Orlando Sentinel To Shutter Production Facility

The Orlando Sentinel Media Group said Wednesday that the newspaper and other products will be printed at GateHouse Media plants in Daytona Beach and Lakeland.

The decision to outsource printing, packaging and transportation to GateHouse came after months of discussions between the two companies.

“This change does not affect our commitment to the comprehensive local coverage and service that Orlando Sentinel readers and advertisers expect,” Sentinel Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Avido Khahaifa said.

The Sentinel will eliminate 89 full-time and 26 part-time positions involved with the printing and packaging of the daily newspaper, El Sentinel, and other print products in Orlando. The company will close its production facility, which is a separate building from the main office at 633 N. Orange Ave.

The newsroom, advertising and some other services are not affected by the agreement and will stay in the main downtown Orlando office.

The move follows a national trend of newspapers outsourcing printing, the inserting of advertising circulars, and transportation to cut costs. With readers moving to online, companies are producing fewer print papers, opening up capacity at nearby printing facilities.

The Orlando Sentinel Media Group is part of tronc, a national media company formerly known as Tribune Publishing. Tronc includes the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers and websites.

GateHouse Media has 130 daily newspapers and more than 600 community publications in 36 states. In Florida, GateHouse’s papers include the Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Ledger in Lakeland.