The Herald Stops the Presses

In this age of Kindles and endless news updates on the web, it’s easy to forget that the news day typically starts with a print edition. You know, the thing made of mushed-up trees that makes your fingers all inky when you read it.

For decades, the Herald printed its papers at One Herald Square. But that tradition will end sometime in the fall when presses in Chicopee and Norwood will take over. The move will cost as many as 160 jobs.

Aren’t soul-crushing downsizing announcements supposed to come out at the end of the week?

A Dow Jones Co. plant in Chicopee will print the paper every day except Friday, when a Norwood press owned by Boston Offset will produce it.

[Herald president and publisher Pat] Purcell said he doesn’t expect the move to cause difficulty in getting late-breaking news and game scores into the newspaper. “There was some question about the impact of the distance [from Chicopee to Boston] on our delivery. There’s a perception that this is going to be difficult, but by and large there aren’t that many editions that will be negatively impacted by this move.”

We’re not so much worried about the information making it into the paper—we are pretty familiar with the concept of the internet, after all.

What does concern us is the idea that our copy of the Herald getting tied up in a wicked traffic jam on the Pike. Chicopee isn’t exactly close to Boston. And, unlike the Globe, the Herald doesn’t provide a handy rundown of all the items that appeared in the print edition online, so we use the print edition as a road map for the tabloid’s infuriating website.

If we have to wait until the morning traffic crush eases up to get our fix of pervs and hero worship, we’re going to be mighty cranky.