MIDDLETOWN – The Newport Daily News, one of multiple Gannett Co.-owned local newspapers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, will be eliminating its Wednesday physical print newspaper starting the week of April 25, joining a chorus of newspapers across the country owned by the corporate conglomerate to cease its print editions on certain days.
Will Richmond, the Daily News’ executive editor, announced the change Monday in an editorial he wrote for the publication, which currently publishes its hard copy Monday through Saturday. Richmond said the paper, which also has an e-edition, will continue to publish an online-only e-edition on Wednesdays in lieu of the hard copy edition.
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“Readers will find all the same features – from news to sports to comics – they currently find in the Wednesday paper. It just won’t be printed out and delivered to you,” Richmond said.
It is unclear why Wednesday was chosen as the day for the Daily News’ paper to go solely digital. Richmond did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Providence Business News.
Richmond told readers that the Daily News is not just a print paper, but rather a “multimedia operation” that includes daily newsletters and social media outlets delivering the news every day of the week. He said the Daily News’ reporters will still work on a daily basis.
“I know this is a change in habit, but it remains important to know we recognize and appreciate the deep loyalty our longtime subscribers have to our daily newspapers and are committed to delivering a quality product. That will not change,” Richmond wrote.
The change at the Newport Daily News is similar to changes made by Gannett with other publications it owns across the U.S. In Massachusetts, close to 20 Gannett-owned weekly newspapers will end their print editions in May and going exclusively digital, according to a report from Boston.com. Also, The Herald News in Fall River as of March 5 eliminated its Saturday print edition and has made that day’s paper digital only.
Several Gannett-owned daily newspapers in Wisconsin and New Jersey last month have eliminated their Saturday print editions as well, according to several published news sources.
Other local newspapers that Gannett owns include The Providence Journal, The Taunton Gazette, The Cape Cod Times, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette and The Standard-Times in New Bedford. Back in February, Gannett reported a year-end loss that narrowed to $135 million in 2021, but said digital revenue surpassed $1 billion last year, a 9% increase year over year.
Gannett also said at the time that digital-only paid subscriptions grew 49% in 2021 to more than 1.6 million companywide.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
