SHARON, Pa. - After bringing news to the people of the Shenango Valley for more than 100 years, the Sharon Herald announced on Friday the current health pandemic is one reason that it will no longer publish a newspaper seven days a week.

In a letter to her readers published on the front page of  Friday’s edition, Herald Publisher Sharon Sorg announced that it will begin a five-day schedule beginning Tuesday, April 28, 2020.

Sunday and Tuesday papers will be discontinued.  Papers will still be published and delivered on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Sorg blames what she calls “the sudden loss of advertising revenue due to the (corona) virus added to what already had been economic challenges throughout the newspaper industry.”

The Herald will still be available online says Sorg.

Even before the COVID-19 epidemic, newspapers in the Valley and the rest of the country have been forced to cutback due to the move to digital platforms.

In Youngstown, the owners of the Vindicator stopped publication of the newspaper. Ogden Newspapers acquired the Vindicator’s subscription list and has been printing a paper under the Vindicator masthead as well as continuing to publish the Tribune-Chronicle daily.

In October, Ogden went to a six-day per week publishing of its Salem News, Morning Journal, and Review, which serve communities in Columbiana County.  The Saturday and Sunday editions were combined into one weekend paper.

You can read the Herald’s letter to readers in its entirety below:

To our readers

THE Sharon Herald has been the Mercer County and Shenango Valley region’s primary news source for more than a century, providing local news, features, sports and other information you both need and want. The current coronavirus coverage has underscored the importance of that responsibility.

However, the sudden loss of advertising revenue due to the virus crisis has added to what already had been economic challenges throughout the newspaper industry, causing us to restructure our resources so we can continue to serve you well into the future.

Effective April 28, we will begin a five-day-a-week publishing schedule by discontinuing the Tuesday and Sunday newspapers. We will continue publication and delivery to subscribers and newsstands on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Discontinuing two print days will allow us to focus our resources on printing more local news on the other five days. The Saturday paper, for example, will become a weekend edition. It will include advertisements, news enterprise projects, expanded sports reports and other content now contained in the Sunday paper.

You will still have access to all our news, features, sports, comics, puzzles, advertisements and other print content Tuesday – as well as the other weekdays – on our replica electronic version of the newspaper. It is accessible through our website (www.sharonherald.com) by clicking on the “E-Paper” listing to the right of the menu item below the paper’s name.

If you have not activated your electronic access to the website and E-Paper, call us at 724-981-6100 and we will get you set up. The E-Paper features the same format as the print paper and also has some extra benefits, including allowing you to make the type as large as you want. It can be read on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone. It is also eco-friendly and never wet.

Readership changes, newsprint and ink prices, print production expenses and delivery cost have resulted in newspapers around the country publishing newspapers fewer days of the week to remain economically healthy in the future.

The virus crisis has had a particularly difficult impact on The Herald because the majority of our revenue comes from advertising by local businesses, which are also suffering from having to close their doors.

Yet we have been making our vital COVID-19 coverage available to everyone in the region on our website during the coronavirus health emergency. The result is record digital traffic that has inspired our staff. If you are not a subscriber, please consider becoming one to support our journalism. E-mail Devon Stout, director of audience development at dstout@sharonherald.com or phone Devon at 724-981-6100 ext. 280.

If you have questions about our restructuring plan, please contact me at ssorg@sharonherald.com or 724-981-6100 ext. 231.

This is a remarkable region with people who truly care about it. We thank our subscribers and advertisers for their support over the years. It matters to us now more than ever.

And we pray everybody is well and safe.

Publisher Sharon Sorg