Saturday publication ceases Jan. 24, 'Weekend' edition moving to Fridays

Friday and Monday editions will be expanded, as will online coverage of Friday night and weekend sports.

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The short shelf life for the current Friday edition, which is printed at noon, followed by the Weekend edition only a few hours later, also contributed to the decision to eliminate the Saturday edition.

Publisher Shary Skiles also noted recent newspaper industry struggles, specifically discontinuation of the Omaha World Herald's Midlands edition, and the pending sale or shutdown of the Rocky Mountain News and profitability problems at Lee Enterprises, which own the Lincoln Journal Star, Columbus Telegram, Fremont Tribune and Beatrice Daily Sun.

Skiles assured Gazette subscribers that they would receive the same number of editions for which they had already paid, with expiration dates being extended for existing subscriptions.

"The decision to not publish on Saturdays was somewhat gut-wrenching for the entire Gazette staff," according to an editorial in today's edition.

"But at the same time, we must recognize the significant forward strides we have made in recent years."

Like most newspapers, a significant number of subscribers and non subscribers read the Gazette online, accounting for an increasingly large portion of our subscriber base.

More than a year ago, the Gazette began offering exact replicas of the print edition online, recently making them available to paid subscribers only.

Paid or not, mccookgazette.com readers have a wealth of information -- including photographic, video and audio content -- available over the Internet.

Today's editorial also cites the opportunity for instant feedback to news and opinion, providing interaction between the newspaper and readers like never before.

Comments and questions were directed to the publisher at (308) 345-4500 or (800) 269-1426 extension 106.