• by Ray Schultz , March 10, 2024

The Los Angeles Times has shuttered its Olympic printing plant, with the last print run scheduled for Sunday. 

The paper will now outsource its printing to the Southern California Newspaper Group in Riverside, according to a story in the Times. 

“Technology and economics have changed dramatically, and we’re transitioning to a new era for our business,” said Chris Argentieri president and chief operating officer of the Times, in a statement, according to the Times. 

The Times says paying rent on the plant “has become untenable.”

It is not clear how many jobs will be lost. Printers at the $230 million facility, which opened in 1990, were informed 16 months ago that it would be closed, but Adam Lee, 46, was described as one of the few people with a new job lined up.

Another printer, Emmett Jaime, 56, said he planned to take some time off before looking for a new position. Others wondered if they should retire. 

Newcomers were once told by old-timers that they would have a job for life. 

However, “they have watched as their crews have been cut, three shifts reduced to one,” the Times writes. “They once printed other papers besides The Times, and those have gone elsewhere.”

The final print runs were down to 100,000+ copies.