Utah's two largest newspapers to stop delivering to 3,376 rural suscribers in 16 counties

More than 3,000 rural residents will no longer receive delivery of Utah's largest newspapers, Tony Semerad reports for The Salt Lake Tribune. Following a national cost-cutting trend that has been going on for 40 years but has escalated in the past decade, the Utah Media Group said the Tribune and the Deseret News "no longer will be transported to homes, stores and sidewalk racks in southeastern Utah's Kane, Grand and San Juan counties (outlined in red on emendated Pioneer map). Those readers, instead, will be given three months of free access to ... the e-edition, a version of the paper that duplicates the print edition in static digital form and is made accessible via the Internet."

"Subscribers in 13 other counties off the Wasatch Front will still get home-delivered print newspapers Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but they will be asked to convert to the digital version the rest of the week," Semerad  writes. "Rural counties retaining weekend print delivery are Beaver, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Iron, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, Uintah, Washington and Wayne (Marked with an X on second map).

A total of 3,376 subscribers will be affected by the move, effective Feb. 29, Semerad writes. Utah Media Group told readers, "This has been a very difficult business decision. Our goal is to continue to provide Utahns with the best possible news and information in the most efficient way." Tribune editor and publisher Terry Orme called the circulation cuts "an unfortunate reality of the problems that print media is facing right now."