New digitally focused company launches this fall with beefed up online coverage

The Times-Picayune will move this fall to three printed papers a week

May 24, 2012

A new company - the NOLA Media Group, which will include The Times-Picayune and its affiliated web site NOLA.com - was announced today by Ricky Mathews, who will become its president. The change is intended to reshape how the New Orleans area's dominant news organization delivers its award-winning local news, sports and entertainment coverage in an increasingly digital age.

NOLA Media Group will significantly increase its online news-gathering efforts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while offering enhanced printed newspapers on a schedule of three days a week. The newspaper will be home-delivered and sold in stores on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays only. A second new company, Advance Central Services, will print and deliver the newspaper. Both of the new companies are owned by Advance Publications.

The decision to form a new company signals a change in the way news is delivered to an increasingly wired New Orleans area audience, said Mathews. Jim Amoss, currently editor of The Times-Picayune, will run the combined content operation of NOLA Media Group.

"The Times-Picayune, under Jim's direction, is one of the finest newspapers in the country," said Mathews, "and NOLA.com is the number one news site in Louisiana. Our best path to success lies in a digitally focused organization that combines the award-winning journalism of The Times-Picayune and the strength of NOLA.com."

Mathews said the three days of publication were chosen in part so that the print edition is distributed across the entire week, but also because Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays have proved to be the most valuable days for the newspaper's advertisers.

Mathews said the changes coming in the fall were necessitated by revolutionary upheaval in the newspaper industry. These changes made it essential for the news-gathering operation to evolve and become digitally focused, while continuing to maintain a strong team of professional journalists who have a command of the New Orleans metro area.

Those sentiments were echoed by the longtime publisher of The Times-Picayune, Ashton Phelps Jr. "I believe moving to a stronger digital focus positions the new company to continue to serve the needs of our various communities," said Phelps, who announced in March that he plans to retire as publisher later this year.

Phelps said he first talked about his retirement last August with Advance Publications' Donald Newhouse, the Newhouse family member with whom he has worked most closely. He said that after leading the newspaper for more than 31 years, he was interested in reducing the day-to-day stress of being the full-time lead operator of The Times-Picayune, particularly given the economically challenging environment in which newspapers are operating.

In February 2012, the owners asked Phelps to run the new content and advertising company. He declined, having already started looking forward to his retirement, he said.

Mathews, Phelps said, is a "strong leader and energetic publisher. I'm pleased with Ricky's decision to keep key executives whom I have developed over the years."

With a reduced printing schedule starting in the fall, Amoss said, plans call for the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions of The Times-Picayune to be in many ways more robust than each of the daily newspapers is currently. They will contain a richer and deeper news, sports and entertainment report, as well as a full week's worth of features such as society coverage, puzzles and comics.

The newspaper plans to continue its highly successful Picayune community news sections, covering neighborhood news in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany, St. John, St. Charles and St. Bernard parishes, Amoss said. There are also plans to enhance the paper's award-winning food and dining coverage, and to continue to offer both the Lagniappe entertainment tab and the Inside/Out home and garden tab each Friday.

Amoss acknowledged that for those who rely upon the newspaper as an integral part of their lives, the transition to three days a week would be difficult. But as emphasis in coverage moved online, he vowed that the essential journalism of The Times-Picayune would endure.

"We will continue our 175-year commitment to covering the communities we serve," Amoss said. "We will deliver our journalism in print, through NOLA.com and on our mobile platforms 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we invite our readers to become a part of the conversation."

Mathews said details of the new digitally focused company are still being worked out, but the transition will be difficult. While many employees will have the opportunity to grow with the new organization, Mathews said, the need to reallocate resources to accelerate the digital growth of NOLA Media Group will result in a reduction in the size of the workforce.

"We did not make this decision lightly," said Mathews. "It's the toughest part of transitioning from a print-centric to a digitally-focused company. Our employees make us the company we are today, and we will work hard during this transition to treat all of them with the utmost respect for the hard work and dedication they've shown over the years."