"The mighty beast has ceased roaring."
-- staff writer Kevin Duggan, in a poignant farewell today to the Fort Collins Coloradoan's printing press, which made its final run early this morning; excellent photography by Michael Seamans, too:
Don Brockman, a 27-year veteran of the Coloradoan, readies the last run; printing shifts today to the Denver Newspaper Agency.Record the last runs!
Fort Collins is at least the eighth site to shutter its press. As Gannett keeps cutting, we'll write a lot more of these stories in the years ahead. Consider video interviews with long-time press operators, and capture the sights and sounds of your last run.
What do you hear about your press? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
It's not so much the printing press or the demise of newspapers that is so disturbing. More trees and less paper are good things for the planet. However, the loss of journalistic principles is highly troublesome. It seems like the more Gannett emphasizes the web, the worse the journalism gets throughout the company. There is something about the platform that doesn't carry the same credibility of newsprint. There is something about those seeking to get into multimedia or web design that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in me or the profession. The web seems like fun and games. Sorry, that's just how I see it. And the people working on it just don't seem as accountable as print people are or were for what is reported there. Things are not edited as well. Simple headlines are misleading, sometimes intentionally. Digital photography isn't very artistic. Citizen journalism...well, don't even get me started on that. I get the sense this is all going to backfire.
ReplyDeleteWhen you can't distinguish professional journalism from run-of-the-mill info web sites, I don't think the public is served well.
Ultimately, none of these things will serve our country or the readers well.
The loss of printing presses is symbolic of the much larger and growing problem in newsrooms all across the country. And, of course, Gannett seems to be a leader in destroying journalism and the careers of some pretty good editors, reporters and others who dedicated their lives to a once honorable profession. Gannett has never been much for great journalism, but the Internet wave is wiping out much of the remaining talent in this company. Gannett did not find a good way to merge the two, and will eventually be at the mercy of some pretty unqualified people who will undoubtedly get the company into lawsuit after lawsuit.
Yeah...I told the publisher and exec editor that we should video the last run at poughkeepsie, ny and do a quick interview of the pressmen (IF THEY WANTED) AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH F'N MONEY IN THE F'N BUDGET TO SPARE A PHOTOGRAPHER OR VIDEO PERSON TO "RECORD" the last print run AFTER MORE THAN 200 YEARS OF PRINTING NEW YORK STATES OLDEST NEWSPAPER...ANYWAY I GOT FIRED NOT LAYED OFF TWO MONTHS LATER...
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see the presses stop at the Coloradoan. And they aren't saving trees -- just moving the printing operation to Denver and putting 42 people in Fort Collins out of work, along with all the carriers. (The Coloradoan will now be delivered by Denver Post carriers.)
ReplyDeleteTo all the pressroom folks. compositors, mailroom people and carriers -- this is a sad day. So many of you have spent your careers at the Coloradoan. I'm so sorry they don't respect that. (And I still wonder what will happen the first time authorities close I-25 because of weather and Fort Collins subscribers can't get their Denver-printed "local" Fort Collins newspaper!)
Good luck to all of you.
I agree with 5:54, but we have lost the argument. The trend is to regionalized printing plants and centralized delivery of newspapers off site. This could actually lead to more national newspapers, and the Wall Street Journal is clearly moving in that direction.
ReplyDeleteAs for the accuracy of Web publications, you get what you are paying for.
Is that guy loading ink by hand?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous on 5/11 at 5:27 pm-
ReplyDeleteI hope you are doing okay, and think about you and your interest in music.
Gee....any of you better press people interested in moving to Florida? Does any of you know how to start a press on time and do a full run without stopping 2-3-6 times a night? We could sure use you!
ReplyDeleteThe Coloradoan is in the business of publishing the news, the medium does not seem very relevant. Sad to see the press go but the future is online.
ReplyDelete