The Cole Digest, March 20, 1996

What if we, as the newspaper industry, were like the old days of the Ford Motor Co.?

You know, the old saw about the Model T: "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black."

Hey, hold it a minute: today's newspaper is just like a Model T. Every day we tell our readers they can only have one type of newspaper.

This thinking is antiquated, or so says Christopher J. Feola, systems editor at the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American. In the next couple of weeks, Feola will discuss the difference between the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age, not to mention database publishing:

The Industrial Revolution centered on manufacturing, and therefore assembly lines and other production techniques.

The Information Age is centered on data, and therefore information systems.

By definition, then, an Information Age newspaper system is centered on data acquisition and manipulation -- not production.

Data acquisition we understand; we know we need a reporter on the scene, a camera on the spot. But data manipulation?

Think of it this way: Every day we gather scores of stories. We print them.

And then we throw them away.

Oh, sure, there are forward-looking newspapers that ship their stuff to Lexis-Nexis and Dialog. But exactly how many real people do you know who can access any of those things?

Even worse, think of how much of our business is dictated by production. Think of the endless debates over news hole. Think of the difficulty any news organization has launching new products.

Even worse, think about how often we must tell our readers "No."

"I want more sports." "No."

"I want more business news." "No."

"I want more local news." "No."

"I want more school news." "No."

We all know why things are this way: It's difficult to impossible to redirect the assembly line.

So let's get rid of it.

Instead of an assembly line, we'll have a matrix of interlocked databases. Some will contain works in progress. Some will contain already published data: Text, graphics, photos, sound, video and data models. Some will contain research data: The census, crime statistics, voting results, and similar source information.

Other databases will contain finished data waiting to be published.

A master database controlling these container databases will be able to output to print, voice, on-line products, wireless products, telephony, broadcast -- you name it.

Everyone from reader to reporter will be a client for those databases. Writing a story? The production database will get it to your editor, then make sure the right version gets on the correct page.

Need a new product to meet a changing competitive situation? The database will build it on the fly.

Want more sports and less ... whatever? The database will do that for you.

Want e-mail or pager notification of events that are important to you? The database will alert you as soon as they happen.

Thanks Chris. Next week: not just digital delivery.

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) 1996, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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