What was your first job in the newspaper business?

I started as an apprentice press operator at a small daily paper in Colorado Springs. I moved to Seattle in 1975, where I worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Then in 1983, I moved to The Seattle Times with the formation of the joint operating agreement. I have worked on producing both papers in numerous pressroom capacities since that time.

What do you like most about your job?

There is something new every day in our business. I enjoy learning as much as I can, as well as sharing what I have learned with others.

What do you like least?

We have some of the best newspaper printing equipment in the country, and many highly skilled, talented employees. Yet sometimes we still don’t get the results we want, whether it’s excessive waste, poor registration, or some other defect that got past us.

What was The Seattle Times’ most recent purchase/installation?

In 2005, we cut our presses to a 50-inch web width. Pressline Services was chosen for this task. They worked around our production schedule to successfully convert our four presses within the timeline we established at the onset of the project.

We chose Pressline due to their vast experience of converting other Goss International Corp. Colorliner newspapers to 50 inches. Our next project might be the replacement of our outdated press control technology.

What is the biggest challenge The Seattle Times is facing in production?

The rising cost of petroleum is something that touches every aspect of printing a newspaper. From power to consumables, petroleum is used in either manufacturing or transporting our consumables, thus raising our costs in production.

We continually work to lower costs by reducing waste of newsprint and ink through preventive maintenance, training and recycling.

What trend are you keeping your eye on?

Computer-to-plate. Our advertising customers pay close attention to where they spend their dollars and expect us, the printer, to provide them the very best possible product for their dollar spent. CTP will provide us with one more tool to improve our product quality and meet our customer needs through better reproduction.

If you know anyone you think should be featured in Short Run, please contact Tara McMeekin at 303.575.9595 or by e-mail at: tmcmeekin@newsandtech.com