The Inside Scoop on Democrat Herald

The chaotic news room you see in the movies, turns out to be just a worked up stereotype of what an actual news room looks like. On Wednesday November 4th Rob Priewe’s News Reporting and Writing class took a field trip to the Democrat Herald news room to get an inside scoop on the process of making a successful newspaper.

Martha Wells, directed the group of intrigued students through the room of reporters. Quiet and working hard, the reporters continued to work on their almost finished publications. A few looked up to flash a welcoming smile, as the students ventured into the conference room.

Wells talked to the class about the rise of local video footage online and the importance of delivery speed has to readers. She also said that videos of events and news stories has had a positive affect on online readers, bringing local raw news to the public even faster than a written out story can. The class was also greeted by associate editor, Steve Lundeburg, who also gave the class a few wise tips.

• All the newspapers are printed by noon and delivered by 5pm, going as far out as Cascadia and Sweet Home making there way towards Albany homes and businesses.
• The Democrat Herald has never missed printing a paper in 20 years of being open.
• There are a few reporters that work at the Democrat Herald only part-time, finishing the rest of their work at home a couple hours per week.
• With the increase in online readers and other sources, like craigslist, paper and advertisement sales have gone down.

The most shocking part of the field trip was the calm, stillness that lingered in the news room as the reporters, writers, and editors finished their stories and page layouts. The actual printing press on the other hand, was busy pumping out five 1,000lb rolls of newspaper for the day.