'Indianapolis Star' Plant to Print Marion, Ind., 'Chronicle-Tribune'

By: E&P Staff The Marion, Ind., Chronicle-Tribune has announced it will close its pressroom in January, when printing will move to Indianapolis. News and business operations will remain in Marion.

Thanks to deliveries of the Indianapolis Star to Marion, subscribers are expected to continue receiving the morning Chronicle-Tribune by 6:00. The change, however, will eliminate 41 jobs, 18 of which are full-time positions, the paper reported yesterday.

Approximately 70 miles from Marion, the Star plant already also prints The Star Press, based in Muncie. All are Gannett dailies. In contrast to the Chronicle-Tribune's 35-year-old Goss Urbanite offset press, the Star's newer, larger press will allow more and better color to appear in the Marion paper. Operations Director Gary Stofer, whose tenure with the Chronicle-Tribune dates from letterpress days, told his paper that it was the state's first "to run a process color picture on Page One every day."

Citing concern for her 17,278-circulation paper's "long-term financial health," Chronicle-Tribune President and Publisher Juli Metzger said, "like many companies in Marion, it's been a tough few years."

The paper quoted its publisher saying that "without substantive commercial work to augment our daily operation, it is no longer sound business practice to continue the printing operation in Marion."