewandowski, Times-Shamrock Communications chief executive officer and publisher, mirrors a trend that has seen newspapers across Pennsylvania and the nation reduce the days of the week they print amid rising costs and changing demand from younger readers for electronic publications.

"It's good to be late to the party sometimes, and we're happy to be late for the party this time," Lewandowski said.

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Although there are still daily newspapers in Pennsylvania producing a print edition seven days a week, the majority have shifted their print frequency and transitioned to a digital edition model one or more days, said Brad Simpson, president of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

He said The Patriot News in Harrisburg switched to a three-day-a-week publication schedule several years ago, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette only has a print edition two days a week. The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre dropped its print edition on Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays in 2020.

"It has been a trend and I think it probably will continue to be a trend," Simpson said.

A 2022 analysis by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications found 42 of the nation's largest 100 papers delivered a print edition six or fewer days a week, with 11 publishing a print edition just one to three times a week.

The most obvious reason is financial necessity but it goes deeper, said Russ Eshleman, associate teaching professor emeritus and former head of the journalism department at the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State.

The aging Baby Boomer generation is the last that thinks of reading a newspaper "like brushing their teeth or making their bed" or some other daily habit, he said.

"I'm going to sound like the old guy saying, 'Get off my lawn,' but for younger people, it's all on demand," Eshleman said.

"They read the news on demand when they want it because the idea of picking up a newspaper and paging through it to a younger person is just archaic. ... I just think it's a change in society and a change in the way they want the news."

Lewandowski said print copies of The Times-Tribune and the other dailies — The Citizens' Voice of Wilkes-Barre, the Standard-Speaker of Hazleton and the Republican Herald of Pottsville — will continue to be delivered to subscribers Tuesday through Sunday. People will also be able to purchase the print edition those days at grocery stores and other retail outlets.

What won't change, he said, is the newspapers' commitment to outstanding local and regional news coverage, investigative reporting and comprehensive coverage of local high school sports.

Executive Editor Larry Holeva said the Monday e-edition will have everything readers find now in the print edition.

"I want readers to know they can expect the same level of journalism from us," he said. "They'll just be getting it in electronic form instead of it landing on their doorstep."

Lewandowski attributed the change to the evolving business model within the newspaper industry, along with a 60% increase in the cost of newsprint over the past two years.

"We found this was the most effective way for us to continue to have a strong presence with our readers, with our communities, getting the type of information and news that's important to them seven days a week, just changing our format or delivery method on Monday," he said.

Regardless of the format, Pennsylvania newspapers are being read more now than ever before, Simpson said.

"Citizens continue to look to their local newspaper to provide them vital information about their communities that no other outlet provides, no matter if that is delivered in print or online," he said.

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132