Eagle’s purchase brought a series of changes
to the paper as equipment was updated and direction was honed under new publisher Judy Z.
Smith. James Smith (no relation), then-publisher of the Eagle-owned Central Oregonian in
Prineville, served briefly as interim publisher from July to September 1996.
Dee Camp was named editor that fall and Al Camp moved from
sports editor to news editor two years later. Smith assumed advertising director duties
when longtime ad sales manager Marilyn Ries left in May 1998.
Under Judy Z. Smith’s tenure, The Chronicle added
digital darkroom equipment in January 1997. The equipment allows photographic negatives to
be scanned digitally and stored in the computer, replacing the traditional darkroom.
New file servers were added, as well as a
replacement black and white flatbed scanner and, later, a color flatbed scanner.
On Nov. 12, 1997, the new photographic technology and
upgrades at the Chelan Mirror’s press allowed The Chronicle to run its first
full-color front page photo. The Haeberle family’s annual cattle drive through
Conconully, complete with fall leaves, was chosen for that history-making photo.
Full-color photos and graphics have been a regular part of
the paper since.
Before that, only “spot” color (a maximum of two
colors) was available through the Chelan press, where each week’s paper is printed.
All color photos had to be planned several weeks in
advance and sent out to have color separations made. Full-color printing was done on an
outside press, usually at the Grant County Journal in Ephrata or Consolidated in Seattle.
Now those color separations - into cyan (blue), magenta
(red), yellow and black - can be made in-house and printed on a laser printer.
In addition to the color capabilities at Chelan, The
Chronicle also uses Eagle Web Press, Eagle Newspapers’ full-service press in Salem,
Ore., for special publications such as the glossy-covered Vacationland and InfoBook.
The Chronicle OnLine, an Internet web page
featuring news, photos, classified and now legal advertising, was launched in June 1997.
The site allows the staff to post updates to ongoing
stories, carry election results the same night returns are announced and hit the virtual
streets immediately with breaking news stories.
In March 1999, the printed Chronicle underwent a major
redesign, the first since the mid-1980s.
The Scene magazine, a tabloid-sized section that featured
arts, entertainment and TV schedules, was eliminated and a new broadsheet features
section, Kaleidoscope, took its place and then some.
Typefaces and layout were modernized, and the paper went to
a narrower “web” or width of paper. Papers average 30-36 pages a week with a
paid circulation of more than 6,100.
The Chronicle and its shopper, The Bottom Line,
blanket the county with some 17,000 copies each week. It’s an effective way for
advertisers to reach virtually every household in the county.
Home delivery began in the spring of 1992 and continues to
expand. The Chronicle contracts with 45 carriers who deliver the paper each week by foot
or on motor routes.
The Chronicle’s first coin-operated news stands were
added in 1997, allowing customers to pick up a paper from the outside stands as well as
from stores, directly from the newspaper office or by subscription.
The most recent technology change came last fall, when The
Chronicle went to a Windows-based computer system and retired the Macs.
But the changes aren’t over yet, as continual changes
in computer technology take The Chronicle into the new millennium. |
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