The South Bend Tribune next month will stop using its own presses to print the daily newspaper and will instead rely on a printing facility near Grand Rapids, Mich.
The move, to take effect June 27, means the Tribune will shutter the presses at its downtown building. In addition, about 15 full-time employees and 40 part-timers will no longer be employed at the newspaper.
The Tribune will still publish seven days a week and subscribers will not see a change in their delivery times.
"We will still deliver a newspaper every day, we will still provide comprehensive news to our readers and we will continue to serve our advertisers," said Publisher Sally Brown. "This was a difficult decision because some co-workers will lose their jobs. But the South Bend Tribune will still deliver top-notch service and coverage."
Brown said The Tribune, while still providing a strong print publication, also will continue to focus attention on its web sites, apps, social media outlets and e-edition (a digital reproduction of the newspaper's pages).
The board of directors of Schurz Communications, The Tribune's parent company, made the decision to outsource printing operations after careful debate about the impact on employees and the paper's long history of running a press facility in South Bend.
Newspapers across the country have made similar decisions in recent years, as the industry looks for ways to operate more efficiently and combat drops in revenue, and to continue transitioning to digital platforms.