Another major American publisher with a non-media owner is making a commitment to the future of printed newspapers.
Notice has been served on the venerable and once-bright yellow Goss press that prints the Boston Globe with the acquisition of a building to accommodate its move and print technology update. The former New York Times operation - now owned by Red Sox and Liverpool FC owner John W. Henry - will update press and mailroom technology with a move out to the southern suburb of Taunton.
Purchase of the 31,000 m2 building for US$20.3 million was completed last week, with plans to have new press equipment running there by early 2017. It will also print the New York Times, the Boston Herald - which shut down its own plant in 2008 - and other papers.
Chief executive Mike Sheehan says the move will lead to a far more efficient printing operation. Currently about 1000 of the Globe's 1900 full and part-time staff work in production-related roles.
"It's a critical pillar in our future, the ability to produce newspapers faster, more efficiently, and at lower cost," he says.
Local businessman Henry bought the 143-year-old newspaper and its nearby Worcester Telegram & Gazette title, websites and direct mail business - plus a half share in the Metro Boston newspaper - in 2013 for $70 million from the New York Times Company, which had owned it for 20 years.
Pictured: The Boston Globe press in 2009 (Picture Globe/John Blanding)