The Lexington Herald-Leader is scaling back.

In an article published today, executive editor Richard Green announced the paper will only be printed three days a week and those papers will be delivered by mail.

The changes begin August the fifth.

Newspaper sales have been declining for years and a study by Northwestern University found that by the end of this year, more than 3000 newspapers will have closed over the past two decades.

That also means more than 40,000 journalist jobs lost.

GREENE says the Herald-Leader isn't going away, but adds it's important to keep up with the changing trends.

It's not a secret that we've seen a decline in our print readership not only the Herald-Leader, but newspapers literally around the country, if not the world, in many cases, driven by a lot of different factors.

One of them is the fact that readers spend more time absorbing their news and spending time with the minicomputer that kind of masquerades as a smartphone that they have in their back pocket or their purse or their wallet or right in front of them every day.

That's where they're getting a bulk of their news.

I think never before has Lexington, the Commonwealth, the country needed smart, essential regulatory journalism.

We need that consequential content in our lives.

And you know, we're dedicated to the pursuit of fair and fearless journalism in the Herald-Leader newsroom and in Kentucky dot com.

And we're going to continue that.

There are stories that we tell.

There are certain projects that we've investigated and delivered to readers that have righted wrongs and changed the laws.

And to me, one of the most important causes we have is to protect those who are the most vulnerable.

Not being political and anything that I say.

But, you know, this is a very incredibly important part of the fabric of America.

The role of newspapers, the role of journalists, the role of media sites.

Now more than ever, we have to stand up and protect taxpayers.

Do the right thing for constituents and be a bright spotlight at a time when there's so much obligation that we see from elected officials and bureaucrats, public employees of public agencies, not just locally in our backyard.

Certainly we've seen that, but at the state level, certainly at the federal level as well.

Now, more than ever, local journalism really matters.

We're fighting our tails off here.

Ensure that the 150 plus year relationship we have with Kentucky at central Central Kentucky in Lexington continues.

That's what part of this move is about, what to be responsive to, what readers habits are.

We also got to be completely recognizing him and strategically embrace what's unfolding in terms of challenges in front of us.

And that's what I want to do.