MONROE — The Monroe Times will be the latest newspaper to drop one of its print editions in favor of a digital-only format. Starting in October, the Saturday edition of the Monroe Times will only be accessible as an e-edition on its website, www.themonroetimes.com.
The Wednesday and Saturday e-editions have already been available to all subscribers for nearly two decades. Subscribers will simply need to log into the website and click “E-EDITION” on the main toolbar on the top of any page.
“It’s an unfortunate sign of the times that has been seen by newspapers big and small across the country,” said Monroe Times Editor Adam Krebs. “Simply put, the combination of production costs and weakened revenue have reached too high of a mark without making a change.”
The e-edition is a clickable product, with a downloadable PDF option. All pages are in color and are formatted the same as the print edition.
“The e-edition is literally the same file we send to the press for each page. The same design, lay-out, etc. And it’s all in color. For about two decades we’ve made this feature available to our readers,” Krebs said. “This change also allows us to utilize more pages in our e-edition, meaning we can run more photos and stories, because we won’t be constrained to the page and color constraints of our ink press.”
For more than 15 years the newspaper has been delivered using the United States Postal Service — which has been the industry standard in order to keep costs down. However, postage continues to rise, as has the cost of paper and ink. Revenues from advertising have been dropping not just in Monroe, but across the country as well as the internet and social media have taken over.
“National advertisers have long pulled their advertising campaigns, as have syndicated inserts,” Krebs said. “Subscriptions have also been slowly dropping over the past years, especially with the rising costs of living, groceries, rent, utilities and everything else. People everywhere are looking to save a few dollars a month, and a lot of times that means subscription services, be it the newspaper, on-demand TV, video or music apps.”
The 128-year-old newspaper previously dropped from six editions a week to two in June 2018.
“I want to be direct: Subscription rates are not going down, because we are not dropping to one publication a week. We are still producing two publications, one of which will only be accessible via the website or app,” Krebs added.
Obituaries and legal notices will be printed in the Wednesday editions of the newspaper.
Krebs also said he understands many Times readers haven’t made the transition to access the newspapers’ ever-growing digital footprint, especially its older readers.
“Our digital products are available on any computer, cell phone or tablet. I know it’s not the same as holding the newspaper, or flipping through the pages, but the news industry is evolving like so many others have over time. Just 100 years ago society was making the change from oil lamps and horse and buggies to electricity and automobiles,” Krebs said. “We want to be able to continue to inform the citizens of our stateline region and document the daily lives of our communities for another 100-plus years, but we can’t do that with unsustainable production costs.”
The Times is not the only newspaper to make a similar change. In 2025, the Wisconsin State Journal dropped a print edition in favor of a digital-only e-edition, joining the Rockford Register Star, which made the change in 2022. The Des Moines Register and Dubuque Telegraph Herald now print three days a week.
Recently, the MLive Media Group in Michigan announced last week that eight of its regional newspapers will go digital-only starting in December, ceasing print editions entirely. Those newspapers include The Ann Arbor News, The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle and the Saginaw News. MLive’s newspapers all dropped to less that seven days per week of home delivery between 2009 and 2012, and this is their next step. MLive is the consolidated website for the eight publications. MLive Community President John Hiner said in the announcement that 99% of its readers come via digital formats.
It is not the only major newspaper chain to make the change, either — just the most recent.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, one of the largest newspapers in the country, ceased its print products last year, joining the iconic New Jersey publication Star-Ledger in that field.
“(This) announcement represents the next step into the digital future of journalism in New Jersey,” Steve Alessi, president of NJ Advance Media, reportedly said when the announcement was made in October 2024. “It’s important to emphasize that this is a forward-looking decision that allows us to invest more deeply than ever in our journalism and in serving our communities.”
For Monroe Times subscribers that need help logging in to the website to access its e-editions, which have been backed up since 2018, they can call the office at 608-328-4202.
