The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is closing down its production facility and will move printing to sister publication The (Nashville) Tennessean.

The shift, to take place before the end of March, is being made because The Daily News Journal’s current press infrastructure is incapable of providing the color and paging necessary to support the growing market, said Publisher Judi Terzotis.

“This is a high-growth market and we have to plan what we are going to do to meet reader and advertiser demands,” she said. The paper’s aging press, a combination of Goss Urbanite and no-longer-supported DEV units, can’t meet future needs and with press capacity available in nearby Nashville, it wasn’t worth the investment to buy new machines, Terzotis said. “It would have been a substantial investment.”

Terzotis said The Daily News Journal (daily, 15,113; Sunday, 18,718) would likely upgrade some of its prepress systems to mesh with The Tennessean’s production platform. Those decisions will be finalized within the next few weeks, she said.

The Tennessean (daily, 169,924; Sunday, 231,310) in September 2004 wrapped up a project to add six color couples to its six-tower Goss Colorliner press. That increase in capacity will make it possible for The Daily News Journal to print with additional color, Terzotis said. The paper may also use The Tennessean’s presses to produce ancillary and specialty publications geared to the burgeoning Murfreesboro market if additional press time can be scheduled.

Gannett Co. Inc. bought The Daily News Journal from Morris Communications in 2004.

The impending closure follows last year’s move by the Daily Breeze in Torrance, Calif., to shut down its plant and shift production to Southwest Offset in Gardena, Calif. Most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on its Web site that executives were considering alternatives that include the shuttering of its production facility. A spokesman for the Chronicle declined to comment.

Transcontinental Inc., the Canadian printer that already produces The Globe and Mail and some regional editions of The New York Times, has been actively courting other U.S. publishers to consider outsourcing their printing. A Transcontinental spokesman also declined to comment on the Chronicle report.