The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee, is cutting the size of its print edition to a 46-inch web from 50 inches in response to the 30% increase in newsprint costs, the paper reported Tuesday.

"The newspaper has been redesigned ... saving Memphis Publishing Co. about 6 percent in paper," the story reported.

"The key issue for us is to make sure that the core news coverage continues," Editor Chris Peck said in the report. "That will mean the need to edit the paper more carefully and also to encourage readers to go online more often when we have additional details that might not fit into the print edition.

The paper said that: "newsprint, the industry's No. 2 cost behind labor, represents 10 to 15 percent of costs. Because the price is rising at the same time advertising revenue is hitting record lows -- average advertising revenue fell 15 percent in the second quarter -- publishers are making hard choices, cutting staff or news space, or both."

The newspaper reduced its size back in March 2001 as well, cutting it from a 54-inch web to a 50-inch web, the paper reported.

Source: Editor & Publisher