Daily Journal transitioning to local print operation
Once the newly installed printing press at the Daily Journal’s Park Hills office is up and running next week, publication of the Daily Journal, Democrat News and Farmington Press will be performed in-house. Stephanie Kim
By Stephanie Kim
Printing press installed at Park Hills office
While the Daily Journal and its sister publications have gone through quite a few changes in recent months since its acquisition by Better Newspapers Inc., readers will become aware of one of the most visible changes to all three papers starting next week.
In 2008, printing for the Daily Journal, Farmington Press and Democrat News newspapers ended in Farmington and were moved to St. Louis.
The exciting news is that a printing press has once again been installed at the Daily Journal office in Park Hills, and a new press crew has been hired to take on the task of local printing.
Publication of all three newspapers will take place at the Daily Journal office beginning next week. One physical change that will be noticed immediately by our readers is that the newspaper’s pages will be 1.5 inches wider than before.
Daily Journal pressman Jeff Keathley, who has worked most of his life in the printing business, is among the recently hired crew members.
“I got into printing when I was 19 years old and started at Universal Printing in St. Louis,” he said. “I worked as a plate maker and press room operator and then a production coordinator. I worked there for about 13 years.”
Keathley took a short break from printing to work as a realtor but quickly found his way back into the printing world. He and his wife moved from Jefferson County to St. Francois County after the company he worked for closed down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Test runs for the new printing press are set to take place over the next few days in order to start printing locally with the Wednesday, Jan. 3 edition.
“We’re very excited to be moving our print operations to the Park Hills office,” said Daily Journal Publisher Greg Hoskins. “This marks the final break with the newspaper’s previous owner and puts us on a firm foundation for future growth in the years ahead.”
Stephanie Kim is the assistant editor of the Daily Journal. She can be reached at skim@dailyjourna- lonline.com.
