More MG News

Papers would still be printed where they are now (in the Progress' case, Richmond), but paginated in Lynchburg.

 

Word around here is that the North Carolina community papers are also moving towards a universal desk ... its been in the works for quite a few months, but had been shelved recently for unknown reasons ... however, it seems that they've resurrected the plan, and it may be implemented within the next several weeks ...

 

We're not MG but we had our graphics/design department at our community shop moved to the "mothership" paper in our region last year... That decision above all others has done more harm to our paper than any I can think of ... Just the logistics of communicating back and forth and getting the timing right on everything - especially now that every department everywhere has been cut to the bone - is just a nightmare that we still haven't figured out ... Best of luck to MG if they go through with those plans. They are going to need it...

 

Papers in Alabama would be designed in North Carolina and/or Virginia. Makes total sense.

Also, had heard the Winston-Salem paper would be designed in Tampa. Richmond and Tampa would stay where they are.

 

I really wish they'd just announce the fucking thing so at least I know when the execution date is.

 

For those who have been through a shift in design to other locales:

What explanation is given for this and how, exactly, does it save companies money?

Aside from having wire pages uniformly designed for each paper, I'm not really understanding how this is beneficial.

 

Speaking from my own experience, Podunk, there wasn't much of an explanation at all. They just implemented it, and that was that.
Immediately after our newsroom reorganization on April 6, four of us, myself included, were told to get in the car and drive 70 miles from Danville to Lynchburg. For about eight weeks, the four of us were being paid overtime and mileage to make that trip. It was nice for the bank account, but not so nice being away from home 12 hours a day. And none of us could figure out how they were saving money when we could have theoretically been doing the pages in Danville. I mean, we were actually meeting in the Danville office every day and then making that ridiculous commute. I suspect the edict came from high up in the company, and the folks in Lynchburg were instructed to make it work, period.

 

One of the four did eventually move to Lynchburg after commuting for four months. Another one wound up being assistant managing editor in Danville. The other two, including me, ended up working in Reidsville, NC. I'm the group editor and while I have several years of experience on the news side, I'd definitely rather still be in sports. But that wasn't an option. I still live in Danville, but now my daily commute is 21 miles each way instead of 72, so at least I've got that going for me.

 

That makes total sense to paginate a paper in Lynchburg and then print it in Richmond. Brilliant.

On another note, heard that if Waynesboro's and Culpeper's pagination and printing get moved to Lynchburg, the sports staff won't suffer any cuts since Waynesboro (1) and Culpeper (2) are already understaffed. Waynesboro is already printed in Lynchburg, but the pagination duties would shift.

 

All the MG papers in VA are understaffed. It's just that Waynesboro and Culpeper don't (to the best of my knowledge) have dedicated sports designers. Therefore, no one to cut.

 

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