Berkshire Eagle Cutting Back Its Print Editions

The Berkshire Eagle hit hard by the pandemic, but more so pushing forward into digital age, will be cutting back on its print editions. In a letter to readers in Friday's edition, publisher Fredric Rutberg said that beginning Oct. 10th, they Eagle will publish a weekend print edition of The Eagle on Saturdays. The last Sunday print edition will be Oct. 4th. Beginning Oct. 5th, the Monday Eagle will be available only in the e-edition form. The Eagle will only publish print editions Tuesday through Saturday, starting Oct. 6th.

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly had its effects on the Eagle, just as it has on other publications around the country.

Our advertising revenues plummeted by almost 50 percent with the lockdown that came in March. They are inching up but are still more than 30 percent lower than what we earned a year ago. ~ Publisher, Fredric D. Rutberg

Rutberg says that the newspaper has devoted the last four months to examining where they are, what they believe the future will bring, and how they can best position the Eagle to soar into that future.

The newspaper industry has been expecting to start to shift toward mostly or in some cases all digital publishing, but the pandemic has accelerated that process for some, as evident by today’s announcement.

I view these changes as laying the foundation for the coming decades, as it allows us to bring our publications and web presence to you in an up-to-date and modern way. ~ Rutberg

Affiliated daily publications in Bennington and Brattleboro, Vt., will drop one day of print publication.

Fredric D. Rutberg is president and publisher of New England Newspapers Inc., which publishes The Berkshire Eagle.