I received a notice last week that Color Web Printers in Cedar Rapids was shutting down its newspaper printing operations effective Aug. 31. The printing of the Cedar Rapids Gazette — which has been viewed by many as the best daily newspaper in the state — and its affiliated publications will be moved to the Des Moines Register printing plant.
This is sad news in the publishing world, especially for the 34 full-time and eight part-time employees at the Color Web print facility. It is also sad for the employees of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, as well as its subscribers. Regardless of what the parent company Folience claims, having another 90 minutes from the time a daily newspaper goes to press to the time it can be read in the marketplace is not good. Just ask a Des Moines Register subscriber, if you can find one.
A longstanding joke in our industry is that freedom of the press belongs to those who own one. But in recent decades, owning a press was no longer a necessity to publishing. Commercial printers were eager to seek out print jobs while investing in better printing and production equipment.
We used Color Web printers for most of our printing in our early years. They were good people who did quality work. We started sending them so much business that they needed to deliver it back to us in two trucks rather than one, and they doubled our transportation costs. The logic of charging a customer more for sending too much business their way didn't make sense to me. They should have found a bigger truck and kept finding ways to take on more of our business. We located another printer with leaders who had this philosophy. That lack of customer-based thinking may be what led to the demise of Color Web. Or it may simply be the absorption of some of the revenue declines from the Gazette. Folience says it is due to “increased printing consolidation industrywide and the end of several long-term printing contracts.” Who knows? Regardless, I am sure it wasn’t an easy decision.
Back to the freedom of the press belonging to those who own one. This is where it starts to get scary — and monopolistic. Local newspaper and magazine publishers like us have few options for printers today, especially those of us who need web printing. It is concerning to think that The Des Moines Register and its parent company (Gannett or Gatehouse or whatever it is now) will be able to decide who to print for, what to print and how much to charge.
There was a time when The Des Moines Register was viewed as a helpful “big brother” by publishers across the state. Those days are gone, as the Register is now run by out-of-staters who don’t know Algona from Altoona. That’s not good for any of us. Let’s hope that the difficult changes made by the Gazette’s parent company will ensure a stronger future for that newspaper, its employees, its readers and the local businesses who rely on it for timely news and advertising.
Enjoy your Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com | 
