Visit at Democart-Herald

As soon as I walked into the building, the smell of the printed newspaper made me feel refreshed.


I had an opportunity to visit the local newspaper Democrat-Herald in Albany with my classmates. With the rise of crisis in printed newspaper industry due to the internet boom, the visit was a valuable opportunity to acknowledge why the printed newspaper still rocks today.

Steve Lunderverg, an associate editor, gave us a tour of the building. First he took us to the newsroom, and there was a breief explanation of how the newsroom functions. There are 18 employees, including 2 potographers, 3 deskeditors, 5 reporters and 1 online editors. They all get their job done during the day. The busiest time is between 10 am to 11am, and they have to have the last page done by 11pm. 

"I like to read while I eat and have a cup of coffee. I like the feel of the paper." Steve talked about how the printed newspaper is still worthy compared with online newspaper. Although the internet is slowly taking over the position of the printed newspaper, the printed newspaper has merits that online version doesn't. Steve was emphasized on how necessary it is to keep the industry alive.

The press room was an eye-opning. There were 4 giant presses, and the room was filled with the smell of ink and papers. Each press is for a different color. The oldest press is from 1965. Color print is not very cheap because it uses extra ink. If the power goes out, they have to go to some place else to print the newspapers. They do all the printing for Gazette-Times and The commuter as well.

Steve is worried that the printing might go down to 10,000 from 15,000 which is the number of papers they print currently. When the financial melt down happned in 2008, it hit not only Democrat-Hearld but also other ocal newspaper companies as well. However, despite its fear of decline in sales, Steve is optimistic. He believes that the printed newspaper is in need of the community and the people who live in.