Changes at The Oklahoman?

[Bronco77]

So, are these actual editors that are working in these design hub jobs? I was under the impression that places that operate like this were hiring pretty much anyone off the street at a low wage, even minimum wage.

First sentence is absolutely true. As for the second sentence, my educated guess is that many of the hires are recent college graduates or people with a little experience who really need the work. The pay is more than minimum wage, but not by that much -- $30K a year is what I've heard, which probably doesn't go far in Austin these days. How much actual editing is going on is anyone's guess. I'd be surprised if there are dedicated copy editors who are able to concentrate exclusively on the word side and writing headlines/cutlines.

I don't mean to give the impression that all editing/design hubs are this way. The ones I'm most familiar with are the Gannett hubs in Asbury Park, N.J., and Nashville and the Cox hub in South Florida. They pay respectably and have a lot of experienced designers and editors who do good work. Hard to say how long those hubs will be around (for example, Cox supposedly already is shifting some of its desk work to GateHouse, and jobs are being cut).

 

[Inky_Wretch]

It's assembly line journalism at its worst. Probably pretty repetitive work, too, I imagine, and that's not good.

I have yet to hear a designer say they enjoy it. Especially since they can barely afford room and board - let alone being able to enjoy Austin.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It's assembly line journalism at its worst. Probably pretty repetitive work, too, I imagine, and that's not good.

Yeah, that's an excellent way to put it.

 

[Riptide]

First, the editing isn't as locally precise. For example, it's unlikely a GateHouse sports copy editor in Austin knows much about the high school football teams in another state and may not catch a misidentified player, incorrect conference, etc. This can be offset to a certain extent if there's an editor from the home paper giving copy a thorough first read before it goes to the editing hub, but how many papers have that luxury these days? Perhaps a paper the size of the Oklahoman does; some larger papers that have eliminated their desks have retained a copy editor or two to serve as a liaison with the editing/design hub, but again, it's a luxury.

Second (and obviously I don't see every GateHouse paper, but I'm going by what I've seen and heard), page design is often downright strange. For example, I've yet to see a headline that's size- and story-play appropriate. Huge headlines on downpage stories of secondary importance. Small headlines on lead stories and centerpieces.

Third, headline and cutline quality: I'd rewrite just about every headline I've seen on GateHouse pages, and too many of the cutlines are regurgitations of what wire-service photographers provide without much rewriting or additional information (instead of saying, "The Cubs' Kris Bryant looks on from the dugout," pull some information from the story and tell me why the photo is relevant).

Fourth, early deadlines. For example, I know of an East Coast paper that has outsourced production of its baseball pages to Gatehouse, which operates on its own timetable. The first version of these pages is produced almost two hours before the home paper's first-edition deadline. The first edition at least used to get night games from the Eastern time zone in the paper; now, only day games make it, and there's a ton of filler. And there have been many reader complaints.

I make these observations with all due respect to those who work in the Austin editing hub, which is known to be underpaid and understaffed. No doubt many of those folks could do much better work under different circumstances. I'm probably prejudiced against the place because so many of my hardworking brethren have lost their jobs and quality has suffered, all in the name of saving a few bucks.

I see this stuff every day, too. From experienced editors.
Assembly line all the way. The sell-out on design bugs me.

 

[I Should Coco]

I wonder how many newspapers exist as separate entities five years after they start publishing at the same plant as another paper. I think once printing is combined that the owners start to dream about the savings that exist from combining desks.

And by my unofficial and incomplete count San Diego (printed in LA), Cincinnati (printed in Columbus), New Orleans (printed in Mobile) and Oklahoma City (soon to be printed Tulsa) are produced at least 100 miles from the city named on their masthead.

Also, Phillip Anschultz owns both OKC and Colorado Springs. I wonder if Colorado Springs is going to undergo the same treatment. Publishing moves to Denver and design to Gatehouse.

In the world of smaller daily newspapers, the Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus shut down its printing press earlier this year. All its editions (along with the handful of other Midwestern daily newspapers in its family-owned chain) are now printed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa ... which, off the top of my head, is about 100 miles from the Quad-Cities. I believe deadlines are now 10 p.m. ... when I worked there about a decade ago, we had until 12:30 for the early edition, and updated pages by 1:30 for the main edition.

 

[Liut]

Assembly line all the way. The sell-out on design bugs me.

It bugs me, too. A lot. It wasn't the way I was trained. Having stated that, when I'm up against the clock and busting my ass design is the first thing to suffer. Don't like it, but don't want to have a heart attack, either.

 

[Fredrick]

It's assembly line journalism at its worst. Probably pretty repetitive work, too, I imagine, and that's not good.

Remember when newspapers truly cared about quality? Layout had to be just right. Stories impeccably edited and re-written in many cases. When newspapers mattered? Now it is ALL about the CEO and publisher maintaining their lavish lifestyles while nothing else matters. The product? LOL. It matters NOT AT ALL. The writing? Who cares? Just get it done. Respect in the community? None. Man, newspapers have officially thrown in the towel. Hate to break it to the Gannetters and all the consultants who brought this on: Guess what? When you get your way and everything is online only? Your Websites will mean nothing in your communities, especially in sports. Nobody's going to read your news stories or advertise for your news stories online and your sports pages will be read with the same interest as somebody reading a fanboy website's page. And your CEOs will be moving on cause they'll have bled all they can from newspapers, since those Websites aren't going to make a dime.

I mean think about this thread: The Oklahoman newspaper will be produced in Austin Texas and printed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'd just love to hear what the deadine times are. ... Oh, but the Website will be just awesome. Wait til you see that Website!