Petersburg Pilot publisher Orin Pierson makes sure the paper looks good coming off the press last Thursday. The Pilot prints its own paper on Thursdays and the Sentinel on Tuesdays. Pierson checks for alignment and any bleeding colors as part of quality control during the print process.
What started as a sort of fact-finding trip to Petersburg turned into a deeper appreciation for something I've done for decades, and something many take for granted.
Every Wednesday, the Sentinel is delivered to mailboxes and stores throughout Wrangell, making its way into the hands of readers. Many more copies are sent out of town and state and even into Canada. But it takes a lot of work to get it there.
I've worked in almost every department of the news industry, from proofing pages to delivering papers. The final product is meant to inform, entertain and engage readers. That's something we consider before we even begin working on stories.
Each publishing cycle begins with a story "budget" meeting, in which I and reporter Caroleine James talk with publisher Larry Persily. We discuss the stories we have in mind for the next week, what readers will want to know most and what we should know going into the reporting.
In most cases, we each start with five to seven stories to work on, knowing that some will fall through or get pushed back a week or two or six. I like to call it the shotgun approach - pull the trigger and see what we hit.
At the same time, Amber Armstrong, the Sentinel's office manager, circulation and advertising sales director, busily coordinates with advertisers to make sure their latest specials and messages reach our readership.
We all wear multiple hats. For example, I write stories, shoot photos for the stories, create ads, draw a comic strip and lay out the pages each week. There was a time when newspapers had a different person for all those jobs. Some still do, but not here.
That brings me to the Petersburg trip.
Ola Richards, at the Petersburg Pilot, used to lay out both the Pilot and the Sentinel. (The owners of the Pilot also owned the Sentinel until Persily bought the paper in January 2021.) When I came onboard, I took over building the Sentinel as Persily wanted to bring the work back to Wrangell. Richards operates the press that prints both newspapers.
I visited the Pilot to sit with Richards and go over adjustments to the color levels in our photos and ads so that they'll turn out better in print. That's one of those things we're always trying to fine tune so that the reader experience is more satisfying.
Sometimes we run the paper in all black and white. Even then, we need to adjust the photos so they turn out better and not faded or muddy in print. It takes time and patience.
I watched early last Thursday as Richards prepped the old four-color printing press she calls a cranky old woman (among other names not fit for print). She crimped the metal plates to mount them on the print drums. She cleaned rollers. She made sure the inkwells were fresh and ready. After firing up the press, she checks the registration marks to make sure the plates are lining up and pictures aren't blurred. She goes back and forth between the different color stations to turn knobs, adjust rollers and make sure everything looks as good as possible.
As she did that, the Pilot's editor and publisher, Orin Pierson, jumped in to stack papers and monitor the quality. Richards is training her boss how to love the high-maintenance machine and fill in for her when she's on vacation.
Witnessing the printing brings me full circle. It's the end of what we start every week in black and white ... and cyan, magenta and yellow. Even before the paper is in our hands in Wrangell, we've started creating the next one.
It's a lot of work, but we love doing it and readers deserve our best.
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