Islander, Reporter to publish on Wednesdays
To better serve our readers and advertisers,
the publication day for the Sanibel-
Captiva Islander and Island Reporter will
advance two days beginning next week.
The island’s oldest newspapers will
publish on Wednesdays beginning April
10.
“A publication date earlier in the week will allow
us to deliver the news our readers want in a more
timely fashion,” said Scott Blonde, publisher. “Island
readers, as do readers throughout the communities we
serve, have a strong interest in not only what has happened
but in what is coming up. That is why our editors
put a strong emphasis on advance stories on
upcoming community events, government and organizational
meetings, and things to do. That is also why
we devote a significant amount of space to our community
calendars.
“A Wednesday publication date will give our readers
extra time to plan their week so as to take advantage
of all the great things made possible by island
organizations, volunteers and businesses,” he said.
The change in publication day will be partnered
with a continued commitment to breaking news via
the newspapers’ Web site, captivasanibel.com.
“We also take great pride in our longstanding role
as the provider of ‘news of record’ and breaking news
to the residents of Sanibel and Captiva,” Blonde said.
“Our change in publication day will not weaken that
commitment but will strengthen it. City government
news, including council and planning and zoning
meetings, will pre-publish on-line with the following
week’s print edition to report the ‘what’s next, what’s
it mean’ aspect of those stories. Again, we believe this
will better serve our readers – more prompt coverage
for breaking stories, more in-depth coverage for
the print stories to follow.”
Advancing the publication date is part of a continuing
effort to improve the island papers, Blonde
added.
Over the past year or so, we have consolidated the
Sanibel-Captiva lslander and the Island Reporter into
one delivery package, providing readers and advertisers
with one go-to source for both “all things Sanibel
and Captiva” and “news of record,” the papers’
respective roles.
We also have upgraded The Islander to a glossy
cover and significantly increased the papers’ range of
advertising options to better meet the needs of the onisland
business community. The result has been a
near-doubling of page count.
“We are very grateful to our readers and advertisers
for recognizing the improvements we have introduced,”
Blonde said. “We believe our latest initiative
will be welcomed as well. We remain strongly committed
to the islands and to making sure our papers are
reflective of island needs.”