San Diego Union-Tribune to move printing to Riverside

Press line

True to their word, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and vulture investor fund Alden Global Capital, operating under the name MediaNews Group, appear to be proceeding with their previously announced plans to print Soon-Shiong’s Los Angeles Times and Alden’s San Diego Union-Tribune, acquired from Soon-Shiong last month, at the former Press-Enterprise printing plant in Riverside. The multi-block complex is now in the hands of a MediaNews Group subsidiary known as the Southern California News Group, which refers to the property as the SCNG Production Facility.

Postings on MediaNews Group’s help-wanted website seek recruits for a newly offered range of jobs there, including Press Operator I, Press Operator II, Reel Tender I, Reel Tender II, and Part Time Inserter (Warehouse Worker). Job descriptions appear to anticipate the training of at least some recruits from scratch. “This is an entry-level position with [an] introduction to reel room operations such as Runsheet Comprehension and Roll Identification,” says the notice for Reel Tender I; hourly compensation is given as between $18 and $23.

A few steps up the ladder is Press Operator I, described as “a development position that formally introduces a Reel Tender 3 to functions necessary to succeed as a Press Operator. Although exposure to ink and water occurs in the Reel Tender stages, this is the level that allows ongoing development.” Pay is listed between $24 and $27 an hour. At the next level, Press Operator II jobholders will be required to “operate and troubleshoot press-related equipment such as print couples and Reel Room. You will also need an understanding of ink and water balance well enough to meet expected standards” at hourly wages between $25 and $27. Job hopefuls will also need to have the ability to “properly plate and remove plates, remove and install blankets, and purge black and color ink rails,” as well as “be willing to work the night shift, weekends and holidays.”

Chris Argentieri – giving print newspapers "the longest lives possible"

Per the website Salary.com: “The average hourly wage for a Press Operator II in Los Angeles, CA is $28 as of July 25, 2023, but the range typically falls between $25 and $31.” The U-T was shorn of its own presses in 2015 when the paper was sold by Republican kingpin Doug Manchester to Tribune Publishing of Chicago, later known as Tronc, which moved printing to the Times plant on Olympic Boulevard in LA. The arrangement continued after Soon-Shiong bought both the Times and U-T from Tronc in July 2018, but was forced into a short-term lease of the LA printing plant, which had been sold to New York developers in a separate deal. Soon-Shiong minions announced in November of last year that the Times lease would lapse in early 2024 and that printing of the Times and U-T would subsequently be handled by “a joint venture with Southern California News Group,” suggesting to some that the pharmaceutical mogul might continue to heavily subsidize the operation. Times business chief Chris Argentieri told the paper that, “the company is committed to giving print newspapers ‘the longest lives possible and continuing this tradition for our customers and communities.’”

Whether last month’s sale of the U-T by Soon-Shiong to Alden has changed that calculus remains to be seen, as does whether MediaNews can put together a functional printing crew in Riverside at the modest wages advertised. Meanwhile, with Alden’s U-T takeover settling in, reporters’ jobs there may be changing, a revised bio on the paper’s website suggests. In early August, Blake Nelson’s role switched from “Blake covers East County” to “Blake covers homelessness and other issues affecting Southern California.”

Whitburn’s campaign ace

San Diego city council Democrat Steve Whitburn, the focus of an August 8 Inewsource.com report of his decision to pause his once-touted city towing reform drive, has been collecting big campaign cash for his reelection effort, taking in $101,404 during the first half of this year, according to a July 31 city disclosure filing. “I think that he’s very flexible in what he wants, depending on what the mayor wants him to do and what the housed people who have money want him to do,” homelessness volunteer Janis Wilds told Inewsource. “Whitburn said he would champion changes to the city’s towing program after an internal audit found the most common reason San Diego police impound cars is for what researchers have called ‘poverty tows,’” per the post. “That includes towing for expired registration, 72-hour parking violations, and unpaid tickets — offenses commonly applied to low-income and unhoused people.” But these days, Whitburn “wants to await the outcome of a state bill that focuses on ending tows solely for unpaid parking tickets. Two of the three most common towing reasons by far in San Diego are expired registration and 72-hour parking violations.”

Steve Whitburn – would champion changes to the city’s towing program

Meanwhile, the frenzy of campaign money-raising has begun, and funds are pouring into the Whitman campaign kitty from a bevy of special interests, including Megan Jones and Keith Jones, listed as owners of Ace Parking, with contributions of $750 each on February 9. “ACE ensures that all vehicles are properly permitted/ticketed and parked in the appropriate areas, ensuring every last dollar is collected while protecting your bottom line,” says a page on ACE’s website headlined “Enforcement.”

As described in the Reader by Dorian Hargrove in February 2013, Ace had a deal with the city of Chula Vista to hand out parking tickets in the city’s downtown area. “According to their agreement, Ace employees are responsible for enforcing the following violations: non-payment of parking meters, parking at an expired meter, improper parking in a parking stall, backing into a stall, and parking over the time limit (for signed parking).” According to the Palm Springs city website, “The City of Palm Springs currently contracts with Ace Parking to provide parking enforcement services. Ace Parking’s responsibility is to enforce the City’s downtown, on-street, and parking lot program. This includes the enforcement of parking-related ordinances, statutes, and codes as required and were required by the City Manager.”

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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