Our shift to a different printing press has created problems for our readers and advertisers.
We apologize for what has happened, and ask for your patience as we work to make things right.
Since the start of the month, the Times Colonist has been printed at the Black Press plant in Ladysmith. Black Press prints several newspapers and flyers at the plant. This is the way of the future in the newspaper business; newspapers can no longer afford to own and run a dedicated press for a single publication.
Black Press is no stranger to daily newspapers; on the mainland, it prints three major dailies on behalf of other publishers.
Switching off our own press was a big move, with many changes, large and small. A glitch here or a glitch there can result in a cascading series of problems — and I sincerely hope that we have seen all of them by now.
We have had to sort out some reproduction issues. Photos have been blurry and type has seemed smaller or fainter than before.
Some sections have not appeared on the proper days. Last week’s Driving section is a good example; it was included in the Friday paper south of the Malahat, but many readers north of the Malahat did not see it until Saturday.
The worst problem was in Sunday’s Times Colonist, when two pages from Friday’s paper made their way in, pushing aside the two pages that should have been there.
And to top it off, many papers have been delivered late in many different areas. The printing move forced us to make some changes to the way papers are bundled and delivered to our carriers.
To be fair, many of our readers have reported that the change was seamless.
But many others have told us of problems, and we are working diligently to make things right as soon as possible. Given the state of the newspaper industry, the last thing we want to do is anger or upset the people who keep us in business: Our readers and our advertisers.
Again, we apologize for the problems you have experienced. Rest assured we are doing all that we can to fix things and provide consistent, reliable service to you.
The Ladysmith press has allowed us to use more colour than ever before, and that has caused a few loud complaints — and I have to admit that they surprised me.
For the first time, we have been printing the daily comic strips in colour. The feedback we have received has been quite negative, with several readers pleading with us to go back to black and white. (If we do that, of course, there is a chance that the people who love having comics in colour will be up in arms.)
What do you think? Send me an email at dobee@timescolonist.com stating your preference. Let’s hope that the will of our readership is decisive, and not close to an even split.
Thanks for your patience as we complete the difficult transition to a new printing facility, a change that is important to the continued viability of the Times Colonist.
We can do better, and we will. We’re sorry the changes have not gone as well as planned.