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The Fresno Bee will no longer be publishing the Saturday edition of its paper.
According to a statement from Tim Ritchey, publisher of The Fresno Bee, the paper will be making the switch to digital-only Saturday editions starting Jan. 11, 2020 and will expand the Friday and Sunday editions of its print publication. The Saturday paper, Ritchey elaborated, is among the lowest for readership and engagement.
“We’re seeing that more and more of our customers are engaging with our local journalism online,” Ritchey said. “This is not only a trend in Fresno — it is a widespread trend in the media industry and in fact, all industries.”
The Fresno Bee is the latest in a line of papers run by the McClatchy Co. to cancel its Saturday paper, with The Durham Herald Sun (Durham, North Carolina), The Myrtle Beach Sun News (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina), The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) and The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Washington) also making the jump.
Ritchey said The Fresno Bee is still going strong with its online publication and is picking up subscribers
“We’ve built a solid tech platform for digital journalism and are focused on serving digital advertisers,” he said. “Our aim is to be essential to our customers and community.”