A MAJOR shake-up in the way news is delivered in the Medway Towns was announced today.

Staff working on Medway Today were told that from next month the newspaper will be incorporated into a new early-week edition of the Medway Messenger. This means the Medway Messenger will now be published twice a week on Mondays and Fridays.

The last edition of Medway Today will be published on Thursday, April 3.

Kent Messenger Group chief executive David Lewis said there would be no redundancies as a result of the proposed changes.

Mr Lewis told the Medway Today staff about the changes at a meeting at the Holiday Inn, Rochester.

He told editorial and advertising staff that the changes were being made to reflect the way people’s lives had changed in the 21st Century.

“People are increasingly turning to radio, TV and the internet for breaking news stories, while wanting more local news and lifestyle information – such as shopping, property, cars and entertainment – from our weekly newspapers.”

Mr Lewis said that other changes people living in the Medway Towns would notice would be a better news service on KM-fm, the local radio station for the Medway Towns; an improvement to the Medway news content on Kent Online, the Kent Messenger Group’s website, and a better Medway Extra free newspaper which would be distributed to even more homes midweek.

Kent Messenger Group senior editor Bob Dimond, who edits Medway Today, said the changes were needed and were an investment in the future.

He said: “We’re sure that this is the right blueprint for the future and will mean that we will reach more readers and listeners than ever before.”

* Medway Today’s circulation fell by seven per cent to an average of 16,191 per day in the six months from July to December 2002, compared with the same period the previous year.