Life in Journalism According to Steve Lundeberg

A newspaper and the newsroom in conjunction with it have a life of their own. The process of putting out the paper isn't just eating up random information and spitting out a paper. Associate editor, Steve Lundeberg, of the Albany Democrat Herald told of how the news process works.

The reporters working at the Democrat Herald make up around a third of the staff in the building. The rest of the building houses advertising, circulation and distribution; not to mention a large portion of the building holds the printing press. A lot of revenue for the paper comes in from advertising. The real estate and auto dealeres provide a lot of the ad income for the Herald. When the economy took a hit, those areas were affected the most and resulted in stricter budgets for the advertisers.
Distribution and circulation are the ones that handle the finished paper. After everything has been put into the system, the papers are printed on the monsterous machine in the back. Albany originally had one press but when the Albany paper and the Corvallis Gazette-Times merged under one parent company (Lee Enterprises), Corvallis's machine was brought over to the Albany office to print both papers more efficeintly. Distribution continues putting the paper together with coupons, ads and inserts. Finally, bundles are counted and separated for each carrier and strapped.
Circulation consists of foot and motor carriers, as well as the Herald's own company drivers. A majority of the carriers will pick up their papers on the dock outside Albany's office. The primary purpose of the company drivers is to fill in for empty routes and deliver carrier bundles who don't come to the dock. Contrary to popular belief, there are more adult and elder carriers than one would imagine.

The internet is a fountain of information. Because of that, it seems a perfect place for a newspaper company to stake a claim. Getting there is another story, however. Lundeberg remarked that the transition to the internet was all but easy in the mid 1990's. The staff at the time were not specifically trained on the process for transferring the printed edition onto a webpage. Copying and pasting wasn't the answer. Today, information is new minute by minute. Putting breaking news online before it becomes just another story is key. While some major companies are making progress in staying up to par, it's an ongoing learning process.

Finally, Lundeberg stressed the importance of community. Working in journalism isn't about putting out random information or news that is interesting to a select few. Lundeberg stated that the Albany Democrat-Herald exists for the community. Without readers, the paper doesn't have a reason to exist. He pointed out that, at times, readers will contact the paper on stories and events they may want to see reported. The Democrat-Herald is community driven.
Lundeberg believes that is why some big city papers have folded or been bought out. Due to the fact that the Herald serves a small community, there will always be a desire by the readers to have a printed version of the paper. Metropolitan style papers produce news that doesn't always pertain to the readers. They lack the intimicy, locality and feel that papers like the Albany Democrat-Herald share with their subscribers.

As you can see, running a newspaper requires a lot of work. Journalism is a 24-hour job. The evening paper you enjoy at home goes through a long process from the first interview to your front porch.