July 27, 2009 — Scripps, Tupelo, Miss., publisher discuss outsourcing Memphis printing

The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., could transfer printing and production to a new facility operated by Journal Publishing Co. Inc. in Tupelo, Miss.
JPC, which publishes The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and other papers, contacted The Commercial Appeal earlier this year to determine if it might be interested in having the daily produced and packaged in Tupelo, according to a memo written by Daniel Connolly, president of the Memphis Newspaper Guild.
E.W. Scripps, which owns The Commercial Appeal, has been evaluating what to do with its 30-year-old presses for years. The paper cut the web width of its four Goss International Metro presses from 50 inches to 46 inches last year and it also upgraded DC drives. The Commercial Appeal also evaluated cutoff modification services from Goss and Pressline Services Inc. to determine if it could do anything about the machines’ 23 9/16-inch cutoff in order to gain other operational and newsprint savings, according to the memo.
But the costs associated with modifying the machines — pegged at about $25 million, Connolly wrote — made the project unfeasible.
Replacing the older presses with new machines was also rejected by Scripps, which just finished spending almost $100 million for a new plant and building for the Naples (Fla.) Daily News.
Connolly said no decision has yet been made, but that JPC Publisher Clay Foster wanted to get a response by Scripps by Aug. 15.
JPC would have to substantially upgrade its production capabilities to produce The Commercial Appeal. The company currently operates a Goss Urbanite singlewide press. It would also have to juggle production in order to ensure that delivery to Memphis — some 110 miles from Tupelo — would be guaranteed.
If The Commercial Appeal does opt to shift production to JPC, the soonest the transfer could occur would be in late 2010, the memo said.
Neither Scripps nor JPC executives would comment on negotiations.