Staff Report

The Oxford Eagle

Beginning Oct. 8, The Oxford Eagle will eliminate its Monday print edition.

Publication days will now be Tuesday through Friday, along with a weekend edition.

The move to print five days per week will help the community’s top media organization better align resources with its core mission: informing readers and guiding customers to our advertisers.

The newspaper will continue providing news coverage through its website, oxfordeagle.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The print newspaper will also continue to be delivered to subscribers by the U.S. Postal Service.

“The change will allow our staff to focus more precisely on producing a quality community-driven print newspaper on the days readers and advertisers have proven matter to them most,” Katie Krouse, the EAGLE’s general manager, said. “It also allows our news staff and sales team to invest more time and energy into the development of our digital publishing products, which continue to grow rapidly in use by our readers and advertisers.”

The decision has been considered thoroughly over the past several months and was ultimately driven by two key factors, Krouse said.

First, rapid increases in newsprint costs, driven by recent and substantial tariffs, have caused a nearly 30-percent increase in materials costs, with no clear end to rising newsprint prices in sight. This has driven similar changes in publication cycles across the newspaper industry.

Monday, the least profitable print edition of the newspaper has been eliminated, thus allowing realignment of resources to best serve our customers’ needs and invest in continued quality journalism for our community.

Second, the move helps The Oxford Eagle best match the printed newspaper’s frequency with changing reader trends of more people accessing news and information from its website on computers and mobile devices.

The newspaper’s website is read by more than 7,000 people each day.

“Over the last decade particularly, some newspaper readers have migrated from print newspapers to newspaper websites for their primary news source,” Krouse said. “Community newspapers, such as ours, are fortunate because we continue to have a healthy print newspaper audience, but reading habits have changed, too. Ours is the largest media company in the community that employs journalists and top marketing professionals. We are fortunate that as media has evolved, the combination of print and digital reading and marketing preference aligns perfectly with the skills and know-how of our staff. Making this move positions our company to continue to thrive as the dominant media outlet in the Oxford, Lafayette and University community.

“Our community media company has served our community since 1868, and we plan to continue doing so proudly for many, many years to come.”

The subscription price of the printed newspaper, some of which have been delivered at a loss to the company for years due to high delivery costs in rural areas, will remain the same.

Readers with questions about these changes are encouraged to contact us at circulation@oxfordeagle.com or 662-234-4331.