CASPER, Wyo — The Laramie Boomerang will be dropping its Tuesday edition, according to a release from the publication’s marketing consultant, Anthony Creamer.
The new change will mean the paper, which has been published since 1881, will produce physical newspaper editions Wednesday through Sunday.
Its sister paper, the Cheyenne Tribune-Eagle, recently dropped its Tuesday edition and now also publishes Wednesday through Sunday. Both papers are printed at the Tribune-Eagle’s plant in Cheyenne, which contract prints multiple regional papers in Colorado and Wyoming.
The economic fallout from the COVID pandemic has hit newsrooms that were already struggling under a changing media landscape.
According to Poynter, the ongoing move from print to digital has been “thrown into overdrive as publishers look to cut costly printing and distribution expenses on unprofitable days of the week.”
While more people are consuming local news online, the increase in digital readers doesn’t remotely cover the revenue lost from declining print subscribers and advertising.
Even the largest metro papers aren’t immune to print cutbacks. The Tampa Bay Times in Florida recently announced it will print only two editions per week, Wednesday and Sunday.
The Laramie Boomerang says its newsroom will still produce stories on non-print days.
“Rest assured, however, that our journalists will continue to provide the comprehensive coverage you are accustomed to online at laramieboomerang.com and WyoSports.net, as well as on Facebook,” the paper posted recently.
“While this was a difficult decision to make, we believe readers ultimately judge a local newspaper not by its frequency, but its content and presentation.”
The new printing schedule will mean changes to their other publications and inserts as well.
The new Laramie Boomerang Review will discontinue the free business hours section, and Saturation Day has been moved to the middle of June and the July edition will be moved accordingly to space the editions out.
The Laramie Marketplace, which previously was being mailed to residents, will see a new format with a hyper-focus on households without a subscription to the paper. The paper will be delivered to non-subscribers on each route twice monthly, getting print ads in front of an additional 6,000 residents who are not receiving the Boomerang.
The Jubilee Days Edition will go ahead in the beginning of July. Creamer says interested parties are encouraged to reach out now.
