BDN To Lay Off 27, Print Paper Elsewhere

The Bangor Daily News will lay off 27 employees as it closes down its printing plant in Hampden later this year.  According to an article in the BDN, in the past twenty years or so, print circulation of the newspaper has dropped from 85,000 to 47,000. The BDN claims that its digital audience now far outnumbers its print audience.

The Bangor Daily News has struck deals with various media partners to have the paper printed elsewhere.  In September, the BDN will begin to be printed by Sun Media Group, owner of the Lewiston Sun Journal among other publications.  Sun Media will then pass along some of the printing duties to Alliance Press, a company in Brunswick.  The paper will also be printed by Northeast Publishing Company, a printing company in Presque Isle.

The employees from the Hampden facility that will lose their jobs will receive a "comprehensive severance package" which includes severance pay, extended health insurance and retaining by the Maine Career Center.  Displaced employees will also be considered for any new job openings at the companies that will soon be printing the Bangor Daily News.