Stop the presses! Herald-Whig and Courier-Post will be printed in Jacksonville, not Quincy, ending 190 years of local publishing

July 24, 2025 | By J. Robert Gough, Publisher

The presses will no longer run much at 130 S. 5th St. in Quincy — Photo by Michele McCormack

QUINCY — Muddy River News reached out to Herald-Whig/Courier-Post Publisher Ann Blunt Thursday morning to confirm that the local newspapers would no longer be printing in Quincy.

While Blunt didn’t respond to the e-mail, her publication posted a news story Thursday afternoon confirming the papers would be printing in Jacksonville.

MRN told Blunt we would publish a story Friday, so they dropped their story Thursday without responding to our questions.

One source at The Herald-Whig, who is one of several employees losing their job as a result of this corporate decision, said “I guess they think they can save money this way.”

This was Blunt’s statement in the Whig and the Courier-Post:

“This isn’t an easy decision,” Blunt said. “But like many newspapers across the country, we’re adapting to industry realities. Centralized printing will allow us to operate more efficiently and invest more into journalism.”

In terms of journalism investment, there are three pressmen losing their jobs and some employees in the mailroom who will also be unemployed. The Herald-Whig recently laid off two newsroom employees, a managing editor and a sports reporter.

Muddy River News asked Blunt the following questions, most of which were not answered in the Herald-Whig/Courier-Post report.

1. Why is the printing being moved out of Quincy?
2. How many jobs will be lost?
3. Does this also affect the Courier-Post?
4. Will any commercial printing be done by your company in Quincy?
5. Will the paper be driven from Jacksonville to Quincy for mailing and delivery? (They said delivery wouldn’t change)
6. If not, will it be mailed out of Jacksonville or Springfield?
7. Will the Herald-Whig continue to be printed twice weekly? (They said this would continue … for now)
8. Is the Herald-Whig subscription number still around 6,000? How about the Courier-Post?

In comparison, the Adams County newspapers of Elliott Publishing, which include the Liberty Bee-Times, Mendon Dispatch, Camp Point Journal and Golden-Clayton New Era, have a combined circulation of approximately 2,200.

The newspapers under the Elliott umbrella currently do not have Websites at this time.