'It's been a good ride.' Indianapolis press prints its final edition Sunday
The newspaper printer is a dying breed. “I’m the end of the line,” says Indianapolis Star pressroom employee David Sullivan, whose grandfather, father and uncles all worked on the presses too. The Gannett Publishing Services pressman has worked on the Indianapolis presses for 43 years.
It was a different era when he started. The presses were at the Indianapolis Newspapers downtown offices on Pennsylvania Street. Families helped families get hired for lifetime careers. Those not related became family, too. Not only at work, but at the Fourth Estate — a park with basketball courts, baseball fields, a pool and picnic areas, that the Pulliam family provided for employees.
As Star/News staff left the downtown offices at night, they could hear the rumble of the presses below them, printing the next day’s paper. But those presses closed in 2001, and work was transferred to the Pulliam Production Center at 8278 N. Georgetown Road.
With the advance of technology, many things have changed in the newspaper industry. Of course, the biggest impact has been the shift from reading a physical newspaper to getting news online. Older readers still reminisce about the love of holding the newspaper in their hands.
In 2001, the Pulliam Production Center started using its new state-of-the-art, $72 million presses, by printing numerous papers including The Indianapolis Star. On Sunday night, April 7, 2024, the last Indianapolis Star, for Monday April 8, 2024, will be printed at Georgetown Road. Moving forward, the newspaper will be printed in Peoria, Illinois.
Matt King, pressroom associate manager, remembers starting in advertising services, in 1985, with his mom, who was the first female advertising manager. Three or four versions of The Indianapolis News, the evening paper, were printed during the day. He remembers the guy selling papers on the street, hawking “Extra, Extra!” He has seen the change of an industry, “It’s a whole different world.” The Indianapolis News was combined with the Indianapolis Star and closed in 1999.
Machinist Kenny Rock has worked at the Star for about 50 years. He started in the spring of 1973 working in the downtown mailroom for three shifts while in high school. He said at the time it was the highest paying part-time job in Indiana. He got paid $5 an hour. Minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. He then was a copy messenger for the Star Editorial Department. He went into the Air Force and then worked as a machine repair apprentice in the pressroom where his father worked. He learned along the way in classes and on-the-job and became a machinist.
Some of the printers have spent their lives doing the work. Others only a short time. But with dedication, professionalism and even humor, the PPC and its staff end their time in history, even as they print their own story.
“It’s been a good ride,” sums up Rock, who will retire with the PPC.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis press to print its final edition on April 7, 2024
