It seems the guys in Sac don't know how to layout the Modesto Bee product for their press. He spent an hour or so with our pressroom manager to gain more insight on how to lay it out. He also visited some other departments to gain more info on the grid lay outs and other info. They are supposed to run Sunday night for the Monday paper. They are keeping our guys on standby Sunday night then it is all on the Sac. Bee after that. This should be interesting.This was just days before the entire print operation moves 80 miles away. You'd think they would have nailed down these details a long time ago.
UPDATE: Moving Modesto's printing operation to Sacramento is easier said than done. From comments:
Crimped plates in Sac, while Modesto never configured for plate crimping. Not as simple as slapping the Mod Bee's page make-up on Sac's presses. There's a bit of conversion work to do, which as always is being done at the last call. Since all the real workers left, all the Bees have left are the managers, who's only skill is task obfuscation by email.
8 comments:
Funny, and I don't work in Cailornia, but know enough that it's no big deal to layout the run when the product is moving to a press with more capacity...backing up is also a good idea - maybe for more than one night, but it will only take a few runs to gain confidence. Sorry to hear printing has moved - news will move next - one news team for all national and international with only local produced at the individual sites. It makes sense...
It make sense to who??? Hope that your job is next and then it WILL makes sense.
The color tower positions on the Sac and Mod Bee are different. Page plates are very different. Crimped plates in Sac, while Modesto never configured for plate crimping. Not as simple as slapping the Mod Bee's page make-up on Sac's presses. There's a bit of conversion work to do, which as always is being done at the last call.
Since all the real workers left, all the Bees have left are the managers, who's only skill is task obfuscation by email.
Well you can debate grid lay out plat cut off etc. but the real issue is the quality...or lack there of...and the fact that any quality control is out of the hands of the Modesto Bee and up to the whims of whoever they pulled off the streets to try to run their press. I have $10.00 that it WILL be inferior to what we put out in Modesto...by a long shot. Figuring the plate crimp may be no really big deal. but why wait to the last minute...(BTW the managers left at the Modesto Bee are very capable of running the press.)
This McClatchy Watch blog has done an excellent job of documenting the press quality problems of The Sacramento Bee.
It's not worth even betting that the Modesto Bee will suffer the same sad fate. The only question is the reaction of readers and advertisers of The Modesto Bee.
The managers of Modesto Operations have high skills, but that didn't hold much weight in Sacramento.
I wonder if the former workers can pay for an ad to run in the Modesto Bee telling the public just how McClatchy treats its employees. Isn't the Modesto Bee union? If so have them pay for it. If it wasn't for all the employees left I wish the whole "blank" paper would go under.
The government tells us that there is no money out there and the taxpapers need to ger stuck with bad loans with it and then McClatchy gets a new loan for over a billion dollars. Just proves the goverment isn't run any better than McClatchy.
It's Saturday, they launch the printing in Sacto tomorrow and people here in Modesto are scrambling to get all the little details worked out...all the little details add up to one big problem... they can't even send pages to Sacto yet...Then the person I talked to said she thinks her job will be gone by the first of Jan. 2009. She said she is actually doing the work that will eventually end her position...Tonight is the last night the paper is scheduled to run in Modesto...the night crew is on standby Sunday night just in case Sacto can't pull it off. It's the end of an era and a very sad day at the Modesto Bee.
This is BS. He was in Modesto to offer the press manager there a job in Sacramento. Evidently the manager in Modesto wanted to keep that private so he made up the crap about the press layouts. The manager from Sacramento could lay the runs out blindfolded. The other departments he met with were to explain the added color positions that Modesto would get and how they could begin to learn to layout the runs with the additional color positions. Nothing like lying when you don't want your coworkers to know that you got something they did not, a job offer.
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