John Peters

Editor

The Surry Messenger is reducing its publication schedule from five days a week to three days and changing its format from a full size paper, or broadsheet, to a smaller tabloid format, its publisher said Tuesday. The tabloid format is roughly half the size of a broadsheet.

Mike Milligan said the paper had decided to reduce its publication schedule “to offer flexibility to our advertisers.”

This is the second publication schedule change for The Messenger, which began in 2007 as a Monday through Friday paper. Last fall, the paper discontinued its Monday publication, and began distributing a Sunday tabloid focused largely on the Elkin area. On Tuesday The Messenger did not publish, and the publisher said that was because of the new schedule.

“Beginning tomorrow (Wednesday), we are going to be a Wednesday, Friday, Sunday publication,” he said.

The publisher said The Messenger will remain a free publication, because he believes free distribution publications are based on a superior business plan than paid circulation newspapers, going so far as to say that free publication distribution was “the only viable” long-term business plan for a paper.

He claimed the Monday and Wednesday circulation will be 11,133 and the Sunday circulation will be 20,000.

He refused to address whether the changes would affect staffing at The Messenger. “I gave you my statement...that’s all I’m going to say.”