Local Newspaper Gets Rid Of Production Department, 26 Jobs Lost

By: Kara Duffy - Email

Updated: Wed 12:03 AM, Oct 03, 2012

Albany, GA - The publisher of the Albany Herald out of Albany, Georgia, announced it's making cuts to their press and mailroom departments.

That means 26 production employees will be out of a job.

Kim Pate has been a long time production employee at the Herald. He said, "I think a lot of them are just shocked. I mean, there wasn't a warning ahead of time really, because they didn't want to cause panic, I guess."

As part of a new printing agreement with Gannett Corporation, the paper will now be printed through the Tallahassee Democrat, which falls under the Gannett ownership.

John Hetzler, the publisher of the Albany Herald said, "This press was built in 1977 and for us to continue to maintain it would cost millions of dollars, millions of dollars that essentially a market this size, the newspaper is not going to produce to be able to justify that expense."

Hetzler says the shake-up is also needed to allow the Herald to compete in today's fast-paced marketplace.

"Things are going online, so we're running that balance like everybody seems to be in the media business; mostly print and then some online, so were just trying to balance that and for us to do that, we couldn't invest in the press," he said.

Pate added, "The economy changes, you kinda have to go with the flow. You don't make horse, whips and buggies anymore."

Employees at the Albany Herald will clock in for the last time on October 24.

The Tallahassee Democrat will then begin producing the Albany Herald on October 25.

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