WHERE THE PAPER IS PRINTED: The Times' presses in L.A. can print about 1,000 copies of the entire newspaper each minute. (Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times / October 14, 2011) |
* Part 3: The story so far: The Los Angeles Times is a large metropolitan newspaper based in downtown Los Angeles. The day usually begins around 7 a.m. as journalists prepare to meet deadlines. Once the deadlines are met, the newspaper is sent to the presses.
THE pressroom is the place where a newspaper gets printed. The Los Angeles Times has two printing facilities: one in Costa Mesa and the other in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles pressroom is located in a separate plant from the main offices. It is three stories high and longer than two football fields.
The printing process begins in the platemaking department, where the completed pages are made into film negatives. Each negative is then put over an aluminum plate that has been coated with a chemical. Together they are exposed to ultraviolet lights. When this happens, the chemical on the aluminum changes and the newspaper page becomes imprinted on it. Giant rolls of newsprint arrive at the downtown pressroom by truck and by train. There's even a railroad track that comes right into the building. The largest rolls of newsprint can weigh as much as a large pickup truck. Unwound, each would extend eight miles in length.
The rolls of newsprint are transported throughout the pressroom by automatic guided vehicles. These driverless cars can pick up a roll and take it right to the press that needs it. The aluminum plates that were prepared in the platemaking department are mounted on the presses. There the plates are washed with water and ink. The ink sticks to the words and images but not to other areas. The plates press against a blanket roller and the ink is transferred onto it. The roller then puts the ink on the newsprint. This process is called offset printing. As the newsprint winds through the press, it forms what is called a web. Pages are printed on both sides at once. The presses roll at about 15 to 25 miles per hour. The Los Angeles presses can print about 1,000 copies of the newspaper each minute.
Press operators monitor the process, visually checking the pages for quality. But they don't have to stop the presses to make adjustments. Instead, they use computers to make corrections while the presses are running.
Sometimes the paper rips. This is called a web break and causes a press to automatically shut down. The operators must slowly and carefully rethread the paper by hand. If the newsprint on all the presses rips at the same time, it's called a homerun. At a newspaper, this is not a cause for celebration. And sometimes the presses must stop for a replate. This happens when a late-breaking story needs to be added to a page or something in a story changes. A new plate has to be made and loaded onto the presses (start reading this part again to remember what has to be done).
Thursday: How does the newspaper get to you?
THE pressroom is the place where a newspaper gets printed. The Los Angeles Times has two printing facilities: one in Costa Mesa and the other in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles pressroom is located in a separate plant from the main offices. It is three stories high and longer than two football fields.
The printing process begins in the platemaking department, where the completed pages are made into film negatives. Each negative is then put over an aluminum plate that has been coated with a chemical. Together they are exposed to ultraviolet lights. When this happens, the chemical on the aluminum changes and the newspaper page becomes imprinted on it. Giant rolls of newsprint arrive at the downtown pressroom by truck and by train. There's even a railroad track that comes right into the building. The largest rolls of newsprint can weigh as much as a large pickup truck. Unwound, each would extend eight miles in length.
The rolls of newsprint are transported throughout the pressroom by automatic guided vehicles. These driverless cars can pick up a roll and take it right to the press that needs it. The aluminum plates that were prepared in the platemaking department are mounted on the presses. There the plates are washed with water and ink. The ink sticks to the words and images but not to other areas. The plates press against a blanket roller and the ink is transferred onto it. The roller then puts the ink on the newsprint. This process is called offset printing. As the newsprint winds through the press, it forms what is called a web. Pages are printed on both sides at once. The presses roll at about 15 to 25 miles per hour. The Los Angeles presses can print about 1,000 copies of the newspaper each minute.
Press operators monitor the process, visually checking the pages for quality. But they don't have to stop the presses to make adjustments. Instead, they use computers to make corrections while the presses are running.
Sometimes the paper rips. This is called a web break and causes a press to automatically shut down. The operators must slowly and carefully rethread the paper by hand. If the newsprint on all the presses rips at the same time, it's called a homerun. At a newspaper, this is not a cause for celebration. And sometimes the presses must stop for a replate. This happens when a late-breaking story needs to be added to a page or something in a story changes. A new plate has to be made and loaded onto the presses (start reading this part again to remember what has to be done).
Thursday: How does the newspaper get to you?
L.A. for less than the price of sunblock. 
