Ask The Editors: Why are some pages wrinkled?

I have a complaint that is more for the pressroom than the editor. Why does management allow the paper to be sent out with folds and creases across some of the pages? A lot of articles I start to read have an overlapping fold that runs through the piece horizontally. It's very annoying to have to stop and "iron" out pages before reading them. This is after the press operation and in the folding sequence, because the type is all there, just obscured by the tight folds in the paper. Isn't this an adjustment to the rollers? Jim York

We asked the Bee's Jeff Gledhill, Vice President of Operations, to respond to this question. Here is his reply:

Dear Mr. York:
I agree that the overlapping fold or wrinkles in the paper are annoying and make the paper difficult to read. The cause of the wrinkles is usually due to a buildup of ink on a roller or a misalignment of rollers somewhere along the path in the printing process. One of the challenges of our process is the tight production window in which we have to produce the paper. Due to the speed of the press and the variables in the process, wrinkles sometimes do occur, and we can't immediately take the downtime to correct them.

When we do have the time available, we will stop the production process to rectify the problem. We take proactive maintenance measures to try and ensure we produce a newspaper free of wrinkles, but unfortunately that is not always the case.

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Fresno Bee Editors

Senior Vice President & Executive Editor
Betsy Lumbye
blumbye@fresnobee.com
Betsy manages the newsroom, providing overall direction and tone for its operations. In her spare time she competes as an amateur dressage rider, tackles the New York Times Sunday crossword and reads mysteries -- just not all at the same time.

Managing Editor
Jack Robinson
jrobinson@fresnobee.com
Jack oversees day-to-day operations of the newsroom. He entered journalism at the ripe age of 30, after working as a symphony musician and studying statistics at UC Berkeley.

Assistant Managing Editor for Presentation
Kris Eldred
keldred@fresnobee.com
Kris oversees the Bee's copy desks and the photo, art and features departments. She designed and edited her first newspaper -- for a creative writing class -- in the sixth grade.

Assistant Managing Editor for News
John Rich
jrich@fresnobee.com
John oversees The Bee's local news, sports and business departments. He got ink in his blood -- literally -- as a teenager working on a printing press.

Assistant Managing Editor for Online
Jennifer Ward
jward@fresnobee.com
Jennifer works with all the departments to develop multimedia content and interactive projects for online. She wrote her first computer program in 6th grade -- and still has the original cassette tape it's stored on.

Director of Photography
William Haines
bhaines@fresnobee.com
William supervises a staff of 10 photographers who scour the valley to bring you compelling images. He rides vintage Italian motor scooters that spew smoke and his first published photo was of friend and actor Rob Schneider in high school.

Sports Editor
Matt Lloyd
mlloyd@fresnobee.com
Matt Lloyd has been at The Bee since April 1999. He recently was promoted to Sports Editor in August 2008. He previously was the Assistant Sports Editor. A former sports reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area, he oversees the production of The Bee's daily sports section and the department's special sections.

Executive News Editor
Alison Lucian
alucian@fresnobee.com
Alison oversees The Bee's copy editors from the news desk and the features department. She joined The Bee in 1998 after moving here from the East Coast.

Features Editor
Kathy Mahan
kmahan@fresnobee.com
Kathy manages two editors, 11 reporters and two information aides responsible for arts, entertainment and lifestyle coverage. Reading Rolling Stone Magazine as a teen sparked her interest in journalism.

Business Editor
Mike Nemeth
mnemeth@fresnobee.com
Mike oversees The Bee's business department. He has worked at newspapers more than 20 years and is the third generation of his family to join the industry.

Head Librarian
Nancy Ramirez
nramirez@fresnobee.com
Nancy oversees the daily archival of The Fresno Bee and the weekly publications along with research for the newsroom and the public. She is proud of her two awards for Best of the Bee Outstanding Achievement for Best Behind the Scenes.

Metro Editor
Robert Zizzo
rzizzo@fresnobee.com
Robert manages The Bee's metro/local news department.

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Why are some pages wrinkled?

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