As the industry tries to stay relevant in the 24/7 news cycle, an area newspaper will begin outsourcing its printing operations.
The Daily Gazette, a Schenectady staple since 1894, will no longer be printed there. Publisher John DeAugustine announced says the Gazette and its sister newspapers The Recorder and The Leader-Herald will be pressed at the Springfield Republican printing facilities in Massachusetts. DeAugustine says it was purely a business decision.
"Our issues here in Schenectady are not our journalists, and our ability even to deliver our newspapers," DeAugustine said. "It was the equipment that we had in the building. The presses that we own, the mailroom equipment, our lack of a postal inkjet machine, a machine that would allow us to put newspapers in the mail, and the amount of capital expense that we would have had to put into that, to make it more automated or just to keep up. And so the cost to print newspapers became very prohibitive in our building. It also limited the size of the newspaper, once we went over 20 pages, the cost went up even greater. So when we talked to the folks in Springfield, they have a lot more equipment, more modern equipment than what we have here in Schenectady. And they were able to offer us a better product printed product for our customers. And at a much reduced price."
DeAugustine says the paper is "in the best financial position that's been in 15 years," and he's looking to keep it that way.
To the north in Glens Falls, the Post-Star says it is shifting to a different publication schedule beginning July 11. The paper, owned by Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, will offer a printed product on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, filling the week out with a digital edition. The paper will transition to mail delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.
Speaking on WAMC’s Media Project, former Daily Gazette editor Judy Patrick says newspapers facing declining revenues in the digital age have to make tough decisions.
"Many of the daily newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises, which owns 77 newspapers across the country, are cutting their print schedule to just three days a week," Patrick said. "And the rationale in ending traditional delivery that's by carried by not by newspaper boys anymore, but carriers that drive cars, they're going instead to the US Postal Service. This is all happening in July, it's happening to most of the dailies in the Lee Enterprises fold. Some of the bigger dailies are still sticking with seven day coverage."
DeAugustine says the Gazette's print schedule won't change. "Well, we don't have any plans to cut our publication days."
He says delivery won't be late or otherwise affected by outsourced printing. And the Gazette is adapting to the times.
"The biggest challenge that we have in front of us is the continued inflation in our consumables: newsprint ink, plates, things that we need every day to produce newspapers," said DeAugustine. "It's really forced us as an industry to consider every newspaper that we produce. And I think that has probably led, and I can't speak for those newspapers because we don't cut production days. But I'm sure that that has led to some of those decisions. But, you know, on the exciting side, you had talked about the 24/7 news cycle. And what we're seeing in our industry is specifically at the Gazette, and a few other newspapers, like the Gazette, is a willingness to pay for newspaper subscriptions online. So digital only. And for a long time, we struggled with getting people to make that switch. But now, it has become much more common. And there are newspapers all over the country, small community newspapers, who are selling more digital subscriptions than they are print subscriptions, because the Gazette's not there yet. We're making great strides and growing those digital subscriptions. With that comes investment. We hire additional staff, we put more people in the newsroom. "
DeAugustine says the paper will let 32 people go as a result of moving print operations to Springfield. Their last day is July 22nd. He says they will be given severance pay and assistance in finding new employment.
