Stop the presses!
Stop the presses
Pressroom employees, from left, Ryan Mears, Glenn Campbell, and Wayne Russell show the final issue of Okanagan Weekend at the Kelowna Daily Courier offices, Saturday night, in what was the final press run there. So what does this mean for The Herald?
“Stop the presses,” took on a whole new meaning for us, Saturday night.
As reported by our competitors and on social media, the pressroom at the Kelowna
Daily Courier, where The Herald has been printed since the mid-1990s, had its final run Saturday. The Courier building, the size of a city block, was sold to an exciting development involving UBC Okanagan. The logistics of dismantling and relocating the press were far too challenging.
With the report of the press closing came speculation that so were our doors.
That’s not happening.
Today’s edition was printed at our affiliate on the Lower Mainland, Kodiak Press. With a more modern press and up-todate technology, the print quality should be vastly improved.
Kelowna was the last daily newspaper in B.C. to print onsite.
For me it’s tough, having spent two-and-a-half years working most days in The Courier building. I loved the printers and our mailroom staff, responsible for bundling and sorting the papers. They were funny, but took their job seriously. Whenever we had a tour, they were accommodating.
But, in order to remain competitive in 2020, our ownership had to make challenging and tough decisions. Our staff’s commitment to local news — fresh, relevant and accurate — remains.
With the switch comes some earlier deadlines. It will be most noticeable in sports. As managing editor, our sports coverage will be different and hopefully more enjoyable, distancing ourselves from 1970s-inspired play-by-play.
We plan on regular updates to our website for news and sports that miss deadline, along with a thorough follow-up or analysis the following day.
It’s a challenge, but we are up for it.
The Herald, in my opinion, still has by far the best writers in the valley. We break more stories than the other outlets. (Last week, Tickleberry’s locating downtown was on our website before everyone else piggybacked the next morning.)
And with the changes, there might be a few hiccups. I hope our print customers are patient in the next several days should there be unexpected delays.
I promise you, we’re all trying our best and I thank you for your continued support.