The State to add newsroom jobs, move printing to Charlotte

Twelve new reporting positions will be added in South Carolina this summer, including six at The State, The McClatchy Co. announced Wednesday as part of a series of major moves.

The State will beef up its investigative and state government teams, restore previously lost business coverage and add a presence in both Greenville and Charleston, according to publisher Rodney Mahone.

The investment in local journalism is significant given the core financial challenges the newspaper industry has battled in its digital transformation and new pressures from massive advertising revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new jobs will be paid for with savings expected from a consolidation of McClatchy’s printing facilities in the Carolinas.

That consolidation will not be painless. The State’s printing and packaging operations will move to Charlotte and Raleigh and 70 full-time and 65 part-time employees in the department will be laid off by July, Mahone said. Those employees were notified Wednesday.

“This was a difficult decision,” Mahone said. “The production department has been an industry leader in quality and productivity. However, this partnering with sister operations lets us bolster our journalism efforts and digital subscription strategy while providing long-term cost savings.”

The change will not affect the time readers receive their paper at home, nor will it affect the current six-day publishing cycle, Mahone said.

The investment in journalism will, however, have a huge effect on the amount and quality of coverage readers will see, according to executive editor Brian Tolley.

“It’s an incredible commitment to journalism in South Carolina,” Tolley said. “And a gentle reminder to those aspiring to be the state’s newspaper that we are The State newspaper.”

Tolley said the addition of the new positions, which include five new Report for America positions in South Carolina announced previously, will be a game-changer for the company’s statewide reporting.

In addition to Columbia, McClatchy has newsrooms in Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and Rock Hill and reporters on the ground in Clemson and Beaufort. Adding Greenville and Charleston to the mix will create new opportunities for coverage, Tolley said. The Sun News in Myrtle Beach also will be getting three of the 12 additional reporters.

Earlier this month, the Charleston Post and Courier announced it will be hiring reporters in Greenville and Myrtle Beach. “It’s a win all around for news consumers,” Tolley said.

For The State, Wednesday’s news also means it will be moving from its home at 1401 Shop Road, where the paper has been printed since 1988. The State will vacate its location this fall and look for a new downtown location. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown many employees can work successfully outside an office setting, enabling the company to be extreme in its patience and safety measures, Mahone said.

While the newspaper will be printed in Charlotte, inserting operations will be done in the company’s Raleigh facility. As many as 80 part-time employees are expected to be added there, and three full-time positions will be added in Charlotte, Mahone said.

The consolidation of printing facilities has become a common move in the industry to reduce expenses to help offset revenue losses, Mahone said. Columbia was one of only five remaining printing operations in McClatchy, which owns 30 newspapers.

This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 4:49 PM.