MIDDLETOWN – A Middletown-based newspaper will be laying off 94 people in May. A state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification announced the job cuts.
The daily Times Herald-Record will be shutting down its Town of Wallkill printing plant and shifting operations to a sister newspaper production facility in Rockaway, New Jersey.
According to a memo to the employees from parent company Local Media Group, Inc., the terminations will begin on May 10 and continue over a 14-day period. “We anticipate that these separations, when finalized, will be permanent,” wrote company Human Resources Director Gretchen Pina-Breedy.
Other newspapers in the area that historically printed on-site, early transitioned to printing elsewhere.
The consolidations are seen as cost-cutting measures.
The popularity of Internet-based publications has taken its toll on print media as more and more people read their news online, leading to reduced newspaper circulation and revenue.