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I was lucky when I finished journalism school in 1988.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2019 (2178 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
I was lucky when I finished journalism school in 1988.
I got my foot in the door of the Free Press newsroom as an intern and when classes finished on the Friday, I was able to start my career the following Monday.
Paul Samyn, Editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, Tuesday, September 26, 2017. (Trevor Hagan for The Star)
A lot has happened at the Free Press and in the newspaper industry since my first reporting assignment more than 30 years ago.
Profits have all but disappeared. Reporting jobs have been cut everywhere. And far too many newspapers have had to close their doors.
But I continue to count myself lucky that I am surrounded by a core of committed and creative colleagues who still share the same dream I had when I joined this newsroom.
We want to serve this community with our journalism. We want to get at the truth. We want to make a difference.
And thanks to subscribers like you, we are fortunate enough to still be able to do what the Free Press needs to do and what you deserve.
This week, we’d like to take you on a tour of the Free Press to show you more of the people working every day to bring the news to your doorstep and your screen.
— Paul Samyn, editor
In the field: where reporters find your stories.Jessica Bothelo-Urbanski (left) in a scrum at the Manitoba Legislative Building. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSLegislative reporter Larry Kusch (right) at the Manitoba Legislative Building working a story. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSWINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Mike McIntyre in the press box at a Winnipeg Jets game. WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPhotojournalist Ruth Bonneville on the job. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe notebook: a reporter's best friend. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe recorder: the reporter's other best friend. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSSolomon Israel (right) in a sticky situation.Photojournalist Mikaela MacKenzie on the job in Winnipeg. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSRyan Thorpe (left) gets results in the lab.Courts reporter Katie May (right) in a scrum outside of the Law Courts. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMelissa Martin is literally outstanding in her field. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSParliamentary bureau reporter Dylan Robertson heads in to work. JUSTIN TANG / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSParliamentary bureau reporter Dylan Robertson. JUSTIN TANG / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSColumnist Niigaan Sinclair talks to schoolchildren about his tattoo of the 1817 Peguis-Selkirk Treaty. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSTrevor Hagan goes to great lengths to get the right angle.The newsroom: Where (some) reporters write their stories, where articles are edited and they're placed on pages with photos.Editor Paul Samyn mulls something over in the newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSIf there's one thing you'll find in the newsroom, it's stacks of paper. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSReporter Ashley Prest in the newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPapers from days gone by hang on the wall in the newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSBusiness reporter Martin Cash makes the magic happen on the phone at the Winnipeg Free Press newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSEditor Paul Samyn talks to associate editor Wendy Sawatzky in the newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFree Press staff work on updates and changes to the website. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMultimedia producer Graeme Bruce works interactive wizardry in the newsroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSAssociate editors Scott Gibbons (left) and Wendy Sawatzky in the newsroom -- with Free Press newsroom dog Walter. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe setting sun streams into the newsroom as graphics artists Ed Matlashewski (left) and Kittie Wong lay out pages for the print edition. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPlatemaking: Where digital pages are printed on plates for the presses.Heading into Creative Services, where plates are made. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe lights over the equipment in Creative Services are fitted with orange sleeves to block specific light wavelengths to which the plates are sensitive. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSDebbie Thompson, creative services supervisor. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPlates are made in Creative Services. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSInside Creative Services, which was known as the composing room before paste-up tables were replaced by digital publishing. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe pressroom: where the plates are printed on paper.The calm before the presses roar to life. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPressman Dennis Boyechko inspects a one-ton roll of paper before splicing it in to replace a roll running low. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSInside the Free Press pressroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPressman Garry Sawotin feeds paper through the presses while preparing for a print run. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPlates on the presses. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSKen Savage works in the office on a busy Friday night print run. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPressman Kyle Monkman poses for a quick portrait while moving one-ton rolls of paper in position for the presses.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSRolls of paper waiting to be used by the presses. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThe presses are loud! Ear protection is required. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSGreg Cullen starts up the presses.MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPaper speeds through the press machines. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSGreg Cullen (left) and Garry Sawotin troubleshoot on a busy Friday night in the pressroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSGreg Cullen shows his ink-stained hands - a pressman's trademark. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSGreg Cullen (left) looks on as John Ridd worms his way into the machine to fix a problem while printing the paper on a busy Friday night. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSIt's often called the daily miracle -- newspapers roll off the press late in the evening, after staff spent the day pursuing news, sports and arts stories. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSDave Jackson (left) and Dennis Boyechko look at pages to line up the CMYK profiles after the presses start rolling.
Winnipeg Free Press press room
September 15. 2018The mailroom: where the paper comes together.Leslie Smith (from left), Britt Pentney and John Landers (back to camera) at work in the Free Press mailroom. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMailer John Landers watches the papers come in after fixing a jam in the route. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSKenton Cameron, assistant mailroom supervisor, checks the flow of papers and inserts. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSKenton Cameron, assistant mailroom supervisor, poses for a quick portrait in a storage room. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSShipping prepares the papers for delivery drivers. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFrom our door to yours: shipper Matthew Martin loads papers into delivery vehicles. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSStacks of papers await delivery. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSThank you for your support!MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Free Press staff from multiple departments in the pressroom in early 2019.
