The Wichita Eagle to change print days as digital transition evolves

Since its founding in 1872, The Eagle’s mission has been to keep residents informed of what is happening in our community.

Over the past few years we’ve continued that tradition. We’ve exposed underhanded dealings by local officials and shone a light on problems and possible solutions in public safety – as well as marked and celebrated what Wichitans have achieved in a range of areas, from downtown revitalization to high school and college sports.

That work happened at the same time as an accelerated upheaval in how people want the news delivered to them.

Nearly 28 years ago The Eagle took an important step toward the digital future when it launched what is now Kansas.com.

Later this year we’re taking another important step.

Our award-winning journalism and our commitment to Wichita is unchanged, but beginning the week of Sept. 2 we are transitioning to a 24/7 digital product with three days of high-quality print editions.

The print editions will publish Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and, as they are now, be delivered by mail, arriving in most cases on the same day as publication. The Sunday newspaper will arrive on Saturday because of the U.S. Postal Service’s delivery schedule. Single copies also will be available at select retail locations in the Wichita area.

Edition will continue to publish seven days a week at Kansas.com and in our digital app – and we’ll continue to publish news digitally throughout the day, every day.

Why are we doing this? The simple answer is that while some people still think of us as a newspaper, the reality is that more than 90% of our readers on any given day now read us digitally rather than in a printed paper.

That percentage keeps growing, not only for us, but for most traditional media outlets.

Earlier this year the Pew Research Center conducted a study of where people find local news. They found that “a growing share of Americans prefer to get local news online, while fewer are getting news on TV or in print. And newspapers are no longer primarily consumed as a print product – the majority of readers of local daily newspapers now access them digitally.”

The same is true for large advertisers, who have followed consumers to digital spaces.

Because of these trends, we’ve become much more digitally focused and have intensified that approach to where readers of Kansas.com see our best work before our print readers.

For The Eagle to continue to provide you with essential coverage of our community and unsparing investigative reporting, we must continue to transform our business in order to thrive in 2024 and beyond.

As part of this evolution, we’re also improving your digital experience.

We just introduced a new community calendar and portal for submissions, launched more-robust commenting on our stories and, based on feedback from readers such as you, improved our Edition navigation.

In the next few months we plan to hold in-person Tech Support events, where Eagle journalists will help our subscribers learn how to best use our digital products.

We’ve come a long way in our 152 years, from children hawking newspapers on street corners and on horseback to residents getting their news from their phones, tablets and computers.

And we plan to be here for decades to come.

One thing that isn’t changing is our award-winning journalists’ commitment to the Wichita community. They will continue to deliver in-depth reporting and investigative work as well as tell the captivating stories of our city’s people and places.

Our work over the past several months – from extensive reporting on school closures and the cyberattack on Wichita to our Emmy-nominated documentary on the Marion newspaper raid and the death of its co-owner – wouldn’t be possible without your support.

If you’re already a subscriber, thank you for supporting the work we do and investing in local journalism (be sure to activate your digital access at kansas.com/activate).

If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider being a part of the solution. A thriving community deserves a strong, independent local news source. The future of our community depends on it.

In the coming days, subscribers will receive correspondence from our customer service team regarding next steps. That team can be reached at 800-200-8906.