CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — “You see it coming,” Robert Muilenburg, journalism professor at Del Mar College Times said. “When it finally happens, it breaks your heart.”
A heart taken out of a city it has called home for nearly 140 years.
“That wasn’t just taking away the press from the Caller-Times,” he said. “That is taking away the press from this local community.”
In January, Gannet announced it would move the Caller-Times printing operations to Houston.
This would not only affect the caller but a lot of the local small weekly publications such as the student-run paper ‘The Foghorn’ at Del Mar College.
“We had to find a new printer with about two weeks' notice so it was just done and it was shocking,” Muilenburg said.
His first time outside the government journalism career actually started at the Caller-Times.
Gannet shutting down publishing in Corpus Christi is a move countless papers are making across the country as people turn more to their smartphones for news.
“I’m always pushing my students to think digital-first,” Muilenburg said.
He added the content is the same it’s just the ever-changing avenues where people get their information.
“If it’s a news story, is it complete and sufficient?” he said. “It needs to go online. It needs to go out as soon as possible.”
But there are casualties in the move to the digital age.
According to an article released by the Caller-Times Thursday, 20 production employees will lose their job when print operations move to Houston.
“My heart goes out to them,” Muilenburg said. “These guys have been doing this job for you know a lot of time a thankless job for thirty years and then it’s just gone.”
He said the consolidating is nothing new, it’s just the news business.
“I just hope now that maybe they’ve taken overhead,” he added. “They can take some resources, coverage, and staffing things that they’ve already been gutting.”
The relocation of the presses will cause the Caller to change their deadlines but it shouldn’t affect the Sunday through Friday delivery times.
