Belleville News-Democrat changes print schedule

The Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois) will go to a digital-only replica edition on Saturdays and launch a new weekend package with expanded print editions on Fridays and Sundays, the paper said in a note to readers.

The changes will go into effect Nov. 2.

Sacramento-based McClatchy acquired the newspaper in 2006 with its purchase of Knight Ridder.

The paper will still publish content online seven days a week, including the Saturday e-edition, a replica of the print edition.

The changes are part of a larger effort by McClatchy to copy the success of its Myrtle Beach Sun News, which saw good effects when it went to a digital-only replica on Saturdays in spring, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.

Also, in July, The Compass Experiment, a joint venture between McClatchy and Google, chose Youngstown, Ohio, as the first of three places where it will start a digital-only news site, the business paper noted. Youngstown's The Vindicator will stop production this month.

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