Delivery changes coming to Clarion Ledger

Most American publications, including the Clarion Ledger, have evolved to reach readers in different ways — from websites to apps to a variety of social media platforms.

Now, we find ourselves at another evolution point in connecting with some readers. Starting Monday, Dec. 4, we are changing how we distribute the newspaper. We are partnering with the U.S. Postal Service for the delivery of the Clarion Ledger. Each issue will be delivered by the postal service.

The Clarion Ledger remains strongly committed to local journalism. In the past few months, we have grown our coverage teams for both News and Sports. This fall, we used the Freedom of Information Act to gain data and chronicle big stories such as pay inequity and shortages among Jackson city staffers and even bigger stories (literally) such as the behemoth creatures caught throughout our state. We covered education, politics, entertainment and crime.

We have led the way on coverage of the religious schism in the Methodist church. When Jackson Public Schools had testing irregularities that resulted in staff terminations, we were on it.

We had beautiful images of the State Fair of Mississippi and Jackson State's Homecoming Parade.

We did fun profiles such as the Mississippi man who is known as the "Cemetery Doctor" and the JPS student who has racked up more than a million dollars in scholarship opportunities.

We are Mississippi's only outlet with sports reporters based in Oxford, Starkville, Hattiesburg and Jackson. We did daily special sections on the Sanderson Farms Championship, the local PGA Tour event. We reported how Leilani Armenta became the first woman to play for Jackson State or any SWAC football team.

The Clarion Ledger always has game coverage of our teams, but we also have had moving stories off the field for Jackson State,Southern Miss, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. And of course, we continue to provide high schools and recruiting coverage from football and volleyball among many other sports.

We will continue to do those kinds of stories, while maintaining important work on public accountability and the upcoming legislative session.

We could not have done this work without the support of our loyal readership. So why are we making the delivery change? We are making the transition to ensure our newspaper delivery is consistent. Unfortunately, the current environment produces ongoing challenges with our newspaper delivery. Despite our best efforts, we don’t see the situation improving.

For some people, you will not notice a difference in timing for the weekday editions. You will get your weekday papers on the same days you do now. With this delivery change, the Sunday edition will be delivered to most homes on Saturdays as the U.S. Postal Service does not deliver on Sundays. Advertising inserts currently delivered on Sundays will be included and delivered to subscribers on Saturdays.

For some readers, this will affect your morning routine, since the newspaper will come later, and we appreciate your understanding and adapting to the change. We have many ways to connect with you. If you enjoy reading in a newspaper format, the eNewspaper is available on your computer or mobile device early every morning. That electronic replica of the printed newspaper is full of bonus content not available in the printed product. It is available at clarionledger.com/enewspaper.

With your subscription, you also have universal access to eNewspaper publications throughout our network, including USA TODAY, as well as unlimited access to the USA TODAY Crossword digital app and site. Information is also always timely on our clarionledger.com website and our app. Your subscription will continue to provide you full access to clarionledger.com, plus early morning newsletters delivered to your email. Those emails will provide you with highlights so that you can jump right into those stories and enjoy the rest of the newspaper later in the day.

The Clarion Ledger is the state's oldest business, and we remain committed to continue providing meaningful stories and vivid images on a broad swath of subjects.

If you have any questions about this change or need assistance accessing the eNewspaper, please contact customer service at 1-877-850-5343.

Thank you for your support as we navigate this change.

Mark M. Konradi is executive editor of the Clarion Ledger.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Clarion Ledger announces changes to its print delivery process