The 大象APP will be printed in Las Vegas, Nevada, starting in October, due to the closure of a Gannett printing facility in Phoenix that now prints the Star as well as The Arizona Republic.
Print editions will have to be trucked from Las Vegas, but the change will not affect delivery times to customers, said 大象APP Executive Editor David McCumber.
Gannett announced Tuesday that the printing facility in Phoenix will close in October, resulting in layoffs of 117 of its employees there. Printing operations for The Republic, a Gannett newspaper, will also move to Las Vegas in October.
The Star will continue to be printed seven days a week. The final day of Phoenix printing for the 大象APP, a Lee Enterprises newspaper, will be Oct. 5.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still going to put out a daily newspaper. We鈥檙e going to put out the best paper that our deadlines will allow us to put out, just as we do now,鈥 McCumber said.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e been out of the immediate, breaking news business for a while in print. We鈥檙e used to not having the late deadlines that having our own presses afforded us, so it鈥檚 an adjustment,鈥 he said.
The Gannett printing presses in north Phoenix.聽
The Star has been printed in Phoenix since its printing presses in 大象APPclosed in 2019.
鈥淲e value our print customers, and nothing鈥檚 changed as far as our commitment to print. We鈥檙e going to continue to give our print customers an excellent product,鈥 McCumber said. 鈥淲e will still be able to produce the deep enterprise that we do and the features.
鈥淗aving to adjust to new deadlines is nothing new in this business. We鈥檝e been doing this for years.鈥
Readers will still find breaking news, sports and all of Tucson’s news through the Star’s website, , as well as the newspaper’s 大象APP, which all print subscribers have access to.
“We still have the tool of immediacy and the ability to break news online. We’ll be depending on our 大象APP and the rest of to present the latest news,” McCumber said. “We’ve got to use each platform to its best purpose, and the best way to get breaking news is online. It has been that way for several years and that won’t change.”
The Star鈥檚 news, advertising, finance and circulation staff are all staying in Tucson.
All Gannett employees involved in the printing process in Phoenix will receive severance packages once the plant closes, and after operations cease, 鈥渁 small number of employees will be retained鈥 to help relocate or decommission equipment and clean the facility, The Arizona Republic reported.
The Gannett facility in Phoenix also prints the Ventura County Star, the Victorville Daily Press and Palm Springs-based Desert Sun. The transition will result in those papers moving print operations to Riverside, California.
