News Corp to Shift Printing of Publications to Plant in Queens; Will Close Its Print Facility in the Bronx

News Corp plans to shift the printing of several of its publications in New York to a different facility in the city, a move that it says will help cut costs for the production of print editions of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and the New York Post.

Under the change, the publications will be printed at The New York Times’ College Point plant in Queens, which also already prints Newsday, a daily newspaper serving Long Island. The relocation to Queens will result in the closure of the company’s 400,000-sq.-ft. printing facility located on a 16-acre site in the Port Morris section of the Bronx, where the publications have been printed since 2001. The Bronx facility reportedly employs more than 500 workers.

News Corp has notified the leadership of the unions representing the employees at the Bronx printing location about the plan, and said it is entering into negotiations with the unions representing workers there. According to the New York Post, approximately 400 people could eventually be impacted by the printing plant closure, noting that the transfer might not happen until early 2021. 

John Heffernan, president of the the Allied Printing Trades Council, called the plant closing a “tragedy” and said he would have preferred that management explore the option of  performing outside commercial work rather than closing the [Bronx] plant, the New York Post indicated. “We will be looking to transfer displaced workers to the NYT as was done when the Times previously procured production of Newsday,” Heffernan told the Post.

The Bronx printing plant produces daily print copies of the Journal and the Post, along with Barron’s weekly. All three are also printed in a number of other locations around the country. The Journal and The New York Times are currently printed together at plants in Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, and California.

“This is a difficult but important step towards safeguarding our journalism and securing the printing of our publications well into the future,” Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said. “We have been moving rapidly to a more digital environment, and while demand for digital is growing, we also serve an important community of loyal readers who love the print experience. We’re committed to providing customers with our trusted news and analysis in the format they prefer.”

News Corp indicated it will be examining options for the future of the Bronx printing plant.

News Corp also said the decision to close the printing site is part of its ongoing process to simplify the structure of the company, which sold its News America Marketing and Unruly businesses within the past year. In August, News Corp began presenting Dow Jones as a separate segment in its quarterly earnings announcements for the first time. Dow Jones produces the Journal and Barron’s, as well as Factiva, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, and Dow Jones Newswires.