Friday, July 24, 2009
Newspaper Guild Concerned About Possible CA Press Outsourcing
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Management says pgrading the CA's existing equipment would cost up to $40-million, an expenditure the company is hesitant to make in uncertain times. In a July 23rd update to Guild-covered employees, Newspaper Guild president Daniel Connolly worries that moving printing operations to Tupelo, a commute of just under two hours, will make it difficult to make home delivery deadlines.
Outsourcing the CA's printing isn't a certainty. According to Connoly, Journal Publishing in Tupelo has asked CA management to make a decision by August 15th. In any case, union contracts contain language expressly preventing management from firing employees whose jobs have been outsourced. More at the Guild website.
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Comments (4)
Showing 1-4 of 4
Sometimes it seems truly bizarre that an invention which makes the printed word cheaper and easier to transport would drive the newspapers out of business. At times like this one it makes perfect sense.
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The print product's relevance is shrinking, so why cause it to shrink even further by creating a situation that forces deadlines even earlier? What little news there is in the paper becomes that much more stale.
It's not a loaf of bread we're talking about here. You can't refrigerate it in Tupelo and have it still be as fresh when it hits the street in Memphis.
The CA's shelf-life is a nano-second. And by cutting their reporting staff to the bare bones, they don't have the muscle to consistently provide the kind of content that survives past a news cycle.
Does this mean there will be home delivery in Tupelo now? Itawamba County isn't in the Memphis DMA.
Strike that... Tupelo is in Lee County. My bad. Still not in the Memphis DMA, tho.
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