Changes afoot for West Prince Graphic, publisher says

Starting next week, the West Prince Graphic willno longer be delivered to Island homes.

This comes as a result of thedecision to close the Transcontinental printing plant in Borden-Carleton. The plant is expected to close its doors this week.

Officials said the newspaper will now be delivered to retail outlets.

Prior to the change, the paper was delivered to more than 6,000 homes from Tyne Valley to Tignish.

"It will have an impact," said publisher Paul MacNeill.

"But ultimately time will tell and readers will tell us if we got it right or wrong," he added.

Distribution reassessed

MacNeill said the paper's distribution model had to be reassessed.with printing no longer available on P.E.I.

The paper will now be printed by Advocate Printing inPictou,N.S.

"It obviously has an impact in terms of deadlines, when we need to get files to the printer, because driving papers back from Pictou is considerably more time-consuming than getting them from Borden. But it's not bad.It could be worse to be honest with you."

MacNeill said reporters will continue to cover meetings, events and community gatherings, but some items may have to be updated on itswebsite due to time constraints.

"It's the end of an era on P.E.I.in terms of having the type of printing capacity necessary to print newspapers. We've always had a press."

A full list of where the paper will be availablewill be released shortly, he said.

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