"We have earned the trust of Baton Rouge citizens by delivering a quality daily newspaper for more than a hundred years. And we are committed to doing the same in New Orleans."
The Baton Rouge-based Advocate daily newspaper plans to take advantage of The Times-Picayune's vanishing act in New Orleans beginning Oct. 1. The venerable Crescent City daily's parent company announced plans this summer to scale back the T-P's print distribution to just three days per week and focus on digital news delivery. In a letter to readers, Advocate Publisher David Manship writes that his newspaper will step into that void and begin daily - as in all seven days in the week - publication of a New Orleans edition of The Advocate created by a bureau comprising veteran NOLA journalists led by bureau chief Sara Pagones.
Here's Manship's full letter:
Good Afternoon, as the Publisher of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, my family has been providing a daily newspaper to the citizens of Louisiana since the early 1900s. In fact, like the newspaper in New Orleans, The Advocate's origins date back 170 years to 1842. And like New Orleanians, the citizens of Baton Rouge demand quality journalism and are accustomed to receiving it in the form of a daily newspaper. We are proud to meet that demand.
We recognize that the way people get their news is changing. And we will keep up with these changes by delivering news in all the different formats our subscribers use, including print. As trends evolve, The Advocate will continue to deliver a daily, printed newspaper to our subscribers.
Changes in the way The Times-Picayune gathers and reports news have revealed that there is a demand for a daily newspaper in New Orleans that will not be met by any New Orleans publications, beginning October 1, 2012. This would end a 175-year tradition of delivering a daily newspaper to New Orleanians and make New Orleans the largest city in the U.S. without a daily printed paper. At The Advocate, we think New Orleans and its citizens deserve a quality newspaper printed each and every day, and we intend to provide one.
We intend to continue providing subscribers with a daily newspaper that focuses on local, state and national news. While our headquarters will remain in Baton Rouge, our New Orleans newsroom will be made up of veteran New Orleans reporters managed by Bureau Chief Sara Pagones, a veteran New Orleans journalist.
We have earned the trust of Baton Rouge citizens by delivering a quality daily newspaper for more than a hundred years. And we are committed to doing the same in New Orleans.
Please support our commitment to New Orleans. Save the date for our official announcement on September 24. Look for more information soon. Become a subscriber to our daily New Orleans newspaper, and allow us a chance to earn your trust. Call 504-529-0522 to subscribe, newspaper delivery will begin October 1.