Citing a “changing media landscape” and continued losses in circulation and advertising revenues, the Herald Journal newspaper in Logan has reduced its print edition to three days a week and is dropping home delivery. In place of its Tuesday-through-Saturday publishing schedule, the paper will now be printed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and subscribers will only be able to receive it through U.S. Postal Service delivery.
Ben Kenfield, Cache Valley Publishing general manager and publisher of the Herald Journal, made the announcement last week. He said the newspaper has experienced a decrease in demand for print subscriptions but a surge in digital subscriptions. Visitors to the website have nearly doubled in recent years, Kenfield said, with 20 percent growth in the past year. The paper’s print circulation, as high as 15,000 a few years ago, has dropped to about 9,000. It is anticipated to drop further with the new mail delivery model.
The Herald Journal dropped its Sunday edition less than a year ago and Kenfield said his organization is also considering newsroom staff reductions. Several years ago, the paper left the traditional seven-day publishing mode, dropping its Monday edition. The new schedule will begin the week of Oct. 6.
Cache Valley Publishing also runs three weekly newspapers: The Tremonton Leader in northern Utah and The Preston Citizen and The Montpelier News-Examiner in southern Idaho, all published on Wednesdays and delivered by mail. The Cache Valley newspapers are owned by Adams Publishing Group of Greeneville, Tennessee, which bought the chain in 2017 and owns more than 100 community newspapers throughout the country.