Your Paper Enters a New Era
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Several months ago, we set out to build this community a better newspaper. We wanted to deliver to you a more colorful and vibrant product - and one that didn't leave any ink on your fingers.
In your hands you are holding the product of all that planning.
This edition has twice the number of pages offering color potential (doubled from eight to 16 pages). It allows us to eliminate the annoying ink rub-off that readers of The Pilot have complained about for decades. As part of the change, we are also converting to a more compact page format that has become the industry standard.
Changes are always stressful, and this one was particularly so. To enhance even further the quality of what many already consider the best community newspaper in America, we arrived at the difficult decision to have the newspaper printed elsewhere. In keeping with another industry trend, The Pilot will no longer be coming off the press in our downtown Southern Pines offices. Instead, we have contracted with The News & Observer to produce the paper for us in its state-of-the-art Raleigh facility.
While we are excited to deliver a better newspaper, we are doing it with a heavy heart. Shutting down our printing operation here has required us to say goodbye to four full-time staffers who operated our press. Also affected are 12 part-time colleagues who collated the various sections of the paper.
As in virtually every business, the economics of the newspaper industry have changed greatly over the last couple of years. In this current environment, newspapers will have to become either purchasers of printing or purveyors of it. Because of the capital investment necessary, most small and medium-sized papers have chosen the former.
Newspapers in all the counties surrounding Moore have already taken the step of consolidating their production operations with those of larger newspapers. Even The Wilmington Star-News, a metro daily, has outsourced its printing to The Fayetteville Observer.
The Raleigh press that will now be printing The Pilot stands four stories tall and stretches longer than a football field. All of that iron affords us the capacity to offer you a much more colorful paper, creating a more inviting reading experience.
This press also utilizes a different kind of printing technology from that utilized by our offset press, which required an oil-based ink. Flexography, the process employed in Raleigh, uses a water-based ink, which dries instantly and doesn't rub off on your hands, clothing or furniture. (Try it with the new, cleaner paper you're now reading.) It is also a better choice for the environment.
Our staff will continue to produce news, photos and advertising matter and place them on pages, which will be electronically transmitted to Raleigh. The finished papers will then be trucked to Southern Pines and delivered by our crews. Neither delivery times nor routine news deadlines will change significantly.
Do we have mixed feelings about this milestone transition? Yes. But we are also pleased that it allows us to do an even better job of serving this wonderful community that we so proudly call home.
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Comments
teufelhunden 2 years, 10 months ago
16 employees? Serve them better.
camesh 2 years, 10 months ago
Hope you gave the employees great severance packages and job referrals.
kgirl 2 years, 10 months ago
"In your hands you are holding the product of all that planning."
In my hands I am holding the computer mouse and a cup o' joe.
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
if the pilot would like a better paper, all you have to do is fire "douchedy rhoades"! lol
but seriously, i would like you guys more ;)
Amazed 2 years, 10 months ago
RmeMP, please tell me he that he doesn't actually earn money from that drivel.
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
@amazed-
yes, unfortunitly dusty (DR) is on the pilots payroll...
and as you can tell, i guess it's only ok to violate the "usage agreement" if you are an employee of the pilot (as dusty is); what do i mean? the agreement's first bullet states, "Don't post comments that are abusive, defamatory, illegal, libelous or obscene" - do I need to spend the time to start quoting all of dusty's abusive, defamatory, obscene rants? what about when he was threatening SCC? i do believe that we could find how that would fall under illegal somewhere; how about it?
teufelhunden 2 years, 10 months ago
RmeMP-Yep, DR definitely gets a free pass. He has been all of the above & then some. I guess those policies do not apply to him. We were joking that maybe he has some dirt on someone associated with the Pilot. Geez, that's got to be it.
teufelhunden 2 years, 10 months ago
His new office is practically in the Pilot's lap. He should write more Jack Keller books and give the whole political thing a rest.
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
what i find amazing, is that my original post was deleted for "violating" the rules, then i complained about dusty being given a free pass - and now my original post is back... hhhhmmmmmmm
so, the pilot - i promise i will try to play nice from now on, if you guys make him; how about it?
teufelhunden 2 years, 10 months ago
RmeMP-I'll second that.
dustyrhoades 2 years, 10 months ago
Of course you will, as long as you can remain anonymous.
TheNeedle 2 years, 10 months ago
With this sort of "banter', it's not surprising that there are so few people actually posting here.
TheNeedle 2 years, 10 months ago
Flactem: WalMart? Best Buy? Walgreens? Harris-Teeter and every other grocery store who fills the paper with all those little inserts that clutter up my living room? You won't buy a home because the real estate agent may have advertised in the Pilot? You won't eat at any of the many restaurants who do the same or get gas at the Kangaroo?
Please, don't be any sillier than you have to.
hcaeb 2 years, 10 months ago
Now, if you read the online paper they show what is hot! Well, if they can keep up with the web paper as fast as they got rid of the ink on your hands, maybe we can read an up to date paper within two years! Way to go Pilot.
JER 2 years, 10 months ago
I have lived and traveled in a lot of places in the U.S., big towns and small ones. I have always subscribed to the local , home town newspaper where ever I've lived, even if it meant also subscribing to a nearby city newspaper to get the national and world news. I find that the Pilot is one of the best "hometown" newspapers available. While it is unfortunate that several full time and part time staffers have been let go as a result of the change in printing the paper, you must do what is necessary to continue to stay in business and produce your product. I see that the usual gang has posted negative comments already and immediately got off track by going after Dusty Rhoades, one of your best columnists. There are a lot of us out here that believe you have a great product and a great group of columnists that cover subjects that make us more informed and cause us to actually think. Keep up your good work and, by the way, my Friday issue looked great!!
sbouser 2 years, 10 months ago
OK, here we go again. Can we set the record straight on a couple of points and then perhaps get back on track? First of all: as editor, I can assure you that Dusty Rhoades is not "on The Pilot's payroll," in the sense of being an hourly or salaried employee with benefits. Dusty is a lawyer by profession. On the side, he writes novels. On the side of that, he submits a weekly Sunday column to The Pilot. For each of them, we pay him a modest (he would say all too modest) stipend. Our arrangement with Dusty, who leans toward the liberal side (or are you supposed to say "progressive" these days?) is exactly the same one we have with Allan Jefferys, who writes a weekly Sunday column way over on the right side of the spectrum, or with Fred Wolferman, whose weekly Friday column would have to be described as moderately and thoughtfully conservative. Two other columnists alternate on Sundays: conservative Geoff Cutler and more liberal Kevin Smith. We take great pains to try to achieve balance with our politically oriented columnists, as with our syndicated cartoonists. If we should "fire" Dusty Rhoades, does that mean we should also "fire" all the others? In any case: If the opinions that people express in the columns of The Pilot bug you, please respond to their arguments with cogent counter-arguments of your own, rather than attacking the writers themselves by calling them silly, insulting, childish nicknames. Thank you.
clbvpm 2 years, 10 months ago
This is a sad turn of events, indeed. I know one of the workers who was laid off. This young man has disabilities and it will be difficult for him to find other employment. He was so proud of his position there. I wish the best for those involved.
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
how fitting is it, that i offered a truce with good ol' DR (who does in fact collect a paycheck from the pilot - even if it's small) who then immediately goes after me for simply not using my real name on a public board?!
please tell me again "sbouser" how we should all calm down? why don't you specifically ask DR to drop his attitude? or better yet, let him go back to being a novel writer/attorney, maybe his plate is too full to realize that he seems to have a problem with having an honest debate without belittling those who differ from him?
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
i'll tell you what dusty, you have a problem why me being anonymous? why don't you meet me at o'donnells tomarrow night around 10pm 'ish? that way i can introduce myself to you? then you can stop worrying about me being anonymous ;)
injuredlist 2 years, 10 months ago
Yep, you can just feel The Pilot's "heavy heart" (pgh 5) for its firing of some of its employees, after having read the self-congratulatory paragraphs 1 through 3 of this article.
Incredible.
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
it's a shame one of those 16 employees "affected" couldn't have been dusty...it really is, some poor nice person lost their paycheck, but dusty didn't :(
injuredlist 2 years, 10 months ago
Ah, I just remembered. This article was so ham-handed ("Great news! We've improved! Of course, we had to fire several people.") that it reminded me of something.
From "The Meaning of Life:"
John Cleese (portraying the headmaster) near the end of assembly:
"Oh, Jenkins ... apparently your mother died this morning."
orrnnurse 2 years, 10 months ago
I lived in Pinehurst for 25 yrs and enjoyed The Pilot--even tho the ink was bad! I now live in Florida and happy to read The Pilot on line.Am sorry about the job loss,but "time marches on " as does progress. And,as far as all those 'regulars" who email on every subject--they only add to the comic section of the paper.
ASU88 2 years, 10 months ago
@DavidW If you would research your story before posting it would lead to a more factial story. Case in point..."all counties that surrond Moore have already switched to out sourcing the printing of their papers." I believe that the Chatham News & Chatham Record based out of Siler City in Chatham County still prints their own newspaper and still employes several folks in their print shop. I'm sure since Moore County (and Iredell Co. in NC) are adjacent to more counties than "any" other counties in the entire United States of America...I can see how this fact may have slipped by your inquiring mind! I do enjoy the Pilot but since you have no local competion your news is better than no news or is it no news is good news...the jury is still out. I do enjoy your free website edition of the Pilot as well as the opportunity to banter on your blog sites! Keep up the good "work" for the employees that still have a job there in Southern Pines. Do newspapers ever out source Editors? I hear there may be some printer positions in Raleigh?
plumblevel 2 years, 10 months ago
ASU88- the Picerno ghost writer. The real ASU88 writes about "dirt napping" and writes in a "rough" style. When it is written like this it is not ASU88. Good for the Pilot they let the blogs run even with "Crusty Loads" or "Mr. Adjective Specious".
dustyrhoades 2 years, 10 months ago
Oh, and you want to know why they "let" me keep writing, here and in the paper?
Because love me or hate me, the letters and comments show that you all read me. It's all about putting eyeballs on the pages, whether those pages be printed or on the screen. Eyes on pages=ratings=ad revenue.
So keep 'em coming, folks....
RmeMP 2 years, 10 months ago
@dusty-
so according to your theory, i should be on the payroll also huh there dusty? since you keep reading my comments?