A YouTube video clip explains the new pre-press and ad production "centre of excellence" that opened a few months ago in Woodstock.
The centre, with up to 35 employees, is churning out ads for Sun Media papers in south central Ontario. The 47-second clip shows a lot of the young faces fresh from college.
This is the new Sun Media - pockets of people in Woodstock, Barrie, Ottawa, Calgary etc. piecing papers together far from the readers of local print newspapers.
The Calgary centre is producing the Money page. We're not sure what all is being produced in Ottawa and Barrie, but knowing about them gives us a disjointed feeling while reading the Sun.
Isn't "centre of excellence" just another way of saying outsourcing?
The centre, with up to 35 employees, is churning out ads for Sun Media papers in south central Ontario. The 47-second clip shows a lot of the young faces fresh from college.
This is the new Sun Media - pockets of people in Woodstock, Barrie, Ottawa, Calgary etc. piecing papers together far from the readers of local print newspapers.
The Calgary centre is producing the Money page. We're not sure what all is being produced in Ottawa and Barrie, but knowing about them gives us a disjointed feeling while reading the Sun.
Isn't "centre of excellence" just another way of saying outsourcing?
These have been referred to by some wags as "Centres of Excrement."
ReplyDeleteYou're right about it being outsourcing. As you know, some publications (was it in NZ or Oz?) have already outsourced production to Mumbai and other exotic places - lots of "fresh out of college young faces" there.
You probably recall a year or so ago, I think it was a San Diego paper actually outsourced some reporting to India. All you need is a phone, right? You don't actually have to BE there.
For Sun Media, it can only be onward and upward - Woodstock today, India tomorrow! The world is PKP's oyster.
“Centres of Excrement“ hits the nail right on the head. So sad to see the local flavour of publications go the way of centralized crap.
ReplyDeleteI have been informed that my job will be heading south next year to one of these sterile porta-a-pottie dial-an-ad places.
The advertising sales people will be pulling their hair out for sure.
Time to re-invent myself I guess.
At one time, The Sun production department had a good mix of young designers who could whip together creative, good looking ads in a relatively quick period of time. That all changed as they left or were let go and in many cases, based on seniority of the entire pre-press department.
ReplyDeleteOver the last couple of years, I have viewed so many advertisements that seemed to have very little creativity and effort involved in creating them. Even worse, seeing some ads that have been stretched and manipulated in such a poor, haphazard fashion, the pride of work-quality has all but disappeared.
I actually look forward to seeing the ads that come out of Woodstock when it happens. It definitely cannot do anything but improve the quality and look of the Toronto Sun as a whole.