Stop the press talk

Back on Dec. 5 I'd mentioned that several newspapers, including some in the LANG chain, were rumored to be in discussions with the Tribune Co. to have their papers printed at the Los Angeles Times printing press. Several people inside LANG have asked for updates on the talks, hoping that any savings made on the production side might preclude further newsroom cuts. But long-time Times pressman Ed Padgett says Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy filing probably put an end to the plan:

The men and women in Operations at the newspapers had one last hope before the ax fell, producing other newspapers within the walls of the Los Angeles Times, that hope quickly dissipated with the Tribune Company filing bankruptcy on December 8th, 2008.

The plan had the Los Angeles Times signing contracts to produce The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s after the union contract was signed, which all changed after the bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy court allowed the Chicago Tribune to produce the Wall Street Journal, which gave everyone hope we too would be granted the same permission.

Other newspapers knocking on the door of the Los Angeles Times were the Korean Times, The New York Times, The Orange County Register, and the Dean Singleton newspapers such as the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Padgett goes on to say that the Times might outsource its own production to Transcontinental, "a Canadian Company that will soon take over all production from the San Francisco Chronicle in May of this year."