I know how printing works, for something like art prints, but newspapers seem to have a whole different set of problems. How do they put together all the printed sheets into separate newspapers?
Do they print each sheet as a separate run, and then end up with lots of stacks of printed newsprint, and then use a machine to put them together? That seems insanely complicated. But so does any other solution I can think of.
I know how they’re put together mentally, but physically? No idea. 
Sorry SmackFu, couldn’t resist that one!
Great question though, and I wanna know too.
Q
At least to address part of the issue:
Sunday papers are extremely big. So when they are delivered, they’re delivered by sections (i.e. front page, sports, comics/ads, etc). And the newspaper seller had to assemble the sections himself. This was something I spent many Sundays doing.
However, daily newspapers came all in one piece.
I have it done every week. I own a county-level newspaper in southeastern Ohio.
At 16 pages per section they’re printed in two large sheets that comprise eight pages each. Those pages are printed, then cut and folded on the press into the proper configuration. It’s complicated but fairly straightforward after you get the feel of it in your head.
To add to Johnathan Chance’s answer, my current paper runs anywhere between 12 and 24 pages per paper. The paper is run through sets of rollers that print one side of the sheet, then the other, then that sheet (still one continuous strip of paper) is run up to the top of the press. Each sheet holds 4 pages (in two spreads*, printed top-to-top) on each side. The sheet with the first AND MIDDLE spreads ends up on top, then the sheet with the second and next-in-from-middle and so on. After all this, a blade splits the sheets down the middle (so that one spread is on each new sheet, then the newly-split sheets are turned so they fit together. Then each paper is sliced off the end of the sheet, and folded (by machine).
I don’t work in the pressroom, but I’m back there every night checking on production, and this is how I understand it to work. Diagrams would be helpful.
Oh wow. That makes so much sense.
I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know this. I knew my paper had an inserting department and no “folding” department (there clearly isn’t room), but I had no idea how this actually worked. Thanks for the explanation, Jonathan and Garfield.
Our folder takes up a small amount of space attached to the end of the press. We don’t have an inserting machine (no money for it), so we pay student groups to come do inserts manually.
Glad I could help. As I said, I’m not in actual production (I’m in design), but in our small paper, I work pretty closely with the pressroom to make sure things go well.
Whereas I’m more remote at this point. Good explanation, Garfield.
I will say, the additional expense of having an inserter at your press pays off fairly quickly. I get my inserts for $9/thousand machine inserted. But if I have something odd-sized it’s $32/thousand by hand.
You’re right on the money, methinks. Based on what I know of book publishing, it works something like this:
Sheets of paper are printed with 8 or 16 pages printed on each side. The sheets are folded (by machine) and trimmed (by machine) so that the result is a set of F&G’s (folded and gathered signatures). The trick is that the pages are printed in such an arrangement that, when the sheets are folded and trimmed, the pages appear in the proper numerical sequence and all facing with the top of the page in the same direction. They’ll print each signature in the book (or newspaper) until they have all of the pages in the issue. The various signatures (sections) are stacked in “pockets” on an automated assembly line that drops one copy of each section onto a stack of finished signatures (sections). With something as big as a Sunday edition, they probably do the supplement section separately.
And of course, Parade is provided offsite with content by Marilyn vos Savant and a troop of poo-flinging macaques. 
God, but I showed up late fo this one. Sorry
Regards,
11811
[Slight hijack]If you don’t mind me asking, what newspaper? I’ve lived in the area almost my whole life and am just very curious.[/hijack]
Brendon
There’s no shortage of student groups (clubs, fraternities, sororities) here willing to come insert for $100. We run 20,000 copies, and we do full run inserts usually, but sometimes they’re half run (advertisers who only want distribution on campus, usually). If it happens that they don’t show up, the newsroom and/or ads comes in and does it, but that’s only happened a couple times since I’ve been here.
That, combined with the variety of inserts we have – a 12-page section once per week, a slightly smaller sized eight page section once a month or so, and a variety of single-sheet ads – means we probably won’t be getting an inserter anytime soon. At most papers who don’t have access to willing cheap labor, I can definitely see how machine inserts are more profitable.