While most of Northeast Michigan settles down for the evening, press operators at The Alpena News begin their shifts. The crew works six days a week, bringing stories to readers across the region.
The News is one of the few Michigan papers that still print in-house, with many publications across the country starting to outsource their printing to save on costs.
The first edition of the newspaper, then known as The Alpena Evening News, was printed on August 1, 1899.
While the printing press has changed over the past century, Production Manager Ryan Quintel says the job hasn’t changed.
“When the quality is there, when we've done a good job and everyone has their papers, we're done,” Quintel said.
He joined the printing team 20 years ago and worked his way up to the manager position. His dad, Gary, helps out in The News’ mailroom.
Quintel says he loves the work his team accomplishes.
“Knowing that I've been able to reproduce the newspaper for the local city that I've grown up around has been my favorite thing,” he said.
Around 8 p.m. every day, Quintel starts up the press, which sounds like a train moving through the building. Wheels of paper turn as they are fed into the four presses filled with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink.
The newspapers are filed one by one onto a conveyor belt by the press, where mailroom workers stack and shelf them. Mailroom Manager Zack Reynolds says he started because his family helped create The News’ daily paper.
“My grandpa used to do this back in the day,” Reynolds said. “He used to be one of the mail carriers back in the day, so it's kind of run in the family.”
Over the past few decades, newspapers have seen a decline in readership and advertisement revenue. This has affected how publications provide readers with articles from reporters.
In 2023, Pew Research Center surveyed 136 publications around the country, 120 of which stated they have seen a decrease in their newspaper's circulation.
Reynolds says he has seen this occur at The News.
“The newer generation, they all go to their cell phone,” Reynolds said.
He said he hopes that younger generations learn more about their local papers.
“I think younger people need to see how (The News) is run,” Reynolds said. “I think it would open their minds up to it.”
On Saturdays, the workers get a night away from the press, but the team will be back Sunday night for the 126-year-old tradition of printing tomorrow’s news.
This story was produced by the Michigan News Group Internship Program, a collaboration between WCMU Public Media and local newspapers in central and northern Michigan. The program’s mission is to train the next generation of journalists and combat the rise of rural news deserts
