Beneath a photo from Thursday night’s Falcons-Buccaneers game, the headline read “TNF xyxyxyxyxyxy,” followed by a bolded “Header” and several columns of Latin-style filler commonly known as Lorem Ipsum - a clear sign that a draft or template was accidentally sent to press. The error was not limited to print in the December 12 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
According to multiple subscribers, the same nonsensical text also appeared in the Union-Tribune’s digital edition when readers tapped the image of the page to open the article’s reader view. While the static image in the app was later corrected, the underlying article text reportedly remained unchanged, allowing the placeholder copy to persist online well into the day.
The incident quickly went viral on Reddit and other social platforms, where longtime readers, former Union-Tribune employees, and media observers described the mistake as unthinkable under the paper’s former editorial structure. Several commenters who identified themselves as former copy editors noted that final press proofs were once meticulously reviewed before publication - a safeguard that appears to no longer exist.
The gaffe arrives amid ongoing turmoil for the 156-year-old newspaper, which has faced layoffs, newsroom hollowing, editorial controversy, and financial instability since its July 2023 sale to MediaNews Group, a subsidiary of hedge fund Alden Global Capital. Alden, which owns roughly 200 newspapers nationwide, has been widely criticized for aggressively cutting staff at acquired outlets to extract profits, often at the expense of editorial quality and local accountability.
Since the acquisition, the Union-Tribune has shed dozens of employees through buyouts and layoffs, including veteran journalists and editors. In December 2023, the paper was evicted from its downtown headquarters at 600 B Street after allegedly failing to pay more than $200,000 in rent, leaving San Diego’s primary daily newspaper without a physical newsroom for the first time in its history. By mid-2024, the Union-Tribune’s signage was removed from the building entirely.
More recently, the paper drew national attention in June 2025 after Laura Castañeda, its deputy opinion editor and president of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, alleged she was fired the same day an editorial critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity was blocked by publisher Ron Hasse. The editorial reportedly addressed federal immigration raids and the deployment of National Guard and Marines in California. While Union-Tribune management denied a connection between the editorial decision and Castañeda’s termination, the timing prompted widespread accusations of censorship and editorial interference.
Against that backdrop, the December misprint has come to symbolize more than a simple production error. Media analysts and former staffers say it reflects the cumulative impact of years of cost-cutting that have stripped away layers of editorial oversight - copy desks, slot editors, and final proofing processes that once served as the last line of defense against precisely this kind of failure.
The Union-Tribune has not publicly acknowledged the mistake or explained how placeholder text made it through both print and digital pipelines. For subscribers paying premium rates for access to the paper’s journalism, the silence has only compounded frustration. For San Diego, the episode underscores a larger and more troubling question: what happens when a city’s primary daily newspaper is no longer able - or willing - to maintain the basic standards of accuracy, accountability, and editorial rigor that define credible journalism?
Once regarded as a civic institution, the Union-Tribune now finds itself increasingly cited as a cautionary tale - not just about a single misprint, but about the slow erosion of local news under corporate consolidation. As one former employee put it bluntly online, “They laid off all the people they used to pay to make sure stuff like this didn’t happen.”
Since the acquisition, the Union-Tribune has shed dozens of employees through buyouts and layoffs, including veteran journalists and editors. In December 2023, the paper was evicted from its downtown headquarters at 600 B Street after allegedly failing to pay more than $200,000 in rent, leaving San Diego’s primary daily newspaper without a physical newsroom for the first time in its history. By mid-2024, the Union-Tribune’s signage was removed from the building entirely.
More recently, the paper drew national attention in June 2025 after Laura Castañeda, its deputy opinion editor and president of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, alleged she was fired the same day an editorial critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity was blocked by publisher Ron Hasse. The editorial reportedly addressed federal immigration raids and the deployment of National Guard and Marines in California. While Union-Tribune management denied a connection between the editorial decision and Castañeda’s termination, the timing prompted widespread accusations of censorship and editorial interference.
Against that backdrop, the December misprint has come to symbolize more than a simple production error. Media analysts and former staffers say it reflects the cumulative impact of years of cost-cutting that have stripped away layers of editorial oversight - copy desks, slot editors, and final proofing processes that once served as the last line of defense against precisely this kind of failure.
The Union-Tribune has not publicly acknowledged the mistake or explained how placeholder text made it through both print and digital pipelines. For subscribers paying premium rates for access to the paper’s journalism, the silence has only compounded frustration. For San Diego, the episode underscores a larger and more troubling question: what happens when a city’s primary daily newspaper is no longer able - or willing - to maintain the basic standards of accuracy, accountability, and editorial rigor that define credible journalism?
Once regarded as a civic institution, the Union-Tribune now finds itself increasingly cited as a cautionary tale - not just about a single misprint, but about the slow erosion of local news under corporate consolidation. As one former employee put it bluntly online, “They laid off all the people they used to pay to make sure stuff like this didn’t happen.”
Originally published on December 13, 2025.