The future continues to brighten for community newspapers as The Laker/Lutz News gets set to expand one of its four editions into a weekly product.
The East Pasco edition of The Laker, which serves primarily the Zephyrhills and Dade City areas, will become a larger, weekly publication beginning Jan. 7. It will join both the Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel editions of The Laker, as well as the Lutz News, as the weekly offerings of Community News Publications, coming out each Wednesday.
Diane Kortus, the owner and publisher of the newspaper group, shared the news in Wednesday’s print edition of The Laker.
“My staff and I are excited to take our East Pasco edition weekly in just a few weeks,” Kortus wrote in her column. “We recognize this big step for our business would not be possible without the loyalty of our readers and the support of our advertisers, and we thank you for that.”
The new East Pasco edition will be significantly larger than the current edition. It will run between 22 and 24 pages, and feature a B Section similar to what The Laker/Lutz News offers in its other weekly editions. That will mean more feature stories, photos, contests and puzzles. It also will include the grocery circular published by Publix Super Markets. It will join other circulars in the paper that include Publix Liquors, SmartSource coupons, Michaels Stores, and beginning in March, Lowe’s.
“It’s a big deal for most readers to get their weekly Publix circular inside their Laker so they can plan their shopping a day or two before the store’s weekly sales begin,” Kortus said. “We are thrilled to be able to provide this circular to our readers in East Pasco, especially since Publix is building its first store in Dade City in 2015.”
The expansion of the East Pasco section also means that some residents and business owners may see a different edition on their doorstep than before. The San Antonio and St. Leo areas, which now receive the Wesley Chapel weekly edition of The Laker, will instead start receiving the East Pasco edition, beginning in January.
The East Pasco edition of The Laker has been published for 10 years, beginning as a weekly and then changing to an every-other-week format in late 2011 during the height of the economic crisis.
“Back then, local businesses could only afford to advertise every other week, and we adjusted our business plan accordingly,” Kortus said. “But now, with our economy getting better every day, we’re ready to return to a weekly format.”
To read Kortus’ full column on the changes coming with the expansion of the East Pasco edition, read our free online e-edition by clicking here.
