Thursday, February 5, 2009

Sun News to outsource printing, eliminate 58 positions

Tuesday I posted the memo from P.J. Browning about the Sun News outsourcing printing operations. Here is the article:
The Sun News plans to print the daily newspaper at another site in a move aimed at improving print quality while trimming costs and avoiding long-term capital investment, the publisher said Tuesday.

"It will provide better quality and allow us to keep our deadlines consistent so we can maintain our commitment to news coverage and delivery schedules," said Pamela J. Browning, president and publisher of The Sun News.

The move, which is expected to take effect in April, will directly affect 58 employees. Once details are finalized for moving the printing and production operations, some of those positions may be restored, Browning said.

A letter of intent has been signed with another firm, but the name of the company won't be released until the contract has been signed, Browning said.

The decision is one that has been made by newspapers nationwide. The McClatchy Co., which owns The Sun News, has announced similar decisions at some of its other newspapers including the Modesto (Calif.) Bee, Bradenton (Fla.) Herald and (Boise) Idaho Statesman. The Washington Times and Boston Herald also recently announced plans to print offsite.

By contracting with another firm to handle printing and production, the news companies avoid making major investment upgrades to keep presses and other production equipment up to date, Browning said.

"The long-term strategy is to avoid a big capital outlay," she said.

Thanks to several readers who sent this in.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

allow us to keep our deadlines consistent so we can maintain our commitment to news coverage and delivery schedules


How can they do that when the people printing and inserting their paper are 100 miles away?

Anonymous said...

Heard a rumor today that The Sun News is moving out of their building soon.

Anonymous said...

We were told that we will look at moving out of our building after we stop printing here but its still up in the air. Which means it probably is much more concrete than that, I'd guess. We've already cut so many positions and outsourced from so many places that the building is too big for us - and the roof leaks.
A meeting last week basically made it sound like layoffs were expected very soon and I'm guessing after that we won't need more than a little office in a strip mall somewhere.