Changes At Desert Sun Not Expected To Impact News Coverage

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Gannett, the parent company of The Desert Sun, is moving the paper's printing operations to its Phoenix press facility in mid-September, the newspaper reported Thursday.

The Desert Sun, which has been in business since 1927, has been printed at the paper's Gene Autry Trail headquarters in Palm Springs since 1989. Despite this change, much about what the newspaper does will remain the same: Its news and advertising staff will remain in the Coachella Valley, and the paper will still publish seven days a week.

About three dozen affected full-time and part-time employees have been notified, the Sun reported. The company will work to connect employees with local resources to assist with their search for new employment, and opportunities will be made available to them, if possible, at other locations.

The Desert Sun is owned by Gannett, the parent company for USA TODAY NETWORK, which comprises USA TODAY and some 260 daily publications. Production consolidations and partnerships have become common in the news industry and Gannett has contracted to produce newspapers for other companies across the U.S. It has also outsourced production and packaging services where partnerships make financial sense. The company's press facility in Phoenix is one of the largest Gannett printing sites nationwide.

Each night after Phoenix finishes printing The Desert Sun, those papers will be brought by truck to the Sun's facilities in Palm Springs, where they'll be distributed to carriers as usual.

"Fortunately, the highway from Phoenix to Palm Springs rarely is affected by weather or other emergencies," the Sun reported.