As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce costs, The New York Times will consolidate some sections of the newspaper beginning on 6 October.

Thirty years after making a decision to publish a separate Metro and Sports section in its paper, the New York Times has decided to pull them back in order to save money on printing.

The New York edition of the Times, the paper's Metro section will be integrated into the main news section from Monday to Saturday. The sports section will be folded into the business section from Tuesday to Friday. The Times will become a four-section paper on Mondays through to Wednesdays, allowing it to eliminate the early press run and the collation process on those days.

The New York Times emphasised that they are not reducing the space devoted to Metro or Sports news. These changes will affect the New York edition only, as the national edition is already configured in a similar fashion.

However, for New Yorkers who like to single out the Metro or Sports sections, the new design will be a little less convenient.

Nevertheless there will be some advantages to the new-look - a freestanding Saturday Arts section and a return to later deadlines for Business news on Monday. The newspaper is also looking to create later deadlines for culture coverage.

The iconic newspaper is looking at ways to stop local news from getting lost in the fold, but state that physical arrangements at the newspaper are not that important as more readers turn to the Web.

The New York Times recently raised the newsstand price from $1.25 up to $1.50.

Source: Newsfeed Researcher