No print, no purchase

WEDNESDAY, July 9 — As the Lansing State Journal prepares to print its last few issues at its Delta Township production facility, a video has surfaced online calling for a boycott of the daily newspaper.

On Sunday, a user identifying him/herself as “Guy Foukes” posted a YouTube video titled “LSJ BOYCOTT 7-14-2014,” referencing the day that the Delta plant workers will no longer print the paper.

In late April, the Lansing State Journal announced it will close the Delta production plant, eliminating 27 full-time and 76 part-time jobs.

Starting Monday, the paper will be printed by Advance Central Services in Walker, a Grand Rapids suburb. Advance Central Services also prints newspapers for MLive Media Group.

A private Facebook profile belonging to “Guy Foukes” identifies the user as a Lansing resident and a former employee of Gannett Co. The profile contains a public image with the hashtag, “#BoycottLSJ.”

There was no response to a message sent to the Facebook account for comment.

The video, which can be viewed here, shows inside footage of the printing facility while a man narrates how, in April, third-shift workers learned of its closure as they printed the paper. The narrator chastises the paper for downplaying news of the plant shutting down, calling on viewers to boycott purchasing the paper beginning Monday.

“The Journal puts its spin on businesses closing and jobs being outsourced at the expense of the common man, while they themselves are just as guilty— hoping you won’t notice,” he says.

“If I can’t get you to stop buying the Lansing State Journal or cancel your subscriptions,” he continues, “I would ask that for just one week — from Monday, July 14 to Sunday, July 20 — tell your friends, neighbors and coworkers: Don’t buy the Lansing State Journal. Don’t buy it in support of all the people kicked to the curb after decades of service.”

Calls to the Lansing State Journal and Advance Central Services for comment were not returned.