NEW ORLEANS — The first edition of the new The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate will greet readers on their doorsteps all across the New Orleans area Monday morning. The two papers are becoming one to deliver daily papers.
"A really strong and bold move for the local media market," said Coleman Warner, a retired Times-Picayune writer and editor.
Warner believes this move will take New Orleans readers back to the Picayune's prime years
"I actually believe you will see a return to some of the more layered and sophisticated coverage that The Times-Picayune was known for for many years," he said.
The Advocate opened its New Orleans office in 2012 to deliver daily paper as the Picayune started only printing three papers a week banking on online readers through NOLA.com.
"People didn't like it," said Times-Picayune writer, John Pope.
The Advocate's owners announced they were buying the Picayune and NOLA.com two months ago. While the merger does come with layoffs, many Times-Picayune writers are included in the merger and a few like John Pope are being brought back full time.
Times-Picayune subscribers will have upgrade offers in their paper this week. Online, the paper will stick with the NOLA.com brand.
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"It is a declining business in lots of communities but I think what were doing can keep it thriving in this part of Louisiana," said editor peter Kovacs.
It's a new era in local journalism as editor Peter Kovacs aims to recreate the Times-Picayune when it was at its peak.
"I think what we hope is that people will see the daily joined newspaper and it will remember, it will make them remember the golden days of The Times-Picayune," he said.