In August 2022 I was appointed the publisher of a group of three community newspapers, collectively known in Forum Communications Co. as the "Lakes Group." I hadn't been a full-time publisher in a number of years, but I saw an opportunity to return to working in the community newspaper space. And while the gig only lasted 10 months before an eventual company restructuring, it was one of the most rewarding professional stints I've ever had. Hats off the the staffs at the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal for welcoming this old newspaper hack for a great run!
Dec. 21, 2022
By Devlyn Brooks
For those unfamiliar with the process of publishing a printed newspaper, some are surprised when I explain that we must follow a manufacturing process like any other physical product that is made.
There really are no magic fairies that drop into the newspaper office at night, after all of the ads have been designed, the stories written and the photos edited to the right specifications, to complete the rest of the process. Once all of that material has been collected, it still takes humans who need very large printing presses to create the physical printed newspaper that readers hold in their hands.
That means the actual printing of our newspapers – the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal – is part of a larger press schedule at the Forum Communications Printing plant in Detroit Lakes. And when holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a weekday, those press schedules are impacted by human holiday schedules.
When this happens, it means that we have to adjust our production days – the days we collect all of the ads, stories and photos – to accommodate the new actual press day. We “move up the deadline,” as we say in the business.
With the observed Christmas and New Years Day holidays falling on Mondays this year, during the next two weeks, our team will be publishing five papers per week, three for the Tribune and one each for the Focus and Pioneer Journal. This means for the DL Tribunes that will publish Dec. 28 and Jan. 4, we will be producing those papers almost four days in advance of when we normally would because of how the press schedule aligns.
This may make perfect sense to many. After all, a product has to get made, and if it’s not made on its normal day, it has to get made another day. It’s simple production line logistics, right!
But, the trouble for us as a news team is that this means some of the content that appears in the Wednesday editions of the Tribune after Christmas and New Year’s may seem a little older than normal. This can catch some readers off guard if they are unaware of the fact that we had to publish our paper earlier than normal.
Our team is still working hard to provide you with the best, most up-to-date content we possibly can during this two week stretch, but it’s worth noting that some stories that are more timely in nature will be published to our website long before they ever will be published in print. And so, I would highly encourage you to also utilize our website on a regular basis to view the freshest content our team has available.
While we continue to work through the production issues that have always accompanied putting out a physical newspaper, we also strive to take advantage of the benefits offered to us through digital means. When we can, we aim to leverage the digital immediacy our website offers to keep our readers in the know. This can apply to breaking news stories, weather forecasts and sporting events, all of which we publish to the website in real time.
As always, we thank you for your readership, whether you’re a print subscriber or a print-digital combo subscriber! As we turn the calendar page on another year, we humbly thank you for allowing us into your homes however you read us! And we look forward to serving you for another year!
From all of our team to you, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year!
Devlyn Brooks is the publisher of the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal, and their associated websites. He can be reached at dbrooks@dlnewspapers.com or at 218-844-1451.
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