SAINT ALBANS — For the past few issues of the Addison Independent, the printing firm that prints this newspaper has had its share of problems, which has led to poor print quality, to say the least.
“We’ve had readers tell us they’re going blind reading the blurry text,” says Addison Independent publisher Angelo Lynn, “which, if I can take any good news from that comment, it’s that the content we provide is so compelling and informative that our readers are willing to read the stories to the end! But seriously, we recognize it’s a critical problem and, believe me, it’s disheartening to all of us at the Independent to see a lot of great work from our reporters, advertising sales reps, graphic designers and Trent Campbell’s photography botched in the printed edition. It is something we’ve been focused on for the past few weeks and we’re all working hard to get the problems at the press in Saint Albans resolved.”
Those problems include a vacuum pump that is broken and will be replaced this coming weekend. The pump holds the aluminum plates tight against the large drums around which the ink is distributed on to the paper. While some vacuum pumps are functioning another is not, creating the effect of sharp text on one half of a page, while allowing the text to blur (or have a double image) on other parts of the page.
Getting a new vacuum pump has been problematic, according to the St. Albans Messenger, which prints the Independent.
“The first pump we received didn’t work and we had to reorder,” explained Emerson Lynn, publisher of the Messenger. “We’re finally getting that part this week, and have a crew that will tear apart the press this weekend, install the new pump, as well as tear down another part of the press in an effort to improve the color registration and ink flow throughout each of the papers we print,” Lynn said. “It’s a big project, but we’re committed to doing everything we can to fix the problem as quickly as we can.”
To readers of the Addison Independent and publisher Angelo Lynn, the fix at his brother’s printing operation can’t come soon enough.
“The Messenger’s press is a behemoth that has its good days and bad,” Lynn said, recalling that a big overhaul this past spring had improved the print quality substantially, until this latest snafu with the vacuum pump. The press’s problems should be fixed by Monday, July 23, but not for today’s newspaper. (The Arts + Leisure section is printed at Upper Valley Press in New Hampshire earlier in the week and inserted into the A&B sections each Thursday, which is why its printing is much better.)
“We certainly appreciate the patience our readers and advertisers have had as we work through the problem and find solutions that improve the print quality in the long run,” Lynn said, who also encouraged readers to take advantage of the digital edition of the newspaper that comes with each subscription, whether that is for 3 months, six months or a year.
Subscribers to the print edition of the paper can add full access to the online edition at no charge by calling the office at 388-4944; dropping by the office at the Marble Works in Middlebury, or sending an email to [email protected].