[Last updated 6/16/23 3:24 PM PT]
Living in LA, naturally the LA Times is a big part of the LA experience. You can't avoid it.
Circa 2017
Circa 2017
Circa 2017
...and so it feels like a special experience.
But when you take a tour of its editorial offices [which have relocated from Downtown LA to El Segundo and are no longer offered]...
...(upstairs from its lovely Art Deco "globe" lobby and elevator bank)...
...with its mechanical paper filing system...
...you hear things like "paper is good" and a certain attempted justification at its existence.
Perhaps printed newspapers will one day fade into obsolescence, but for now, it's still big business. [Update 6/16/23: It has dwindled dramatically even in the last 11 years.]
Even if it's a bit smaller than it's been before.
Having worked as a teen reporter in high school and edited my college newspaper, I have a fondness for journalism, and was curious to see how a real newspaper (something bigger than the Syracuse Herald-Journal or Post-Standard or Herald-American, or the Colgate Maroon-News) worked.
At the Olympic Facility printing plant [Update 6/16/23: which is scheduled to close in 2024, when printing operations will move to a third-party plant in the Inland Empire], there is a public lobby with interpretive historical exhibits (many outdated since the initial construction of the building in the early '90s)...
...and a big window looking into where the ink is laid onto spools of paper.
Lucky for us, we got to the other side of the window, up close and personal with the paper rolls themselves, and the robots that carry them.
You can't imagine how much paper there is there. The rolls tower above and scoot on past.
The air smells of paper...
...all of which is inspected...
...some of which is damaged (by moisture or impact)...
...and must be discarded.
Robots rule the plant, and will soon be receiving an upgrade. The new robots lie in wait.
On the tours, you get to see nearly everything...
...from heavy machinery...
...located in the largest press room in the country...
...including folding machines...
...and offset printing machines...
...to the ink room...
...to tomorrow's news...
...and the finished papers, ready for delivery.
Watch a video tour of the Olympic printing plant above.
I like your reporting. Thanks for visiting us.
ReplyDeleteDarrell K.
Thank you for both fabulous tours!
ReplyDelete