For the first time in the paper’s history, The Buffalo News didn’t publish a print issue this Fourth of July — and it likely won’t be the last time, either.
The Buffalo News will no longer be publishing print issues on major holidays, the paper’s corporate owner, Lee Enterprises, announced in an email to subscribers.
Lee Enterprises said in that email that it made the change to “allow our employees to enjoy the holiday with friends and families.”
But the Buffalo Newspaper Guild, the union that represents the paper’s journalists, said in a tweet that the move was simply a cost cutting measure.
“Our parent company has decided to stop printing on major holidays to save $$$ on printing and delivery costs, simple,” the guild said. “[Lee Enterprises] shouldn’t peddle fiction to our readers and subscribers.”
The Buffalo News will not publish a print edition on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the paper’s website.
An e-edition of the paper was still released this past Independence Day.