AFTER DEADLINE
Printing of TV Week needs work
By Anne Harpham
I have heard from a number of readers over the past few weeks about creasing and smudging in TV Week, particularly at the top of the page.
Your comments, e-mailed and phoned in, have not gone unheeded. We know that many of you are very unhappy with the condition of the TV Week section in the Sunday paper and we are taking the situation seriously.
However, it has proven to be a difficult problem to fix.
We hope you can continue to be patient with us as we try to resolve the situation.
Several factors are contributing to a poorer-quality product than we would like. Our letterpresses, which will be phased out this summer, are more than 40 years old and printing an acceptable-quality paper on them is difficult under even the best circumstances.
TV Week, which is printed on Friday mornings, runs on our Hoe press.
It is, as our production folks put it, the more maintenance-intensive of the two presses.
As we get closer to switching over to our new production facility in Kapolei in August, crews are working out of both that plant and our pressroom in the News Building on Kapi'olani Boulevard. Crews are at the new press for training and to handle work there as jobs are switched over.
Mindful of reader concerns with the TV book, production crews have redoubled efforts to resolve the problem.
I assure you that press crews are trying to get the best product they can off the old press even as they prepare for the switchover.
Long shot
We ran a photo on the Island Life cover Thursday that was used in error.
We printed an item in the Left Lane column that day about Stroller Strides, a power-walking and body-toning class for moms who want to get in shape after pregnancy.
The photo used with it had nothing to do with anyone in the class. It was taken six months ago for a story in the Sports section on Baby Boot Camp, which combines brisk walking, stretching and strengthening exercises, using outdoor equipment such as benches, poles and stairs to work on various muscle groups important for new mothers.
To help illustrate the item on Stroller Strides, a page designer turned to our photo archives. We use archived photos for illustrations on spot items frequently, but they should be generic illustrations. They should not show identifiable people who have no connection to the subject of the accompanying story.
The photo we used did show a mom and a stroller. But this mom has no connection with the Stroller Strides class and the photo should not have been picked up.
Subsequently, editors who saw proofs of the page failed to check to see whether the people in the photo were part of Stroller Strides.
An editor called the woman in the photo and assured her that her photo would not be used again without her permission.
Senior Editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative. Reach her at 525-8033 or aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com.
