Alvaro Orrala inspects newspapers and makes adjustments as the East Oregonian runs off the press Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Pendleton. The EO‘s press printed all of the EO Media Group’s Northeast Oregon newspapers, including La Grande’s Observer and the Baker City Herald. Election Day marked the last time the press operated in Pendleton as the EO Media Group transitions to printing its Northeast Oregon newspapers in Walla Walla.

PENDLETON — When Nick Tinhof wound down his shift Tuesday, Nov. 3, he knew it would be the end of an era at the East Oregonian.

Election Day marked the last time the EO’s Goss and Tensor press operated in Pendleton as the newspaper begins the process of transitioning its printing services to The Seattle Times Company-owned Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

“I’m just sad to see it go. I don’t really know how to put it into words,” said Tinhof, the East Oregonian’s lead pressman.

The press is capable of printing 30,000 full-color papers an hour and printed all of the EO Media Groups’ Northeast Oregon newspapers, including the East Oregonian, The Observer and Baker City Herald, plus jobs for several commercial printing clients.

Tinhof began working on the press shortly after its installation in 2013 and quickly moved his way up from replacing plates and ink to running the entire show. He credited former East Oregonian pressmen Bob Rasmussen, Jeff Davis and Dennis Duchek with mentoring him and helping him get up to speed on the press and its inner workings.

Tinhof was passionate about the work, carefully checking each page for color, clarity or any smudge marks as papers come off the press, ramping the press up and down and making adjustments on the fly like a conductor orchestrating the moves of a symphony.

“You’re responsible for how good it looks,” Tinhof said. “No matter how late it is or what goes wrong, there’s no just give up and go home.”

In the coming weeks, the press will be dismantled and shipped to Walla Walla where it will replace the Union-Bulletin’s aging press.

There, it will print papers throughout the region, including those of the EO Media Group. In the interim, the company’s newspapers and publications will be printed in Yakima, Washington, at another printing facility operated by The Seattle Times Company.

“The East Oregonian has had a printing press in Pendleton since 1875, so it was a difficult decision to close our production facility and move our press to Walla Walla. But, having two presses within 40 miles of each other no longer makes sense,” said Kathryn Brown, EO Media Group vice president and former publisher of the East Oregonian.

In 2013, EO Media Group started the roughly $1.3 million process of replacing the aging Goss Community press with newer Goss and Tensor units. Parts and components for the press were sourced from around the United States, and section by section the new press was pieced together.

With the recession having closed newspapers and printing operations across the country in the late 2000s, the market was full of available printing equipment. Replacing the old press took more than a month, and the new machine roared to life and printed its first paper on Monday, July 15, 2013.

Rassmussen, the former EO pressman, called the project “overwhelming at times” until the crew had the press running well.

“When we put that press in, I figured it’d last for a long time,” Rasmussen said. “But I do realize print media is going away.”

As the EO Media Group looks toward the future, Brown said the consolidation of printing operations makes financial sense for EO Media Group and The Seattle Times Company.

“When we installed our new press in 2013, we knew we were in a period of transition, and that print newspapers would gradually fade away as more of our readers came to prefer to read their local news online,” said Brown. “We didn’t know then that the COVID-19 pandemic would bring significant financial challenges, not only to our company, but to the nation’s economy.”

Despite the decline in print newspapers, EO Media Group remains committed to providing a printed newspaper, said Brown.

“Although we won’t be printing in Pendleton,” she said, “we do plan to continue publishing in print for at least a few more years.”