CHARLOTTETOWN - Page building and pre-press operations for Transcontinental Media's Maritime newspapers will be housed under one roof in a unique specialized centre in Charlottetown by year-end, the company announced Wednesday.
"The goal here is to improve and simplify the technical side of the newspaper production, while increasing efficiency," said Richard Russell, publisher of the Amherst Daily News. "The move will also allow local reporters and editors to concentrate on news gathering rather than production."
The new centre will offer specialized services with state-of-the-art equipment that will allow local newspaper employees to concentrate and focus on publishing and providing quality local content, while the technical aspects will be managed by the centre.
Among the other papers included in the move are: The Citizen, The Springhill Record, Sackville Tribune Post, Truro Daily News, The News in New Glasgow and several other daily and weekly newspapers that fall under the company's media umbrella in the three Maritime provinces.
The transfer of all the newspaper pre-press operations will be starting in March 2010.
Staffing levels will increase at the new centre as the newspaper operations are gradually transferred throughout the year. The new positions created at the centre will be offered to the employees of the local newspapers holding similar positions.
As always, Transcontinental Media's commitment is to better serve its customers and stay ahead in an ever-changing market.
The creation of similar centres in other provinces has proven to be very effective, as the overall quality of the products improved significantly where processes were simplified.
Transcontinental Media is a subsidiary of Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B), with operations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, with revenues of $2.4 billion in 2008.
