I'm told April 20 is the day copy editors for the Los Angeles Daily News, Torrance Daily Breeze, and Long Beach Press-Telegram will begin making the commute to West Covina to work on LANG's new universal copy desk. Not everyone is going, of course. Some editors decided to take buyouts rather than make the move.
The six papers that make up LANG's Inland Division merged desks in January.
*Update: In regards to consolidated copy desks, remember when Dean Singleton said this?: "One thing we're exploring is having one news desk for all of our newspapers in MediaNews ... maybe even offshore."
Showing posts with label copy desk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copy desk. Show all posts
Apr 6, 2009
Jan 2, 2009
A universal copy desk*, **
The nine daily newspapers that make up the Los Angeles Newspaper Group plan to merge their copy desk functions sometime in the next few months. The resulting universal copy desk will be based in West Covina, home of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. As many as 10 copy editor slots could be lost as part of the merger (from about 85 positions down to about 75).
I'd reported last month that LANG's so-called Inland Division - the Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, Whittier Daily News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts and San Bernardino Sun - had planned to consolidate their copy desks. The broader plan now takes in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze and Los Angeles Daily News.
Some LANG newsrooms were told about the plan earlier today, with the admonition that the plan's final shape had yet to be fully worked out. Employees were also warned of more turmoil in the coming weeks.
*Updated: Though some details of the plan have yet to be sorted out, editors at the Daily News and Daily Breeze decided to tell their respective newsrooms about the merger today to head off rumors. Copy editors were told they would be eligible for severance if they choose not to make the move to West Covina.
Also, while the universal copy desk might seem radical at first, it's really just the final step for consolidation-addicted LANG. Although there are nine papers, there are only five copy desks - the Daily Breeze and Press-Telegram share a desk, so do the Star-News, Tribune and Whittier Daily News, and so do the Bulletin, Sun and Daily Facts. Only the Daily News has a desk of its own.
**Updated II: The Daily Breeze folks are finally set to move in to their new offices at the end of the month. There is, of course, room for a copy desk.
I'd reported last month that LANG's so-called Inland Division - the Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, Whittier Daily News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts and San Bernardino Sun - had planned to consolidate their copy desks. The broader plan now takes in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze and Los Angeles Daily News.
Some LANG newsrooms were told about the plan earlier today, with the admonition that the plan's final shape had yet to be fully worked out. Employees were also warned of more turmoil in the coming weeks.
*Updated: Though some details of the plan have yet to be sorted out, editors at the Daily News and Daily Breeze decided to tell their respective newsrooms about the merger today to head off rumors. Copy editors were told they would be eligible for severance if they choose not to make the move to West Covina.
Also, while the universal copy desk might seem radical at first, it's really just the final step for consolidation-addicted LANG. Although there are nine papers, there are only five copy desks - the Daily Breeze and Press-Telegram share a desk, so do the Star-News, Tribune and Whittier Daily News, and so do the Bulletin, Sun and Daily Facts. Only the Daily News has a desk of its own.
**Updated II: The Daily Breeze folks are finally set to move in to their new offices at the end of the month. There is, of course, room for a copy desk.
Dec 16, 2008
The movable copy desk
The six papers that make up the "Inland Division" of LANG are consolidating their copy desk functions in January to create a single uber-desk that will be based in West Covina. That means shipping the copy editors that serve the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, San Bernardino Sun and Redlands Daily Facts about 40 miles to the west and combining them with the copy editors that serve the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News.
No telling if they'll all survive the journey.
If this sounds familiar, it's because LANG has tried this before - just over a year ago, in fact. Only the movement was eastward. In August 2007 LANG shipped the San Gabriel Valley copy editors to San Bernardino. Five months later, the San Gabriel Valley copy desk was reestablished and the copy editors moved back.
No telling if they'll all survive the journey.
If this sounds familiar, it's because LANG has tried this before - just over a year ago, in fact. Only the movement was eastward. In August 2007 LANG shipped the San Gabriel Valley copy editors to San Bernardino. Five months later, the San Gabriel Valley copy desk was reestablished and the copy editors moved back.
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