Blue Monday.

Media News Group (MNG) is a print-publishing company that is responsible for printing many of the Bay Area papers the people of California are familiar. The San Mateo Times and the San Jose Mercury News are some of the local papers MNG puts out that have a significant readership. However, due to a loss of advertising due to the diaspora from print to online journalism, MNG is doing the unthinkable; it is stopping its Monday printing of several of its daily papers.

The Media News Group has announced that three of its smaller papers, the Eureka Times-Standard, Vacaville Reporter, and the VallejoTimes-Herald will cease their Monday print additions and go to an online only format on those days.

The Media News Group calls its new move “digital-first Mondays”. Some of its other papers that have a paywall in place for access to their websites are lifting the restrictions on Mondays and cancelling home delivery in the bargain.

I know the completely new digital realm that the newspaper industry is contending with is a moving target, and we should give it time before we make any harsh judgments for their business models, but I see way too many ways for the news consumer to get the short end of the stick here.

How long before the sacred act of reporting the news in an unbiased way can only be read by the privileged?