- May 5, 2024
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You are now reading the last Wednesday edition of the Palm Coast Observer. And when you get up in a few days, you will find the last Saturday edition The Observer in your driveway. Instead, we will return to the once-a-week Thursday delivery date, beginning Oct. 3.
As a result, you will find that the newspaper will regain its “thud” factor: It will be twice as thick and continue to grow from there. And there are a few other improvements you can expect.
First and foremost is that the circulation will increase. Today, we deliver 25,000 copies of the newspaper to homes, racks and stand throughout Palm Coast. As of Oct. 3, our circulation will increase to 30,000. That means our market coverage will increase from about 70% to about 88% in Palm Coast. That will serve our community better — both our readers and our advertisers.
Second is the content will evolve. When we first started the Palm Coast Observer, we considered ourselves two parts magazine, one part newspaper. We prided ourselves on snazzy design and in-depth stories.
As we grew, we decided to try an experiment, and that was to change from a weekly publication to a semiweekly. Our goal was to cram in as many headlines as possible and to be as comprehensive as possible.
But, at the same time, the identity of the newspaper began to change to be two parts newspaper, and one part magazine. Also, the number of ads began to overwhelm the content on some of the pages. And, even when we wanted to write a longer, more in-depth profile story, we didn’t really have the room.
Beginning next Thursday, the newspaper will feel a bit roomier. There will be more News pages, more Sports pages, more Neighborhood pages in a given issue. (Email story ideas to [email protected]. Email nonprofit events to [email protected].) We feel this will allow us to return to our roots, with more of a magazine approach.
We will continue to cover all the happenings at government meetings, the Sheriff’s Office and all the things that matter to you, your neighbors and your neighborhood. As always, we welcome feedback and submissions of photos and story ideas and letters to the editor and community events and business briefs — you name it. If we think the community will want to read it, we will put it in the paper, even if we have to come up with a new category.
In the end, The Observer isn’t possible without the support of the readers. And so, before we made this decision, we made a point of talking to our readers and seeing what they thought about Wednesday vs. Saturday. The majority preferred one day a week. We heard things like, “I pick up both copies and read them both on Saturday,” and, “When it was once a week, I read it in depth all week; when it’s twice a week, I feel like I have to peruse it quickly or I’ll get behind because I know the next issue is coming soon.”
That was the clincher for us. Thanks to everyone for reading The Observer. See you online daily, as always, and see you next Thursday with a thud.
