The Peninsula Clarion is making changes to its delivery services for certain subscribers. In place of home delivery, editions of the Clarion will be delivered via mail for approximately 800 households. The changes will primarily affect households outside the city limits of Kenai and Soldotna, Peninsula Clarion Circulation Director Doug Munn said Friday.
The change in home delivery comes as the newspaper works to reduce the number of newspaper carriers from six to three. The change in service is primarily to make newspaper operations more cost effective, Munn said, but also opens the door to more reliable delivery services for subscribers in rural peninsula communities.
Mailed customers will get each day’s paper in the mail that day, except for Sunday. Mail delivery customers will also have access to digital Clarion content.
The process of shifting customers over to mail delivery and digital subscriptions has been underway since last September for households in Kasilof and Clam Gulch. Now, the same shift is being made to households outside Soldotna and Kenai downtown areas, which roughly correspond to city limits.
Five years ago, the Clarion had 18 carriers distributing the paper, Munn said. As of Friday, the Clarion had six carriers.
As part of the mail delivery service, Clarion staff will bring newspapers to local post offices for postal carriers to take on their regular routes. Because the postal service doesn’t deliver mail Sundays, Sunday papers will be delivered Monday.
Physical copies of the newspaper will still be available for purchase at retail locations across the peninsula, Munn said, including in Sterling and Nikiski. Digital Clarion content refers to all articles on the Peninsula Clarion website, including the e-edition, as well as access to the newspaper’s digital app, which is available for mobile devices.
Peninsula Clarion Publisher Jeff Hayden said Friday the shift in delivery options is one of many “positive” changes in progress for the newspaper.
“We’ve really been under a pretty tight schedule to get the paper printed, inserted, processed and out to the carriers so that they can deliver them in a timely manner,” Hayden said. “ … (The USPS has) all the resources to make this happen on a daily basis that we don’t.”
Subscribers who were alerted that their area is no longer eligible for home delivery can change their subscription plan by calling 907-283-3584. Customers who do not reach out to change their plan will be automatically converted to mail delivery service.
Peninsula Clarion content can be accessed at peninsulaclarion.com.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
