Field Trip: Newspaper Office

Posted by My Heart Song

 2/19/2013

We went on a field trip this week to the South Bend Tribune newspaper office building. We have driven by this large building so many times and now finally had the opportunity to see all of the inside workings. You can click here to learn more about the history and basics of the South Bend Tribune

The only downside of our field trip was that none of the machines were running. This newspaper is a morning paper, which means it is printed during the night. Therefore, the machines are idle during the daytime hours. The only workers we saw were machine cleaners, journalists and customer service staff.   

But we did enjoy seeing how the paper is printed. Here are my kids next to the humongous rolls of paper. There were also large ink vats that were probably 7-feet tall.

We learned some facts about the newspaper business, including trends towards more internet news and fewer newspaper subscribers. I was fascinated by the inserting machines, that put the ads and coupon inserts into the finished papers. 

Thank you, South Bend Tribune, for allowing us to learn more about what you do!

PS: Field trips like this are another reason I enjoy our homeschool co-op. We have a field trip organizer who plans these events, so all we have to do is show up. 

Love how easy it is to go on a quality field trip!