The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin’s local printing press will shut down in mid-September, but a physical newspaper will continue to reach subscribers three days a week.
The Lewiston Tribune will take over the printing of the Seattle Times Company-owned newspaper, starting with the Sept. 17 edition.
“We suffered some staffing departures, and that made it difficult to continue operating the press,” said Greg Halling, senior news director at Seattle Times affiliate newspapers. “The cost of operating the press is growing considerably.
“So, from a staffing and a financial standpoint, in the end it just wasn’t sustainable.”
The Union-Bulletin first used its current printing press in December 2020 after the company bought it from the East Oregonian. The new equipment brought in revenue for the company through commercial print contracts.
“Our largest commercial print customer drastically cut back their printing over the last year, which significantly reduced revenue for commercial print,” said Charles Horton III, the senior director of operations and affiliates at The Seattle Times Company, in an interview with the Union-Bulletin.
The company offered severance packages to the employees losing their jobs, the U-B reported.
The newsroom will remain intact, Halling told NWPB.
“We’re going to continue on our Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday publication schedule,” he said.
News, advertising and customer service will remain in the U-B office building on South First Avenue in Walla Walla, he said.
“The Union-Bulletin is not going away,” he said. “It’s just being printed elsewhere.”
Halling noted that the U-B has one of the largest newsrooms in southeast Washington.
“People who love the Union-Bulletin and people who are worried about its future — I mean, they understand the value of local news, and we will continue to provide that local news, but we need the public’s support,” Halling said.
“We need people to subscribe, we need people to take digital subscriptions, we need people to advertise,” he continued. “We need all of those things to support newsroom operations at the Union-Bulletin.”
Read the audio transcript here.
