sa国际传媒官网网页入口

sa国际传媒官网网页入口
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CENTENNIAL SUNDAYS

From a reporter's notebook to the front page

Printing the Journal in the early 鈥�70s involved hot lead, dedicated workers and an eye for detail

Jay Wyche, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Publishing Co. pressroom foreman, checks the paper as it comes "hot off the press." He looks for correct print saturation and color registration, among other details. Wyche, who worked at APC from 1949 to 1986, was one of many longtime employees at the company. He was joined there by his son, Fred Wyche, who became production manager and whose career at APC spanned more than 40 years.
Karen Moses Karen Moses
Published

When folks think of the newspaper business, they most often envision notebook-wielding reporters who ask a lot of questions and uncover the hot story.

Today, that information for many of us is transmitted over our phones or on our laptops. However, for generations, people received their news via a printed newspaper. Many still do. A walk down a hallway in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 plant on Jefferson Street NE presents a glimpse of what it took 鈥� and who it took 鈥� to get information from a reporter鈥檚 notebook to the newspaper in the early 1970s.

Both sides of that corridor are lined with large photos taken in 1972, showing the 鈥渉ot type鈥� production process needed to create a newspaper page at the Journal plant, then located at Seventh and Silver SW. 

The work was much more time-consuming than today. It involved a multistep process that started with molten lead being transformed into words and ended with metal plates being placed on giant presses. These steps were conducted by composing room employees of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Publishing Company (APC). The process was required not only for every single page printed in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 but also for those that comprised The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Tribune. The afternoon paper, which was owned by the E.W. Scripps Co., was located in the same building as the Journal at the time. 

Publisher Bill Lang recalls that many of those working in the backshop were 鈥渃haracters of those days.鈥� They were 鈥渉ard-nosed, hard-working鈥� individuals who took pride in the work they did. Not only were many of them with the company for decades, several had family members who worked there as well. 

In fact, there have been dozens of families with multiple generations who spent much of their careers at the Journal and/or sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Publishing Co.


STEP ONE 鈥� Turning reporters鈥� words into lead type

Elmer Bayhylle types stories and headlines into a linotype machine that turns the words into lines of lead type. Molten lead was stored in a 4,000-gallon tank and then piped into the linotype machines. Roughly a dozen or more linotype operators and machines were needed each day to turn reporters鈥� copy, or text, into the lines of type. 鈥淎 really good linotype operator could actually set six lines of type a minute,鈥� said sa国际传媒官网网页入口 publisher Bill Lang. 鈥淭he type is a column width, so it's very small. 鈥� And if you think about it, a story that was 12 or 15 inches long could take some time.鈥�














STEP TWO 鈥� Building a page with those lines of lead type 

Ward Anderson takes the lines of raised lead type and organizes them onto a 鈥榗haser鈥� that now looks something like a page.







This closeup shows the intricate maneuvering needed to place the lines of type on the chaser. To make it even more challenging, the type is backwards.
















STEP THREE 鈥� Rolling out a 鈥榤at鈥� impression of page

Clarence 鈥淭ex鈥� Bryan places a heavy sheet of paper called a 鈥榤at鈥� on top of the chaser, sending both through a large roller. The mat now has an impression of the chaser鈥檚 lead type page. The lead type in the chaser was then melted down and reused.









STEP FOUR 鈥� Creating a 42-pound metal plate.

The mat鈥檚 impression is next used to make a metal plate of the page. Here, Hayden Hervey pulls a mat from the plate, which is ready to be placed on the press. Each plate weighs roughly 42 pounds compared to today鈥檚 aluminum plates that only weigh several ounces.





STEP FIVE 鈥� Finally! Metal plates go on the press

Librado 鈥淟ibby鈥� Chavez places the finished plates onto the giant press. The pressroom was rarely a quiet area. Bells start clanging, signaling the start of the presses. You could not only hear the roar but also feel the vibration through the concrete floor of the giant machines doing their job.





Coming May 17: Go behind the scenes into the Journal newsroom 鈥� and meet its diverse leadership 鈥� in the 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s. The clatter of typewriters and wire service alarm bells interrupted the constant chatter of reporters and editors in the crowded, smoke-filled newsroom, then Downtown at Seventh and Silver.

Karen Moses is a former editor of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. She can be reached at kmoses@abqjournal.com.

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