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Further cause for existential despair in journalism: the (Pulitzer-Prize winning!) OC Register is going to outsource some of its copy editing and layout work to a company in India. But uh, don't worry staffers, it's only a test! A test which will inevitably lead to foreigners taking good old American journalism jobs. Don't be fooled by management doublespeak. It's time to panic!

Editors at Mindworks will work five shifts a week for one month, performing layout for the community paper and editing some stories in the flagship Register, [deputy editor John] Fabris said. Staffing at the company will not be affected, he said...

"This is a small-scale test, which will not touch our local reporting or decision-making. Our own editors will oversee this work," Fabris said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "In a time of rapid change at newspapers, we are exploring many ways to work efficiently while maintaining quality and improving local coverage."

The OC Register has already "been through three rounds of layoffs in the past year." So if you're a copy editor there now, I would recommend some fervent job-hunting starting now. Mindworks, the Indian firm, already does similar work for parts of the Miami Herald. Yes, they're a cost-saver; but can they compete with solid American production work? Yes they can. Despair.

[BW]