The zoned editions allow businesses to better focus their advertisements on those readers most likely to do business with them as well as personalize the ads for those communities. Also, advertising rates have been adjusted to reflect the zoned circulations.

With the launch of the zoned sections, the Osceola Shopper, published for nearly 50 years, became obsolete, with the March 25 issue the last. Because the Spanish language Hola Osceola was included in the Shopper, this publication will be available now only as an online Spanish product, at www.holaosceola.com.

One other change coming in the Saturday edition of the News-Gazette is the former Kicks section, which focuses on entertainment and the arts, will now be called Lifestyles. This section, as before, will contain all the items previously included, such as movie and restaurant reviews and places to visit both inside and outside Osceola County.

For most months, the News-Gazette will publish its Journal of Osceola County Business on the third Saturday of the month, previously published on the third Thursday of the month. In May and October of this year, however, this business section will be published on the fourth Saturday, due to months starting late in the week.

Readers also will see a change in the location of the community news, classes and events section on Thursdays. With the redesign, the community section will be included in the Around Kissimmee and Around St. Cloud sections. Saturday’s community events listings – which will include classes, activities and events from throughout the county – will continue to be in its own section.

Other changes are that the legal ads for Thursday’s edition only are in a section called Public Notices.

As readers can see, some print styles in the News-Gazette have changed, such as those for headlines and picture captions. The change was made to make them easier to read.

More on Web sites

When you go to www.aroundosceola.com and log in, you will be able to place an article or an event announcement through the Web site, as well as comment on published stories or participate in polls on community issues.

In a similar way, Spanish speakers will be able to place articles or event announcements in Spanish at www.holaosceola.com.

In addition, a new interactive site for placing classifieds ads will be launched within a few weeks. This new feature will allow customers to place classifieds ads by computer in any market or combination of markets in which newspapers owned by Sun Publications of Florida have a presence.

The changes will make the Osceola News-Gazette more competitive in these challenging financial times as well as position it for growth.