“All roles” at Australian Community Media’s (ACM) Rocherlea Print Centre will be made redundant in one month’s time as the publisher proposes to permanently close the facility.
The Examiner and The Advocate newspapers have been printed locally for decades, but rising costs and changing readership numbers mean rival News Corp will print the titles in Hobart from July 1.
Employees of the Rocherlea printing press were told of the decision late on Wednesday.
A “strictly confidential” FAQ document handed to staff and seen by Pulse said “all staff based at the Launceston print site”, approximately 29, would be impacted by the proposed closure.
“The costs of running this manufacturing operation have become challenging for our business and the alternative available to us provides a better commercial outcome while allowing us to focus on our core publishing business and meet the changing demands of our audiences and customers,” ACM managing director Tony Kendall said.
“I can assure you that we are not stepping away from publishing printed copies of our long-standing newspapers … which will continue to be printed in Tasmania and distributed across the state’s north and north-west.”
He pointed to several industry challenges that have impacted the company’s bottom line, including soaring newsprint prices, rising production and distribution costs, shifting advertising trends and a recent news funding announcement from Meta.
Kendall acknowledged the closure was a “difficult decision” to make for the impacted staff given the “rich and proud history of printing The Examiner, which stretches back to 1842”.
Management encouraged employees to provide feedback on the changes before June 11, when a “final decision” is set to be made.
The decision to close the facility will also impact several other community newspapers printed at the ACM site, including the Tasmanian Country, North Eastern Advertiser, Western Echo and King Island Courier.
Pulse has contacted affected community newspapers for comment.