In a move that we had predicted nearly two years ago might happen, Gannett newspapers today announced that effective August 1 of this year, The (Monroe) News-Star will be printed in at the company’s Shreveport, LA site where is also printed The (Shreveport) Times.

From Gannett Blog:

Louisiana’s Monroe News-Star said today that it would move its printing to The Times at Shreveport, effective Aug. 1. The switch will eliminate 12 full-time and 15 part-time jobs, the newspaper says in a story. The two cites are about 100 miles apart.

“New positions will be added in Shreveport with the consolidation,” the story says, “and Monroe employees will be given first option for those positions.”

The Times recently installed a Berliner press that produces a newspaper with an 18-inch depth. In addition, the Berliner press allows advertisers to place color advertising on every page, “which is important in today’s changing media environment,” the paper says.

Presumably, The News-Star will keep its office in Monroe open, but that could eventually change, with today’s technology that enables reporters to work from anywhere that WiFi internet coverage is available.

See our news story from 9/17/09.

Shreveport-Monroe Axis

Last month it was reported that The (Shreveport) Times started construction on a new printing press. This could portend consolidation of the Monroe-Shreveport Gannett Axis and eventually make The (Monroe) News-Star a bureau of Shreveport’s paper. Over the years, when the printing plants in either Monroe or Shreveport had problems, the other’s press took up the slack.