In its story, the paper said General Manager Terry Feinberg had "pointed to the faltering economy and aging production equipment — in need of costly repair or replacement — in the decision to outsource printing."
[Updated at 6:12 a.m. ET on Sept. 22: Feinberg told Editor & Publisher that San Jose's Southwest Offset Printing, which got the contract to print the Californian, "ended up making offers to five of our guys, and three of them accepted."]
The move follows speculation in May that the paper was on the verge of shifting to a bi-weekly printing schedule.
The paper is one of the smallest of Gannett's 82 U.S. dailies. It circulates 10,791 copies on weekdays, and 13,100 on Saturdays, according to ABC data as of March 31. It doesn't publish on Sundays, according to ABC.
The Californian is a descendent of the Salinas Index, first published March 31, 1871, and so has a storied past. John Steinbeck, a Salinas native, first was published in the Index sometime before 1920.
[Image: yesterday's front page, Newseum]
Given thier current circulation they could have probably just used a xerox machine.
ReplyDeleteI love being right! Good thing the General Manager has a big mouth and can't keep a secret worth a damn! Makes it all the more ironic that he was the source for the anonymous reader who notified Jim about the outsouring in May. I bet he's the most popular GM they've ever had. :) I wonder when the next round of layoffs will be, since their weird weekend publication is off to such a great start..
ReplyDeleteThe Californian was once a very good paper for a small town. Now they print stories about serious crime one, two days after the fact and there is very little reporting. It seems as though they just trust the official or other source and print exactly what is said to them or reprint a press release making it look like a story. Nearly never have I seen this paper look into something that required some leg work or some sourcing beyond the usual suspects, such as public officials.
ReplyDeleteYes everything is wonderful in Salinas. I don't see The Californian staying in business beyond 5 years and as it stands you can floss your teeth with the weekly edition and the Saturday paper is thicker because of all the stuffers.