Two More Newhouse Newspapers To Cut Print Days

UPDATED 4PM:  Newhouse Newspapers, which earlier this spring announced that it would stop printing a daily paper at The New Orleans Times-Picayune and its Alabama newspapers, said it would end the daily distribution of two more of its newspapers, The Post-Standard in Syracuse, and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.

The papers will merge their content with local news Web sites and deliver the printed newspaper only three days a week.

The Syracuse region’s leading website - syracuse.com - and the largest newspaper brand - The Post-Standard - will be part of a new digital news and information company, Syracuse Media Group. Stephen A. Rogers, Editor and Publisher of The Post-Standard, announced today that the planning for the new company is underway and its debut is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2013. The new model seeks to adapt the journalistic excellence of The Post-Standard and syracuse.com to the demands of today’s 24-hour digitally-focused audience.

“We have not been immune to the challenges facing other newspaper companies and we must adapt to the changing media landscape,” said Rogers. “Our goal is to build a sustainable growth company in an increasingly digital world, ensuring that we have the stability and resources to continue providing quality journalism to the Syracuse community that we have proudly served since 1829.”

The new strategy also includes changes to The Post-Standard’s print schedule. Beginning in January, The Post-Standard will publish on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays for delivery to homes and newsstands. A smaller version will be available for single copy sales the other four days in Onondaga County. The Syracuse Media Group will review the single copy program carefully and may decide to eliminate it before or by the end of next year.

Emphasizing that this is an innovative step forward, not a cost-cutting measure, Harrisburg’s Patriot-News Publisher John Kirkpatrick spent about 45 minutes with his staff, answering pointed questions about the future of the news organization as it moves toward changing its model to a heavy focus online and a print product only three days a week.

The Patriot-News and its website, PennLive.com, will no longer be two companies. They will merge into PA Media Group, which will also include the advertising staff.

Inevitably, there will be cuts in staff.  But new positions will also open.

Almost as many pages of print — to include comics, the weekly local, sports and entertainment sections — will still go through the presses each week and be delivered on newsstands and front porches.

Other than Sunday, the days that the presses will run are not yet determined.

But the online operation will move to a 24-7 model.

There are still unknowns. The price of the paper is one of them.

But no paywall at PennLive.com is in the immediate future, he said.