Beginning this week, the Forsyth County News is converting to a three-day-a-week publication cycle while at the same time adding additional news content to both its print and online editions.

“By dropping the Thursday print edition and enhancing news content throughout the rest of the week, as well as online anytime at forsythnews.com, we expect to further strengthen our mission as a community newspaper,” said publisher John Hall.

As part of the expansion of content the newspaper has become a member of the Associated Press, which allows for the inclusion of state and regional news in print and online, a feature many readers have requested over the years.

“The addition of content from the Associated Press will complement our local news and sports coverage, human interest features, columns and community events,” Hall said.

Hall noted that access to online content is free for print subscribers.

“By reducing some of our production costs, we’re able to reinvest in our core product by giving our readers comprehensive AP coverage online and selected regional and state news of interest to our readers in print,” Hall.

Regular features of the Thursday edition will be moved to other editions of the FCN.

The paper’s award-winning business section will shift to Wednesdays, while popular columnist Dick Yarbrough will be found on Fridays, along with Pet Corner and American Profile Magazine.

Items from Sports Extra and Youth Sports Bulletin will appear throughout the week as part of regular sports offerings.

“The Forsyth County News has been your hometown newspaper for more than 100 years,” Hall said. “We remain committed to giving readers in Georgia’s top county unparalleled coverage of local news they can’t find anywhere else.”

The publisher said the end result will be print editions and online pages that better serve the needs of both readers and advertisers.

“We really think the effort we are putting into improving all of our products and the new content we will be adding will result in an improvement that will be appreciated by readers and advertisers alike. We’re going to be giving our customers more than ever, just on a different print schedule,” Hall said.