Newspaper remains strong

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November 13, 2011

Newspaper remains strong

BY CHRIS VOCCIO Commercial-News The Commercial-News Sun Nov 13, 2011, 03:32 PM CST

DANVILLE — The Commercial-News recently undertook two major changes.

First, we went from a seven-day publishing cycle to a six-day publishing cycle, eliminating the Monday Commercial-News.

While shocking to anyone who always had a seven-day newspaper, many daily newspapers — such as The Wall Street Journal — publish only six or even five days per week. Back in 2008, the Detroit major metro newspapers began delivering only a few days per week. Many communities our size have five- or six-day newspapers.

Second, we moved some of our production operations to our sister newspapers in Terre Haute, Ind., and Mt. Vernon. These moves were made to help reduce expenses during this tough economy and to break free from some of the restraints imposed by our aging prepress and press equipment.

Unfortunately, this transition did not go smoothly and resulted in late newspapers for too many of our customers. I alone am responsible for this decision, and I bear the blame for its impact. Our great staff is working hard to improve the situation, and most of our papers are now delivered on time.

These changes have put the Commercial-News in a much stronger position.

We have been publishing news and information for Vermilion County residents for more than a century. We’ll be here for years to come. These recent moves are not a sign of trouble, but an insurance policy that our bright future is now a little brighter.

While the moves unfortunately eliminated some positions, the Commercial-News still is published in Danville, still has more than 100 employees and carriers here in Danville, and we still are the preferred newspaper in Danville and Vermilion County. In fact, more than twice as many Danville residents read the Commercial-News than read the Chicago newspapers, USA Today and the Champaign newspaper, combined.

We continue to donate thousands of dollars in pro-bono contributions to organizations throughout the region, and thousands of families and businesses, large and small, rely on us to help make their lives better.

Our readers understand the economic situation and know the tough business conditions for newspapers. We appreciate your understanding and support. When we made these tough decisions we anticipated a small percentage of readers would cancel. Fortunately, that has not happened. A few have canceled, but less than 1 percent.

Danville is an important market for the company that owns the Commercial-News. We are bullish on the future, especially since so much new retail is slated to come to Danville next year. And we’re also bullish because of the strong loyalty our readers have shown us over the years. While there are other newspapers in the marketplace, Danville-area readers consistently prefer the Commercial-News.

We appreciate your support, and we will be here to serve you in the years ahead.

Thanks for reading the Commercial-News.

Contact Chris Voccio, publisher of the

Commercial-News, at cvoccio@dancom

news.com.

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Opinion

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