The Cole Digest, December 13, 1995

Jamie Braswell has elected to stay in systems because he found it rewarding.

My colleague Pete Wetmore is talking to the newsroom folk who support computers.

"Systems work is so unlike all the other tasks that are performed in the newsroom," the system editor at the San Jose Mercury News said. "There's always strain between how much time you have to do something and the quality of what you do."

The quality of his work was enhanced at his previous place of employment, the Charlotte Observer, by the "significant number of people physically near the users" to answer questions and solve problems. "The support was there, it was with the users and the situation worked very well."

Also, he said, "we had a very good relationship between the newsroom and advanced systems. There was always an atmosphere of cooperation."

Braswell moved into systems after seven years on the sports copy desk. The jobs have quite different rewards.

"Copy desk people are like the offensive linemen of the newsroom in that whenever they do something right, nobody notices, but when they do something wrong, they get hammered. There's not a lot of positive reinforcement for copy editors.

"Moving to developing an application and making somebody's life better -- and seeing that difference yourself -- can be very rewarding. Indirectly, you're going to make the quality of the paper better."

In the nation's midriff, the advent of the new Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal has propelled one former system editor even higher in the newsroom hierarchy.

"It wasn't my choice to leave," Geoff Blaesing said about having vacated the job of system editor of the Milwaukee Journal in 1990 after four years. "I was offered the job of running the photo and art departments. I went from managing zero people to 30."

How does one get selected to be systems editor? "My demeanor," Blaesing said. "I had a very level head. It takes a lot to get me riled up."

But he did get riled up on occasion.

"My biggest frustration was with people who made policy or budgetary decisions without knowing what you were doing," Blaesing said. His predecessor as system editor told him that when the first PC for the newsroom came up as a budget request, he was told he could "buy the CPU this year and next year buy the monitor."

How can a system editor overcome the frustration of not being heard? "You have to earn the trust of your editors, that they know that eventually you can make the decision and let them support you," Blaesing said. "You have to get an editor to learn that there are some decisions they can get concerned about and others that they don't."

In the newly merged world of the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal, Blaesing is art director, with photos spun off to another desk. He knows he has to count on the system editor to help get things done, and having been there, "I have a lot of insight -- I try not to make outlandish requests."

Next week: A longevity record in editorial systems and a move to new media.

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 subscribers 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.

[THE COLE PAPERS is a monthly newsletter devoting itself to technology, journalism and publishing. Subscriptions are $139 for 12 issues ($159 outside the U.S.). MasterCard, Visa and American Express cards are accepted. For more information, e-mail COLE, call (415) 673-2424, fax (415) 673-2449 or write The Cole Group, 2590 Greenwich St., Ste. 9, San Francisco USA 94123-3333.]