May 24, 2020 2 min read

For the last 212 years, the Observer-Reporter has been the voice of its community with the mission to deliver accurate, local news to local readers as well as an effective marketing vehicle for area businesses.

The current crisis has posed myriad challenges to continuing that mission, however, and like many other businesses, has necessitated taking steps to ensure our newspaper is here for the community for many more years to come. That’s especially critical now, when so many of our readers are counting on our coverage to help navigate the ever-changing local news landscape created by the pandemic.

Beginning May 30, the Observer-Reporter will no longer publish a Saturday print edition, and instead distribute its Sunday publication on Saturday.

Local news coverage will not be affected by the change, said Bob Pinarski, general manager of the newspaper. Reporters will continue to cover weekend news and events as before, with stories appearing immediately on the newspaper’s online edition and in print on Monday.

“All businesses are looking for ways to navigate this current storm and find efficiencies,” said Pinarski. “With our new publication days, I believe we have found a way to continue our hyperlocal journalism commitment and provide the best marketing opportunities to our advertisers.”

You will continue to receive the features you’ve come to love in our weekend publications, including local and regional news and sports coverage from our team of award-winning journalists, local opinions, community and sports calendars, and weekend comics and puzzles.

Among the benefits of having the Sunday print edition a day early is having Sunday supplements in your hands a day earlier so you have plenty of time to enjoy all of the features and plan for weekends.

Regular news features that appeared on Saturday, such as Total Health and Hits & Misses, will move to Friday.

You are the reason why we are here. This is your newspaper, and serving the people in our community is our mission.

And in an era of misinformation and fake news dissemination, it’s a mission we don’t take lightly.