The High Point Enterprise has announced that it will cut back on its print editions beginning the week of September 29. The longtime daily which covers the county’s second largest city will move to a three-day print schedule – publishing Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday Weekend edition.

The change means the Wednesday and Friday printed papers will be eliminated. Readers will still be able to access those editions online through the paper’s e-edition at hpenews.com, which becomes available at 5 a.m. each day.

Publisher John McClure wrote in a letter to readers that the decision follows months of monitoring reader habits and acknowledging what he called a clear trend toward digital news consumption. According to McClure, the Enterprise’s e-edition receives 175,584 views each month, along with 284,165 total monthly pageviews on hpenews.com. Those numbers, he said, are higher than any of the 44 other newspapers within the Enterprise’s parent group.

McClure said the move is necessary in a challenging economic climate. He noted that the Enterprise has provided local coverage for more than 140 years and that the new schedule is designed to ensure a sustainable business model going forward.

McClure told readers the Enterprise will continue to provide the news and features they expect – local government coverage, sports, puzzles, comics and TV listings – but with a higher focus on digital delivery.

The reduction in print days is part of a much larger industry trend. Just last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced it will cease print altogether at the end of the year. The last printed edition of that paper will come off the presses on December 31, 2025, ending a 157-year print run.

Beginning January 1, 2026, it will move to an all-digital format. About 75,000 of its 115,000 subscribers already take the paper digitally. Publisher Andrew Morse said relying on printing presses and delivery trucks “isn’t the best way to serve you anymore.” The change will also mean the elimination of roughly 30 jobs connected to print design and distribution.

The Journal-Constitution is the largest metro daily in the country to abandon print entirely. Other papers, including the Tampa Bay Times and the Star-Ledger in Newark, have already reduced their print schedules to just a few days a week or eliminated print editions altogether.

The shift has been driven by the same factors cited this week by the Enterprise: rising costs, declining print readership and the growth of digital access on phones, tablets and computers.

The Rhino Times made a similar move several years ago. The original Rhinoceros Times, founded in 1991 by John Hammer, was bought by former owner Roy Carroll in 2013, revived the paper later that year, but by 2018 it was clear readers were turning overwhelmingly to digital formats.

On Nov. 15, 2018, the last printed Rhino Times was distributed across Guilford County. At that point, the Rhino moved fully online at rhinotimes.com.

The Rhino had been distributing print editions widely across the county but found that more and more readers were accessing stories on their phones, iPads and computers.

For longtime newspaper readers, the changes at the Enterprise may take some getting used to. A lot of people still like the feel of a newspaper in their hands.

The High Point Enterprise promised that its readers will still get:

  • Local government coverage
  • Sports reporting
  • Puzzles, comics and TV guides
  • Features and commentary

Only now, more of it will be delivered online.

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