San Diego Union’s Test Paper Delivers More Than the News

Confused subscribers did not know what to think when they picked up the San Diego Union on Monday morning and read an apparently exclusive front-page story with a Washington dateline announcing the formation of a new political coalition headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and former television evangelist Pat Robertson.

The bogus story, which was headlined “New coalition: Jackson-Robertson” and ran under the byline of Peter Kaye, a Union associate editor, was part of a special “test” edition that accidentally was delivered to subscribers.

Herbert Klein, editor-in-chief of the Copley Newspapers, chuckled over the incident Wednesday, explaining that the story and another parody that appeared inside the paper were included in a test run of about 3,000 copies produced by Union management Sunday.

Managers at the Union are gearing up for a possible strike at the paper by local members of the San Diego Newspaper Guild this summer by training to put out the paper without guild members,543255919paper’s reporters and some editors. Sunday’s test edition was the first trial run after several training sessions. In a telephone interview, Klein said all copies were supposed to be destroyed740319861morning.

Klein said the subscribers “were puzzled” by the paper, which in addition to the Jackson-Robertson coalition story contained an inside article--also bogus--highlighting a purported interview with former White House Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes. That story said Speakes was quietly ensconced in Ensenada because of the controversy stirred by his recent “tell-all” book recalling his experiences as Reagan Administration spokesman. The front-page article had identified Speakes as the spokesman for the new Jackson-Robertson coalition.

Several perplexed subscribers called the Union office to complain about the surprise edition, which had “Test Edition” and “Test format test” written in bold type above the paper’s nameplate, which had a March 38 date. Sources at the paper who did not want to be identified said some angry readers canceled their subscriptions.

Emily Ewanowich said she was angered by the mock edition she received and canceled her subscription. “The paper is very important to us, and we’re concerned about accuracy. . . .”

Management and unions representing workers at the Union, including reporters, are engaged in talks over a new contract to replace the current one, which expires in June. For the past few weeks, managers at the paper have engaged in Sunday training sessions to learn the mechanical functions that go into producing a daily newspaper. In the event of a strike, management plans also call for some editors to assume reporting and writing duties.

Klein said nobody was disciplined as a result of the incident.