The Palo Alto Daily News Group in has tapped Express KCS to manage writing, copy-editing and design of a weekly real-estate product, the trade publication Newspapers & Technology reports.

Workers at Express KCS’ Gurgeon, India, facility (offices pictured above) are handling the copy editing and design associated with the creation of Home Preview, an 8- to 16-page advertorial product that is distributed with Daily News editions and also used as a topper for selected San Jose Mercury News zones, said Mary Evans, the Mercury News’ chief financial officer.

Evans told Newspapers & Technology that the decision to use Express KCS to create Home Preview does not mean BANG will outsource any of its other editorial functions. “It’s a toe in the water, and it’s not a shot across the bow,” she said.

“It behooves us to find ways to optimize our operations, but we have no plans to outsource any of our news,” she said, adding that the publisher might, however, outsource other advertorial products.

Express KCS already handles ad production for the Mercury News as well as other BANG papers that include the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times.

DNG, a unit of MediaNews Group’s Bay Area Newspapers Group, consists of free newspapers distributed in Palo Alto, San Mateo and other communities near San Francisco. (Photo credit: Newspapers & Technology, January 2007)