The San Diego Union-Tribune logo on the building at 600 B Street where the newsroom is located. Photo by Chris Jennewein
The San Diego Union-Triune told its readers Sunday that it won’t print a newspaper for the first time in its history to give delivery staff a day off on July 4.
The newspaper will be available in replica digital form for free to all on the holiday, not just subscribers.
Jeff Light, editor and publisher of the newspaper, said in a message to readers and published interview that the “print holiday” will give 400 people who deliver the newspaper a “well-deserved day off with pay” while introducing many people to the online edition.
“It’s important to note that this ‘print holiday’ doesn’t mean the paper version of the U-T is going away anytime soon,” said Light. “Unlike some other publishers, who have eliminated days from their print schedules, we plan to continue seven-day delivery for years.”
But he said executives at the newspaper “can see that there will be a day when we do not have print delivery seven days” and “when that changes we want our customers and our company to be well prepared.”
Light said that a print holiday is also planned for Labor Day this year.
The newspaper, which has a has not missed a day in print for 153 years, has approximately 70,000 daily print subscribers and 50,000 digital subscribers. The U-T is available online as both a website and in print replica form.