While the future of the newspaper industry might well be a tabloid edition, The Patriot-News has not been able to show that. According to Patriot-News Editor and Publisher John Kirkpatrick, the paper has proved that many occasional readers really like the compact format, but turning them into regular buyers was the difficult part.

Friday, Sept. 30 marked the last day of publication for the Harrisburg paper's compact edition, The Patriot. See below for Kirkpatrick's message to the readers.

The Patriot, Sept. 30

To The Patriot readers:

Today marks the last day of publication for our compact edition, The Patriot.

We launched this edition last spring as an alternative for busy readers who have told us, over the years, that they do not have as much time to read our regular edition as they'd like. We thought that some readers might prefer a faster, condensed version of their daily paper.

While many people did like the compact format, it didn't catch on the way we had hoped. We did, however gather some valuable information about our readers' preferences along the way. Many people told us they liked the added color in our compact edition, as well as other features, so we'll be adding those things to The Patriot-News in the coming weeks and months.

For busy readers, we'll be bringing you more news than ever - with breaking local news 24 hours a day - on our sister web site, PennLive.com. And with the midstate's largest news team - bigger than all the local TV and radio news staffs combined - we promise to bring you local news first and best.

Meanwhile, whether we’re covering the pay raise issue, the latest movie openings or your high school football team, we promise to keep giving you the most dynamic, most complete news and information available anywhere in central Pennsylvania.

We thank you for taking the time to read our new edition. Know that you will find all the best parts of The Patriot, as well as many new features in The Patriot-News in the weeks and months ahead.

Sincerely,

John Kirkpatrick
Editor & Publisher
The Patriot-News