PROVIDENCE
– The Providence Journal's printing facility will shutter in March, resulting in 136 people losing their jobs, newspaper owner Gannett Co. announced on Tuesday.
The closure, announced through a Providence Journal article, will impact full and part-time employees involved the newspaper's printing and packaging processes, according to Gannett, with "eligible employees" receiving a severance package.
Responding to a Providence Business News inquiry, Gannett declined to specify how many of the 136 employees are eligible for severance packages, or details on what their compensation will include.
"The decision to close our printing facility in Providence was prompted by an insurmountable supply chain issue," an unnamed Gannett spokesperson said via email. "The press utilizes specific plates produced by a single manufacturer, who will be discontinuing their production
– rendering our press inoperable.
"Our commitment to the community is unwavering and the staff at The Providence Journal will continue to provide readers with quality, local content that matters most to them, and to connect our valued advertising partners with the customers they want to reach," the statement continued. "We deeply appreciate the many years of service our valued colleagues have dedicated to our Providence facility and the local community."
Gannett declined to provide comment beyond this statement and information shared in
the Journal's article.
The Journal's offices at 75 Fountain St. will not be impacted by the closure of the Kinsley Street production facility, according to Gannett.
The Journal will print in New Jersey following the facility's closure, while other Gannett newspapers currently printed in Providence will shift to the company's Auburn, Mass., press.
Lynne M. Sullivan, the Journal's regional executive editor, directed PBN to Gannett for all media inquiries.
The Journal opened its printing facility in 1987, a $60 million undertaking. The facility also prints Gannett-owned USA Today and the following regional publications:
- Worcester Telegram & Gazette
- The Brockton Enterprise
- The Cape Cod Times The
- Fall River Herald News
- MetroWest Daily News (Sunday)
- The New Bedford Standard-Times
- The Newport Daily News
- The Norwich Bulletin
- The Quincy Patriot Ledger
- The Taunton Gazette
- The Boston Herald*
- The Hartford Courant*
- The New York Daily News*
*Printed on a contract basis
GateHouse Media, which merged with Gannett in 2019, purchased The Providence Journal in 2014. The largest newspaper chain owner in the U.S., Gannett counts The Newport Daily News, The Cape Cod Times, The Taunton Gazette, The Herald News in Fall River, The Worcester Telegram, and The Standard-Times in New Bedford among its other regional publications.
On Oct. 31 Gannett, reported a loss of $19.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, an increase from the $2.6 million loss in the same period one year prior.
Revenue for the quarter totaled $612.4 million, down from $653 million one-year prior.
Same-store revenue decreased 5.3% year over year to $608.7 million, including a 5.8% decline in same-store digital revenue to $274.6 million.
(UPDATE: Results from Gannett's third quarter earnings added in 12th, 13th and 14th paragraphs)
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
I knew when Gannett acquired the Providence Journal that such an action was inevitable. Gannett is the furthest thing from good journalism especially when you consider their offering of USA Today; pablum and mediocrity at its best. The Providence Journal was great when it was in the hands of local interests. When that changed it was curtains for the paper accelerated by the internet’s negative impact on legacy media.