Over the last three decades, digitization has utterly transformed newspaper production, from newsgathering to distribution.

But for all the strides made, serious gaps remain. Interoperability is still more of a dream than reality; and end-to-end integration is still much more of a marketing buzzword than truth.

Production managers are caught in the middle.

Under pressure from the executive suite to cut costs and boost output, production directors are more dependent than ever on software and systems that hum as one.

That’s a key motivation underpinning the commissioning of newspaper production plants in Detroit, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, Mo., among others. In all of these cases, management is betting it will be able to interweave disparate production systems together under the umbrella of a central control application.

Now comes the next test. North Jersey Media Group hopes to take a big step toward digital nirvana with its $60 million production upgrade.

 

As NJMG Vice President of Technology Rick Ruffino says in our page 1 story, “This is an advancement of technology. We’re not just replacing technology. We’re establishing a new standard.”

NJMG is taking a page from architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s playbook that “less is more” with its upgrade.

By centralizing on three key vendors, WIFAG, ABB and Ferag, Ruffino hopes to eliminate communication gaps and use as few apps as possible to oversee production. And by tapping into the computer-to-press capability engineered into the evolution 371 press, Ruffino expects even greater productivity savings once rewritable plate technology advances.

It’s an intriguing approach, and one that bears watching.

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The World Association of Newspapers issued its 2005 World Press Trends survey, and the results show that newspapers are far from the dying behemoths some Wall Street analysts believe them to be.

Indeed, WAN, which captured its data from the 216 countries and territories in which newspapers are published, said that average readership is more than 1 billion people each day. Other figures of note:

*China is the world’s largest newspaper market, with almost 100 million newspapers sold each day. India is second, with 78.7 million. The United States is fourth, with 53.3 million.

*Free dailies reach almost 28 million readers worldwide; in Spain, free daily distribution represents 51 percent of the market.

*Twenty-eight papers converted to tabloid in 2005.

More information about the survey can be obtained at
www.wan-press.org.

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As everyone knows by now (Newspapers & Technology broke the story on Aug. 17), The New York Times said it would install a Goss International Corp. Colorliner press at its College Point, N.Y., press facility as the daily realigns its production resources. It’s the first double-wide press that Goss has sold in the United States since 2002, a drought that saw many former Goss users look elsewhere when it came time for them to upgrade.

We’re not about to say that those papers were wrong to consider alternatives. After all, Goss left a bitter taste in the mouths of many when it crashed and burned. But that was then. Goss CEO Bob Brown and other execs have worked tirelessly to patch the supplier’s tattered image in a bid to convince North American publishers that his company is again a reliable supplier.

Any industry is as vigorous as its suppliers are vital. For the newspaper industry to have the choice and flexibility it needs, it must also ensure enough suppliers exist to make those choices a reality. Other vendors have been able to capitalize on Goss’ misfortune, and more power to them. But perhaps The Times’ decision will send a signal to other publishers that Goss is once again ready to climb into the ring.