New Orleans Times-Picayune to publish just 3 days a week

GlobalPost

New Orleans is losing its daily newspaper, one of the oldest in the United States.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune announced today that, starting this fall, it will only publish three printed editions a week, the New York Times reported. The paper will be delivered and sold in stores on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The Times-Picayune’s reporters will continue to post news daily on the paper’s website, nola.com, company executives said, according to CBS News.

"I believe moving to a stronger digital focus positions the new company to continue to serve the needs of our various communities," the Times-Picayune’s longtime publisher, Ashton Phelps Jr., told the Times-Picayune. Phelps plans to retire later this year.

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The Times-Picayune is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, part of Advance Publications. Three other papers owned by Advance Publications – The Birmingham News, the Press-Register in Mobile and The Huntsville Times – will also limit their print editions to three days a week, the New York Times reported.

The Mobile paper has published every day for nearly 200 years, CBS News reported.

An unspecified number of employees will be laid off at all four newspapers, the New York Times reported.

The news that New Orleans will become the largest metropolitan area in the US without a daily newspaper was greeted with dismay by many residents, CBS News reported.

Cheron Brylski, 53, a New Orleans-based political consultant, told CBS News that locals depended on the printed newspaper for government announcements, obituaries, Mardi Gras news and articles exposing corruption.

"Where is New Orleans headed since Katrina? This is not something that helps our recovery," she told CBS News.

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