Shreveport Times moves to postal delivery

The Shreveport Times is stopping home delivery and will distribute its publication through the U.S. Postal Service, the newspaper said recently.

The Ganett-owned newspaper publishes Sunday through Friday, according to its website. The move is part of a plan to improve delivery consistency and deal with issues like labor availability and fuel prices, the paper reported last week.

“The transition from carrier to U.S. Postal Service delivery will ensure we can provide a more consistent experience for our valued Shreveport Times subscribers,” a Shreveport Times spokesman said in an email Friday. “We also encourage readers to visit us regularly on our digital platforms, as well as access our eNewspaper, a digital replica of the newspaper.”

Rusty Frasier, publisher of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View, has been in the newspaper business since 1976 and said in an interview Friday that postal delivery is vital for rural, weekly newspapers and is a staple of the sector. He said the system does have its challenges, timeliness being a key issue.

In response to emailed questions, Holly Lubart, vice president of government affairs at the News/Media Alliance, said more papers are shifting to mail delivery and the postal service has been working with the News/Media Alliance to address issues. News/Media Alliance is an advocacy group for the news and magazine industries and was formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America.

“Typically, subscribers are used to receiving their newspaper early in the day by independent carriers; however, same day delivery is not guaranteed by the Postal Service and delivery could mean receiving a newspaper whenever their mail is dropped off or days after,” Lubart said.

Ganett operates more than 200 local newspapers and has introduced this approach in other markets, according to the paper. Ganett and USA Today Network has seven daily publications in Louisiana.