Industry News

After contracting with new press, South Jetty changes print day

PORT ARANSAS - The South Jetty has a new press schedule and publication day for its print product.

The newspaper goes on newsstands late Thursday afternoon with subscribers receiving their papers in the mail on Fridays.

The South Jetty has been printed at the McAllen Monitor press since 2023. But that press no longer is an option. The Monitor’s ownership recently began outsourcing print operations to Reynosa, Mexico, just across the border from McAllen.

“After getting word of the change, the South Jetty explored the possibility of using various Texas presses, but going with the press in Reynosa appears to be our best choice, both from an economic standpoint and a logistical point of view,” said Kelli Hartig, general manager and co-publisher of the South Jetty.

Since its founding in 1971, the South Jetty has been printed in various cities.

The earliest editions of the paper we reprinted in Austin and then in Corpus Christi. Later locations included the Victoria Advocate, an offshoot of the Advocate called Ad Graphics and The Port Lavaca Wave.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times began printing the South Jetty in 2011. After the Caller-Times shut down its Corpus Christi press and began printing in Houston, the South Jetty switched to the McAllen Monitor in spring 2023.

Many printing presses have closed all over the U.S. in recent years for a variety of reasons, including increasing appetites for digital news and the rising cost of printing.

The South Jetty produces both a print version and a web version of the paper, www.portasouthjetty.com.

In its 54 years in existence, the paper never has missed printing an edition, even during the aftermath of Hurricane

Harvey. The monster storm devastated Port Aransas in 2017, when staffers operated from a variety of remote locations until facilities were restored in their town. During the massive cold front and power/internet outages in 2021, staffers set up shop in a Corpus Christi apartment to get that week’s edition out.

More Texas City Sun editions digitized with grant

TEXAS CITY - Moore Memorial Library has been awarded nearly $50,000 in grant funding from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for the second consecutive year, making available local newspaper coverage of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and the space race.

With the grant, the library will digitize microfilm of the Texas City Sun newspapers from 1960-1971, making them accessible and searchable. Last year’s grant was used for a similar purpose, digitizing decades’ worth of newspapers, some of which date back to the early 1900s.

Between the two grants, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has awarded Moore Memorial Public Library nearly $100,000 to not only help preserve Texas City’s history, but to make it fully accessible.

In 2023, The Daily News, Galveston, transferred a microfilm archive of the Texas City Sun dating back to the early

1900s to the Moore Library. The Daily News became custodian of the archive through a merger nearly 20 years earlier.

“Historic newspapers are important primary source materials to genealogists, historians, researchers and community members because they provide a snapshot in time that chronicles events, places and people important to its citizens,” Theresa Mayfield, local history librarian, said.

Houston County News launches weekly podcast

CROCKETT – The Houston County Messenger has launched a weekly podcast called Houston County News featuring interviews with local news makers and public officials.

Podcast guest have included the county judge, police chief, the city administrator and a local pastor.

In addition to interviews, there are opportunities for local businesses to become sponsors, for residents to announce important events and for readers and listeners to submit news, according to reporter Greg Ritchie.

New shows are released each Sunday morning on the Houston County Messenger’s Facebook page and on the newspaper’s website.

Enterprise newspapers change printing to plant in Mexico

HEBBRONVILLE - Publisher Poncho Hernandez announced the Jim Hogg County Enterprise and the Duval County Enterprise will change page counts as the result of changing printing plants, following the closure of the Monitor press in McAllen. 

Press configuration at the Mexico plant means the newspaper cannot continue six-page editions but must go with four or eight pages. The newspapers publish on Wednesdays and deadlines are not affected, Hernandez said. 

News Industry Mega-Conference returns to Austin in 2026

The 2026 News Industry Mega-Conference will be held March 30 - April 1 at the Austin Marriott Downtown in Austin.

The conference will open with a welcome reception on the evening of Monday, March 30. Sessions will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, ending on Wednesday afternoon.

America’s Newspapers and the News/Media Alliance sponsor the event, which focuses on key industry topics ranging from advertising and reader revenue to digital and industry innovation. Publishers are encouraged to attend with their key department heads.

For more information, visit www.mega-conference.com.