Gannett to discontinue their service of Saturday print editions

By Savanah Ramsey, posted Jan 21, 2022 on BizFayetteville.com

Gannett Co. Inc., the newspaper chain that owns the Fayetteville Observer, will be discontinuing their service of Saturday print editions, starting on March 5.

More than half the newspapers associated with Gannett Co. Inc. will be expanding access to online editions. This new endeavor will affect nearly 136 of the company’s newspapers.
“With more of our readers engaging with our content online, we are embracing our digital future,” Lake-Marie Anton, a spokesperson for Gannett, told the Boston Business Journal. “This ensures our subscribers have unlimited access to information and news that they value the most.”

Among many other smaller Gannett-owned publications, the Fayetteville Observer will be affected by the change.
Currently, the Fayetteville Observer plans to produce a digital replica of their print editions to their subscribers on Saturdays that will include local news, advertising and features like comics and puzzles. The new digital edition will also allow anyone to share articles with their friends and family.

“We encourage our subscribers to go ahead and look into the digital e-edition because from March on, there will be no print edition for Saturday, and there is no additional cost,” stated a member of the Fayetteville Observer staff. “The reason why the Saturday print edition is being stopped is because it is the least disruptive for readers to get news compared to another day of the week.”

The decision to cease home deliveries on Saturday is not the first big shift that the Fayetteville Observer has seen in recent years. In an article from the Fayetteville Observer in January 2021 called “Why the Fayetteville Observer is worth the cost of a subscription,” writer Beth Hutson wrote, “While in the past we have relied on advertising revenue and classified ads, that is no longer a sustainable revenue stream as advertisers have multiple options other than fayobserver.com. Starting Monday, some of the stories on fayobserver.com will be available only to subscribers.”

News, sales, and delivery for the rest of the week at the Observer will not change.

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