“Next Tuesday, May 14, marks the 167th anniversary of the founding of our paper and now, as readership patterns are changing, we’re delighted to see more and more people access news and information on our website, especially through their mobile phones and iPads,” publisher Jane Seagrave announced this week. “The Tuesday paper has a long and distinguished history and has had a great run."
The Vineyard Gazette will discontinue the Tuesday newspaper print edition this summer, publisher Jane Seagrave announced this week.
“Next Tuesday, May 14, marks the 167th anniversary of the founding of our paper and now, as readership patterns are changing, we’re delighted to see more and more people access news and information on our website, especially through their mobile phones and iPads,” she said. “The Tuesday paper has a long and distinguished history and has had a great run, but today we have other ways to more rapidly deliver our unique brand of community journalism.”
The Gazette’s twice a week print publishing schedule in the summer months was begun by Gazette publishers Henry Beetle Hough and his wife Elizabeth Bowie Hough in 1929 to provide more frequent updates for readers and advertisers. “The improvement is in line with the growing importance of Martha’s Vineyard as a summer resort and will make the Island newspaper a greater factor in Island progress,” an announcement in the Gazette said on June 14, 1929.
Today, the Gazette updates its website, mvgazette.com, several times a day, and Ms. Seagrave said the newspaper will introduce free email newsletters beginning in June for subscribers and nonsubscribers alike.
The email newsletters will go out to readers on Tuesday and Friday mornings, and will include a summary of top news and links to stories on mvgazette.com, as well as highlights from editors about upcoming events and coverage and reviews of community activities.
All subscribers to the Gazette with email addresses on file will automatically receive the newsletters. Others who wish to receive the newsletters can sign up at any time.
The Friday Gazette will continue in its traditional format as a black and white broadsheet that is printed at the newspaper office in downtown Edgartown. Former Tuesday features such as the Farm and Field column will now appear in the Friday edition.
Editor Julia Wells said discontinuing the Tuesday paper will have the benefit of giving the Friday newspaper more heft and depth alongside the newspaper’s quickly evolving website.
“This change will allow us to strengthen the Friday Gazette with more in-depth news and storytelling in the long-form journalism that is the newspaper’s hallmark on topics such as the environment, the economy, government affairs, social issues and arts and entertainment,” Ms. Wells said. “Meanwhile, the Gazette website will continue to be the place where Vineyard readers turn for the best daily and breaking community news, color photojournalism and multimedia features.”
Ms. Seagrave said the change was made after consulting with a sample of the paper’s advertisers and vendors who wanted the benefit of having the Friday print edition remain on sale all week, all year round. Advertisers who want more frequent contact with readers can opt for ads on mvgazette.com or the Gazette’s new email newsletters, she said.
“We are grateful for the support of the Vineyard business community and committed to developing new ways to promote our local economy with full-time and seasonal residents as well as visitors. We share an Island and are dedicated to sustaining the businesses that Island consumers need, ” said Skip Finley, director of sales and marketing for the Vineyard Gazette Media Group.
Last fall, the Gazette introduced a new website built with responsive design technology that makes it easy to read the paper on any computer, tablet or cell phone. The site has been free to all users for the past several months.
The site’s paywall, which limits access to subscribers for most stories, will be reinstated in June when the newsletters are launched, Ms. Seagrave said. After that time, certain content including obituaries, classified advertising and the real estate page will remain free. Anyone will be able to read up to 10 stories a month without subscribing. Full access to other stories will be limited to subscribers to the Gazette.

Comments
Say it ain't so.
Pia Webster Edgartown, Mass.Say it ain't so.
I expect my subscription to
BG EdgI expect my subscription to be credited for the requesite number of 'missing issues' that I paid for in advance. A big problem facing the Gazette is when subscribers are off-island, the delivery of the paper is sporadic at best. Its not the fault of the gazette or the local post office (since the paper is trucked right off the island for sorting) When off island sometimes the Friday paper is received the next monday. Other times, as many as THREE issues arrive at the same time, 2-3 weeks late. Perhaps a detailed story on the lousy job done at the off island US post office sorting center is advisable.
Same problems here. I thought
Dee Ouchman Edgartown Ma., Caldwell N.J.Same problems here. I thought it was a local NJ mail problem. I wonder if it's worse for more western states.
I miss the old Gazette printed with linotype. I miss the old press that went cachunka chunk, cachunka chunk. The linotype operators would gladly cast you name in a type line of good old lead. I still have a big piece that advertised Woodstock the movie I was given.
Somebody should do a nostalgia piece on the old Gazette.
Until the mid-1970s, the
Christine Powers Waltham, Mass.Until the mid-1970s, the Tuesday edition of the Gazette appeared only in July and August. It was then expanded to run in June and September, or until the end of the Bass and Bluefish Derby. I worked at the Gazette from the mid-1970s until January 1987, when I left the Island to return to university. Since then, I have been a faithful subscriber, and I have noticed the shrinking size of both the Tuesday and Friday summer editions. It was common in my years there to see 64-page, four-section Friday papers, and the Tuesday editions often ran to two sections. I hope this new approach works out well for the Gazette and is not an indicator of serious financial straits.
Will there be subscription
Dee Ouchman Edgartown Ma., Caldwell N.J.Will there be subscription rebates or credits?
Good question! My hometown
Christine Powers Waltham, Mass.Good question! My hometown newspaper, the Waltham News Tribune, cut their publication from twice per week to once per week, and they credited their subscribers by extending the length of their subscriptions. I hope that the Gazette will do the same.
Excellent idea! Acknowledges
Maureen DeLoach GeorgiaExcellent idea! Acknowledges the present shift to technology but honors the excellent journalism for which the paper is known.
I' m very disappointed to
Lorraine Lapin Maywood, NJ and KatamaI' m very disappointed to read this today, when I just renewed my 2 year subscription yesterday by phone and wasn't told of the change in policy.
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