The Texarkana Gazette announced to its staff Monday that it would move its printing operation to Little Rock in mid-January. The paper will then be printed at the same facility where the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is printed.
The management of the Texarkana Gazette and WEHCO Media Inc. corporate officials, after consideration of needed equipment upgrades, made the decision to move printing operations to Little Rock where the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The SentinelRecord of Hot Springs are already printed.
The Little Rock facility provides a state of the art direct-to-plate process with two presses that can handle more sections in a single run than possible with current operations in Texarkana. The move will also provide more color capability.
This change may in some instances impact the newspaper's ability to get late or late breaking news in the newspaper. In such situations, this news will be posted on the Gazette website, and alerts will go out on Facebook and Twitter sending readers to a direct link.
"We look forward to the possibility of future improvements to our product that this move will provide for our readers and advertisers," said Terri Leifeste, president of Palmer Newspapers and general manager of the Gazette. "Our readers will continue to be served by our local news and advertising staffs, the only difference will be a better product with more color availability. Today, more than ever, the ability to provide visual appeal in print products is important and we plan to take advantage of the opportunities to do just that."
According to corporate officials, the 17 members of the Gazette press and mailroom crew will receive severance packages and will be offered the opportunity to apply for positions at the Little Rock facility and efforts will be made to help them locate other work.