Beginning today, each Saturday-Sunday issue of The Greeneville Sun will include the magazine supplement USA Weekend, which will replace the magazine supplement Parade in the Sun.

"The newspaper's decision to change to USA Weekend, which has been Parade's major competitor for many years, was made after careful study over the past few weeks, and reflected both content issues and financial issues," Sun Editor John M. Jones Jr. said Friday.

"Both USA Weekend and Parade are excellent products, and we like them both," Jones said, "and, of course, Parade will continue to be available here in The Knoxville News-Sentinel.

"At the time USA Weekend was launched by the Gannett company and the national newspaper USA Today in the mid-1980s, Parade was naturally a far stronger magazine.

"But over the years since then," Jones continued, "USA Weekend has continued to improve and grow. The result is that it has become a very competitive magazine with Parade. In fact, USA Weekend is now carried in more newspapers than Parade.

"Here at the Sun, we have been generally familiar with USA Weekend for a long time since it has been carried for years in the weekend edition of our sister newspaper at Athens, The Daily Post Athenian.

"In Athens, the magazine has won both our respect and the respect and support of our readers.

"As we evaluated the possibility of making a change in Greeneville, we were impressed with the variety and relevance of USA Weekend's stories and other features, and the fact that it makes a strong, continuous effort to reflect the interests of its readers in the magazine.

"In addition to being competitive with Parade in stories, photos, special columns, reader-service features, etc., we found that USA Weekend is much more economical for the Sun to provide than Parade is.

"That significant financial factor also had to be taken into serious consideration in these difficult economic times.

"Sun Co-Publisher Gregg K. Jones talked extensively with both USA Weekend and Parade representatives before making the decision, and we value our association with both magazines.

"But in the end, the combination of USA Weekend's competitive editorial content and the very significant cost savings the magazine offers to its customer newspapers such as the Sun persuaded us to make this shift.

"We are moving from one weekend magazine that we like and respect to another that we also like and respect."

Sun readers who are not yet familiar with USA Weekend will naturally wonder what to expect in each weekend's magazine.

A USA Weekend spokesperson describes the publication as "an award-winning blend of news and entertainment" which also sponsors several community-related programs and events throughout the year.

These community-related programs include "Make A Difference Day" and "Most Caring Coach Awards," which "actively involve and recognize millions of readers" on a nationwide basis.

The spokesperson adds:

"Readers will find interviews and advice from today's most influential celebrities, regular features on finance, health, technology, relationships and fitness." Food and cooking are also a major emphasis.

The most popular single feature in the magazine is "Who's News by Lorrie Lynch," a reader-question-with-answer feature page focusing on entertainment and newsmaker personalities.

Who's News is published in each issue, and is supplemented now with a 24/7 blog that provides "exclusive looks at the latest celebrity news of the day."

This week's page, for example, includes items on pop singer Vanessa Carlton, actress Gretchen Mol, actors Shemar Moore (CBS's Criminal Minds) and Peter Jacobson (Fox's House), 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl, and others.

Other popular features include:

* Health Smart, an every-week column by Dr. Tedd Mitchell, president of the renowned Cooper Clinic in Dallas;

* Special-focus items which vary from week to week, under headings including EatSmart, MoneySmart, Green/Smart, Parent/Smart, FitSmart, Cook/Smart, and others;

* RelationTips, an advice column on relationships by Contributing Editor Dennie Hughes; and

* Stickdoku, USA Weekend's Sudoku puzzle, created by Terry Stickels and published each week.

In addition, of course, there are interviews and/or special feature articles in each issue.

Today's issue includes an exclusive interview with popular Australian actor Eric Bana, who has been cast as the "supervillain" in the new Star Trek movie that is to be released on May 8, plus an interview with the Jonas Brothers.

The USA Weekend spokesperson added that the magazine staff welcomes comments and questions from readers.

The staff can be reached at 1-800-487-2956 (choose option #3 on the menu prompt). Or readers can visit the magazine online at www.usaweekend.com, which includes polls, surveys and quizzes that supplement the print magazine.