Yote Phanthavong plates up page A1 of the Sacramento Bee. Based on the enormity of this pressroom in Midtown, one wouldn’t think print newspapers are dying. The pressroom is a three-story labyrinth of rooms, stairwells and machinery.
This August, Sacramento began printing the Fresno Bee, which upped production by about 30 percent and prompted Pressroom Manager Bruce Beevers to hire six pressmen for a total of 32. He also oversees pre-pressmen (who make the plates), electricians and machinists.
While the Sacramento Bee’s print run has declined — from 385,000 in the 1990s for the Sunday edition to 165,000 today — overall pressroom operations have grown since they have taken on more publications as other printing operations shut down.
James Earnst finishes up the process of loading a roll of newsprint, and sets the tension on the copper belts in the pressroom at the Sacramento Bee. Earnst has been at the Bee for 26 years. “When [the presses] run good, they run good,” he says. “But they don’t always run good. It’s mechanical. You have to listen for things — subtle noise changes, like plates coming off and gears grinding. I’m not a sit-down-at-a-desk guy.”
The Bee uses offset printing, a lithographic process in which an inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket to paper.
The Bee’s pressroom operates nearly 22 hours a day (the only downtime is 2-5:30 a.m.), printing five daily newspapers and six weekly publications.
Pressing On
While circulation dwindles, the Sacramento Bee pressroom grows.