January 18, 2011

I was privileged to learn a great deal about the history of the Times Picayune during my winterim experience. In addition to Mr. Finney's stories about his personal experience at the Times Picayune in the mid 1900s, I was given the opportunity to visit the printing press at the Times Picayune. In the room above the printing press, I viewed an exhibit that displayed older editions of the newspaper and explained how the paper was printed. Instead of using long reels of paper as displayed below in gigantic, complicated machinery, a metal mold was made for the paper to be printed upon. Every day, a new mold was created with the articles imprinted upon it. The mold had raised lettering so that the ink could print upon the paper. Then, the paper was distributed by paper boys to the subscribers. The Times Picayune was created in 1837, and the newspaper was named after the Spanish coin, a "picayune." The destruction and devastation of Hurricane Katrina did not, in fact, tear the newspaper apart. Rather, after publishing online for 3 days to update readers, the paper rebounded and began printing again. After Hurricane Katrina, the consistency of the Times Picayune helped readers recover from the storm. Along with the Saints and the general culture of the city, the accurate news coverage allowed the city to regain strength. It is intriguing to learn about the history of the Times Picayune and appreciate how technology has developed to increase the success, productivity, and accuracy of the newspaper. I envy Mr. Peter Finney for his ability to watch the newspaper evolve over the years.

Above are pictures of the printing press at the Times Picayune.