ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has amplified the already growing trend toward digital media and continues to force the Tampa Bay Times to restructure its operations.
The Times has announced it will close its St. Pete production facility and outsource newspaper printing operations to a Gannett plant in Lakeland, beginning in March.
In this transition, about 150 employees, who have already received a 60-day notice, will lose their jobs. The remaining employees will take a 10 percent pay cut for up to six months, while Times chairman and CEO Paul Tash will reduce his own salary by 20 percent, the newspaper wrote.
The Times has occupied its 27-acre 34th St. N campus for 61 years, where it has been previous recognized for award-winning, high-quality printing.
The consolidation comes after the Times reduced its print editions to two days a week at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in response to "steep advertising declines."
In its new article announcing the more recent changes, the Times says it will focus on growing its digital products.
“The news business was already shifting toward digital delivery, and the pandemic put that change into overdrive,” said Tash to the Times. “This is a hard decision, and we feel it keenly. But it helps position the Times for the future as a vibrant news company in a media landscape that is increasingly digital.”
The newspaper's printing operations will be in good company at Gannett, as the Lakeland plant already prints publications like the Orlando Sentinel, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
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