The San Francisco Chronicle trims it Monday and Tuesday editions of the paper as editor Ward Bushee continues his trend of shrinking big papers like the Arizona Republic, months before.

Several Chronicle reporters explained that Bushee stated that management had decided to combine several sections that run on Monday and Tuesday—among them, the business and sports sections as well as the classifieds and the Datebook. The new, slimmed down edition is set to debut on Mon. Feb. 25.

Bushee executed a similar plan during his tenure as editor at the Republic. The shrinkage of the paper’s Monday edition was presented to readers as an effort to cater to busy readers’ presumably busy Monday schedules, reported the Phoenix New Times website. Loyal readers saw through the rhetoric and recognized the underlying cost-cutting motives. Some were even offended Bushee and the paper’s management claimed to be acting on behalf of readers’ interests—saving them time by cutting out entire sections. The 168 letters received in the Republic mailroom on the subject illustrated that readers did not prefer the timesaving, shrunken Monday version.

It is unclear how Chronicle readers will react to the new editions.  While some critics dislike the shrinkage, others recognize the need to cut costs—and perhaps even save newsroom jobs—at the price of trimming down content.

Source: SF Weekly and Phoenix New Times