If youre reading this Sunday editorial as you hold a paper copy of The Tribune-Democrat, youre doing so for the last time at least for a while.

We announced on Wednesday that we had made the very difficult decision to discontinue print publication two days a week Tuesdays and Sundays, beginning May 5.

The move was a direct response to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic locally, with many of our loyal advertisers closed or seeing business reductions.

And the move was made with much discussion about the obvious impact on our readers and the community, and with guidance from our parent company, CNHI LLC.

As Publisher Rob Forceystated in his note to readers on the front page of Wednesdays editions, we hope these cost-cutting measures are temporary.

We look forward to a day, hopefully soon, when we can report that local businesses are operating fully, that our own conditions have improved and that well be getting back to business as usual.

But, as reporters covering the COVID-19 situation have repeatedly told us,the road ahead is uncertain.

Health experts cant predict when a safe treatment will be widely available, then when a vaccine might be ready or even when we can safely move about without wearing masks and maintaining safe distances between one another.

We remain steadfastly optimistic about the ability of our region to bounce back from adversity as weve demonstrated throughout our history of floods, recessions and declines in some key economic sectors.

And it is our hope that as the region rebounds, we can rewind the clock on these decisions about our days of print publication.

But hope is not a strategy.

Wevemade a choiceto help our business navigate the short term and we are now taking steps to make sure we continue to provide our valued customers with the content they need and want.

We will publish an electronic edition on Tuesdays, despite the absence of a physical newspaper includingdaily obituaries and death notices, Classifieds and other material, which will also appear in print on Wednesdays.

Our new Weekend Edition will contain content traditionally published on Saturdays (Church page, In The Spotlight, puzzles and daily comics) as well as those features and sections that have historicallybeen delivered on Sundays (Living, Business, Comics and TV Magazine) along with two days worth of advertising circulars and coupons,editorials and letters to the editor, obituaries, feature columns and news reports.

We will continue to maintain a robust website every day, as youve come to expect, with the latest news on the coronavirus, sports, politics and other topics of immediate interest.Weve made COVID-19 updates freely available at tribdem.com, and our online audience has never been stronger although, that hasnt translated into a surge of online subscribers.

Our goal is to take away nothing our customers cherish except for some paper and ink twice a week.

We have been uplifted and empowered by the responses of many of our readersand community leaders who have reached out to us to say they understand the economic challenges we are facing just as many of them are and that theyll stand with us through this difficult period.

And, as many have reminded us, local news coverage matters indeed, now more than ever.

Communities that lose newspapers then lose much more connectivity to events and organizations, participation in civic duties such as voting, a watchdog on those in power, a champion of the voiceless, a cheerleader for individuals and institutions making a difference, a platform fordiscourse and change.

The Tribune-Democrat has been serving this region, in various forms, since 1853 through the power of the printing press, the internet, social media, and powered by the First Amendment and the passion of generations of journalists, sales representatives, press operators, administratorsand delivery personnel.

Now, were adapting, evolving. But were not going away.

With the duty of serving our community as our guide and inspiration, we pledge to remain as our Editorial page reminds us a tribune of the people.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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Editorial | Commitment to readers and the community endures despite changes - TribDem.com