Readers like Jerry Robb are in the minority these days. A self-described "newsaholic," Robb reads three papers each morning, The Gwinnett Daily Post, USA Today and the AJC, in that order. Then he scans the Web sites of the BBC, The Jerusalem Post and Al Jazeera.

While his interests go far beyond his home in Duluth, he is disappointed that the AJC will discontinue the last of its community sections, which the newspaper has published for more than 20 years. About 50 readers have called or written us to complain about these changes. A few readers have applauded the decision.

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Newspapers all over the country are reducing the size of print editions while devoting more resources to delivering information on the Web and handheld devices. Declining revenue, combined with the rising costs of fuel and newsprint, have most big newspapers working aggressively to retool their business models.

People are reading less but demanding more from news sources. Most readers we've surveyed want news and information that is concise yet thorough, on topics that interest them. And there's a whole generation of young people who rarely pick up a newspaper.

On Thursday, the final editions of the weekly Northwest and CityLife sections will be published. The daily Gwinnett and the twice-weekly Northside sections will end Sunday, Aug. 10. This follows last year's decision to reduce the number of community sections produced by the newspaper.

The newspaper puts more resources into covering those areas where we have the most readers — Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett. It's important to note that the AJC will continue to have bureaus in these areas. Clayton, Henry, Fayette, Cherokee and Forsyth are covered, but to a lesser degree. Does that mean the AJC is ignoring the Southside or outlying counties where we have readers?

"I think we do an adequate job of covering the Southside," said Nunzio M. Lupo, managing editor of News and Information. "Some people may see that as a chicken-or-egg thing, but we have more readers to satisfy in certain counties."

Without question, there are important issues to be covered all over metro Atlanta. The Clayton County school accreditation crisis and the efforts of residents to create new cities in Fulton and DeKalb have implications for the entire region.

Lupo believes the discontinuance of the AJC's community sections will mean that all readers end up getting a bigger and more complete picture of life around the metro area. Additional pages will be added to the Metro and Sports sections, and some of the more popular features in the community sections will continue.

"I hope what this means is we will be smarter about what you want in both size of stories and depth," he said. Stories detailing incremental developments on ongoing issues should be covered in shorter form, he said.

"Most people don't take a metro daily for information they can get in church bulletins and neighborhood association newsletters," said Lupo. "They see themselves as part of a broader metro area, and they want somebody to sift through the coverage for them. I'd like to think that if we are smart and disciplined and edit smartly for length and pacing, we will not lose very much."

Interesting stories will now get a larger audience, he said. An example is Tom Opdyke's May 29 report in the Cobb community sections on the personal water consumption of county commissioners, who set water conservation guidelines for county residents.

Lupo frequently reminds his staff to look for events and sources all over the metro area. He and others constantly monitor daily offerings to make sure we aren't too heavily focused on a particular area.

We should also make sure readers have a clear understanding of locations we write about. One frequent complaint is that we leave out details that give readers a better sense of place. We can't assume readers know where a particular town or area we're writing about is located. Maps and descriptions that include major cross streets and landmarks will be important to include, since the audience for community coverage will be broader.

As we make this transition, we want to hear from you. Send your story ideas to newstips@ajc.com or call our newsroom customer care desk at 404-526-7003.