My Local Newspaper Will be Edited in India

It looks like the Orange County Register, our local newspaper, may become the New Delhi Times:

An Indian company will take over copy editing duties for some stories published in The Orange County Register and will handle page layout for a community newspaper at the company that owns the Pulitzer Prize-winning daily, the newspaper confirmed Tuesday.

Orange County Register Communications Inc. will begin a one-month trial with Mindworks Global Media at the end of June, said John Fabris, a deputy editor at the Register.

Mindworks' Web site says the company is based outside New Delhi and provides "high-quality editorial and design services to global media firms ... using top-end journalistic and design talent in India."

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, Fabris said. Staffing at the company will not be affected, he said.

Can we expect stories about sacred cattle, cricket scores, or people bathing in the Santa Ana River? When I first read this I thought it had to be a hoax, but apparently it's a legitimate story. As far as that last line about staffing, just wait a month and see if the Register execs like the results. There's no reason to do this unless it saves them money, and it won't save them money unless it helps them reduce high-priced Orange County staff in favor of low-priced Indian staff. If this month-long experiment is successful, there will be staffing cuts.