Some of you are holding today's printed Tribune in your hands a little earlier than you expected.
Since we "pressed pause" on the Lake Area Press free paper for the summer due to a decline of advertising caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not want our mail-delivery customers to have to wait until Monday to get our ads and information.
By bumping back our deadlines on the Sunday paper, we are able to get it into the mail for Saturday delivery. This affects hundreds of mail customers in the lakes area. (Many carrier-delivery customers also get their papers on Saturdays, if the pile of Tribunes by the mailbox at my apartment is any indicator.)
To make this change, we have had to back up our print deadlines to get the finished paper to the post office earlier on Fridays. Because of this, some deadlines (such as for Sunday obituaries) will also be moved earlier.
Late-breaking news also will be more difficult to get into the Sunday print edition. However, that's always been the case, so I don't foresee it being too much of an issue. Thursday sports is the biggest concern, but we do have plans to make sure Sports Editor Bob Williams has enough room to work his reporting magic in time for the Sunday Tribune.
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My hope is that, over time, we continue to develop the Sunday paper into a great "reader" edition, with rich local stories to spend time with; today's front-page stories about Lindsey Cooksey's battle with addiction and "quarantine fatigue" are good examples.
This change further highlights the distinction between our digital and print products. Print is a snapshot of a moment in time, what we knew then. Our digital offerings -- dl-online.com and social media -- are real-time news and information sources, and what we know right now. Sit down with the Sunday paper and comb through it for information curated for our readers. Engage with digital and mobile to keep informed throughout the days, nights and weekends.
And then, of course, there is the e-paper edition. It is an exact replica of our Tribune newspapers, with some key advantages:
- Always delivered, no matter the weather. There is nothing like reading the paper in the winter without having to get out of bed!
- Works great on mobile and tablet devices. Perfect for catching up away from home.
- Users can enlarge the text size. If you have ever thought "the type in the paper is too small!", try the e-paper.
The e-paper is part of your Tribune membership. If you subscribe to the printed paper, you get the e-paper and everything on dl-online.com (and access to all Forum Communications websites and e-papers, too, including the Fargo Forum). You just need to register online: www.dl-online.com/subscribe .
Contact Editor J.J. Perry at 218-844-1466, by email at jperry@dlnewspapers.com or editor@perhamfocus.com, or follow @jjperry on Twitter.
