FROM THE PUBLISHER | Zigging in a zag era

The new publishing cycle means subscribers will receive a printed paper Tuesday through Saturday in the mail. This will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 6. We will take off Monday, Sept. 4, for Labor Day, as we have for many years, in honor of our employees. That means there will be no e-edition on Monday and no printed paper on Tuesday that week, as we get set for the new print cycle.

We will continue to publish more local news and information than ever. Our reporters will continue to serve as your eyes and ears on local government; we’ll have a reporter at high school football games; we’ll make sure you know what’s coming.

I have heard from many of you over the past few years about how much you value the service that The Mercury provides, as it becomes increasingly evident that it’s not to be taken for granted. We remain a family-owned, locally operated news organization, informing our subscribers on the issues they want and need to know about. All around us, newspapers like this one are shutting down, leaving many communities without any source of independent professional journalism. Some of those that remain alive, under the ownership of larger coastal corporations, are shells of themselves. An industry colleague from Kansas told me that the 30-person newsroom he used to run now has a single half-time employee.

The business fundamentals have shifted, as locally-owned retailers have been crowded out by national chains, and as national public-relations decision-makers shift their advertising budgets to the digital behemoths, Google and Facebook.

We have managed to endure by virtue of the patience of our family shareholders, through the hard work of our employees, and through the support of our subscribers and the advertisers who continue to understand the value we can provide to them.

We need that support more than ever, and that’s why we want to improve the service we provide you by giving you what you want. We’ll be raising our subscription rates soon as well; no such thing as a free lunch. I can guarantee you that it’ll still be the best value in town – you can arm yourself as a citizen, a voter and a taxpayer with the information you need for less than the cost of your daily coffee.

We also would ask you to help us by spreading the word. We’re well-aware that people quit their subscriptions when we cut print frequency a few years ago, and we’re actively going to try to bring them back. The only way this service – the service of informing citizens with independent professional journalism – will survive is if we have the backing of enough subscribers. So, help us out by letting your friends and neighbors know what we’re doing.

Thanks in advance, and thanks for your support.