ASHLAND — Starting in May, the Ashland Times-Gazette will stop printing Monday’s newspaper and instead provide the paper’s electronic replica. For the rest of the week, the paper will be delivered using the United States Postal Service, according to an announcement printed in the paper recently.
The changes, announced through a column in its March 31 edition, will take effect on May 2, when the paper will be available only in “E-edition,” which is an electronic replica of the newspaper.
On May 3, the paper will be delivered through the USPS instead of the traditional method of carriers delivering the newspaper each morning.
“The last date T-G subscribers will have the newspaper delivered by a carrier to their homes will be Saturday, April 30,” reads the newspaper’s announcement.
“The new model means subscribers will get newspapers delivered by mail to their homes five days a week, with a digital newspaper available every day but Sundays.”
The newspaper, part of Gannett’s USA Today Network, pointed to labor shortages that have impacted newspaper deliveries across the nation for the change.
“This move is expected to ensure consistency in delivery for T-G subscribers,” reads the announcement.
The USPS will deliver the newspaper, which is printed in Canton, at “the same time as regular mail service.”
The postal service’s average mail delivery time is 2.7 days, according to a March 25 news release issued by the USPS.
It cited second quarter service performance data covering Jan. 1 to March 18. The data showed 81.4% of periodicals, the class of mail designed for newspapers, magazines, and other periodical publications, were “delivered on time against the USPS service standard.”
Though the USPS periodical class’ score of 81.4% was “consistent with performance from the first fiscal quarter,” it received the lowest score when compared to first-class and marketing mail delivery times.
• First-Class mail: 86.7% … delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 2.4% from the first fiscal quarter.
• Marketing Mail: 92.1% … delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the first fiscal quarter.
Nevertheless, Naddia Dhalai, a USPS spokeswoman covering Ohio, said “newspapers will be delivered on time.”
“One goal of the Postmaster General’s ‘Delivering for America Plan’ is service excellence which is achieved through an optimized network providing dramatic improvements in reliability, on-time delivery and cost-to-serve — meeting or exceeding 95% on-time delivery across mail and shipping product classes,” Dhalai wrote in an email.
She added that partnerships with local newspapers exist across the country and that USPS is “committed to our fundamental mission to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to the more than 160 million residential and business addresses we serve across the country, six and seven days a week.”
A spokesperson for Gannett said in an email that many newspapers within the USA Today Network also partner with the USPS.
“Subscribers will continue to receive the newspaper on its publication day,” the spokesperson said.
The newspaper said in the announcement that news and sales staff would not change as a result of the changes, however, a spokesperson with Gannett added there will be “some impact” in April and May to independent contractors who deliver the newspapers.
“We will do our best to shift those carriers to new routes where we have openings,” the spokesperson said.
The Times-Gazette announcement represents one of several Gannett-owned papers in Ohio making shifts in order to keep up with a “digital future,” the spokesperson said. Others making similar changes include the Massillon Independent, the Alliance Review and the Telegraph Forum.
The recent moves come less than a year following the sale of the newspaper’s building in Ashland.
The building on Second Street served as the paper’s headquarters since 1931. It sold to Jewl House LLC in June for $217,250, according to real estate records.
The building’s staff had worked remotely since the beginning of the pandemic and will continue to do so, according to a Times-Gazette announcement in May.
The organization has covered news in Ashland County at least since 1903, when the Gazette merged with the Times.
John Byron, of Ashland, said the TG’s move saddens him.
“We used to get it every morning; it was on my doorstep,” he said. “We’d come home and read in the evening. We’d read the headlines from the day, see who was in it locally that we knew.”
Byron called it a “rite of passage” in Ashland when you made it into the local newspaper. Over the years he noticed fewer faces and names he recognized because they were not from Ashland County. After 16 years of being a loyal subscriber, he canceled it a couple years ago.
He said the paper’s rising cost, for his family over $200 a year, and the fewer local stories out of Ashland County led him to end his subscription.
“It sort of removes the element of community if you’re no longer connected to the people reading it,” he said.
Puzzle, game and column changes
The paper also implemented changes to its presentation of puzzles, games and comics, which were relocated to a different part of the newspaper.
The daily crossword will continue to be from McMeel and the newspaper continues to offer horoscopes and Jumble. It added Sudoku and Kubok 16. Answers to puzzles can still be found online.
Carolyn Hax, a Washington Post advice columnist, will replace Ask Amy, another advice columnist.
Michael Shearer, the paper’s northern Ohio regional editor, said in the March 31 announcement the Times-Gazette has built a “significant online audience” that consumes the news in mobile apps and social media channels.
“Print remains an important part of our overall strategy, but as our world changes we must continue to serve the community in new ways,” he said. “Providing daily and immediate local news coverage remains our top newsroom priority.
“This change enhances our ability to provide the most complete local news coverage while evolving our business model. It remains critical for everyone to support local journalism with subscriptions and advertising.”
