The Cole Digest, Jan. 11, 1995

Gentle Reader,

My associate L. Carol Christopher is working on a Ph.D. in newspapers, technology and work at the University of California, San Diego (she used to be a real newsroom type, having been a systems editor at both the Dallas Morning News and the Denver Post).

Christopher's thoughts on the impact of how are newspapers -- management and workers -- are understanding and attempting to shape the accelerating shift that technology has brought about are important and this week I cede this space to her.

"According to Mary Sepucha, director of labor relations at the Newspaper Association of America, 'It's an exciting time, but it's also daunting for employees who have been doing things the same way for years. Things have changed radically in the way they do their work.

"'Many of the machines we're seeing in newsrooms are breaking down the traditional newspaper disciplines,' she said, 'and creating new, cross-jurisdictional work.'

"This has been clearly visible to a key player in newsroom labor relations. According to Ruthanne Greeley, executive secretary for the contracts committee of the Newspaper Guild, 'The work lines get muddied. Lots of managers try to move jobs during the contract negotiations.'

"At the same time, union members have new opportunities. 'There are chances to do new things and explore new areas,' she said. 'They're excited about being able to do their jobs better and more effectively.'

"Technology's impact hit production first, but it isn't stopping there, Sepucha said. Part of its impact is in how it forces groups to respond to one another.

"'What might have been composing room work is moving into the newsroom,' Greeley said. 'That's an issue that could create tensions among workers and among unions. Where there is a single, unified management, there are various unions.' Those unions are having to confront how to handle new categories of work.

"It's those new categories that are forcing newspapers to adopt an interdisciplinary team approach: Old-line departments such as editorial, advertising and photoengraving are yielding people who are drawn into a common area to work on new products together.

"One consequence for management, Sepucha said, is that 'we're able to use expertise to better value' -- putting the right person in the right job, based on his or her skills.

"'One of the problems with technology is that, for example, you're sometimes using fairly high-priced expertise to lay out the paper on a pagination terminal rather than assist an editor,' she said. 'You want to be careful not to dilute the value of the work. A lot of papers are getting around that now through creative services or ad layout departments.'

"For most newsroom workers, Sepucha predicts the future will closely resemble the past: familiar tasks, unfamiliar alliances.

"'The work of reporters,' Sepucha said, 'won't change significantly, and editors will still have the same responsibilities as always. But they'll be using different tools.

"'You'll see the artist working with the editor on projects. They'll use Macs and scanners to creatively flow type and art, to combine art work with the printed word. They'll rely less on old techniques of production to get done what they need to.'

"They'll rely on new techniques and broader skills to gather the news, she noted.

"'We'll need editors who can synthesize in a more concise form and who are extremely computer literate. If you look at most of what will be in the electronic newspaper, complicated things will be reduced to the 'who-what-when-and-where' and consumers who want more will go further to look for it.

"'The new kind of electronic journalist will be more comfortable with on-line data retrieval and networking than a reporter who's creating the story on a VDT,' Sepucha said."

Thanks, Carol.

Onward.

\dmc

[THE COLE DIGEST is written by consultant David M. Cole, editor and publisher of the industry newsletter THE COLE PAPERS. The DIGEST is made available to PressLink members every Wednesday at no extra charge. Send comments by e-mail to cole@plink.geis.com. The COLE DIGEST is the property of The Cole Group, a California sole proprietorship. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The Cole Group is prohibited. Copyright (C) 1995, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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