Of Interviews and Ink Trucks
The
year was 1995, and a starry-eyed young whippersnapper was interviewing
for a job as a newspaper-technology writer. Yes, he had firsthand knowledge
of the newspaper-production process, having worked as a writer and editor
at a couple of small dailies. Yes, he had experience with the emerging
online world, dating back to tweaking bulletin-board-system software on
an Atari 800 in high school. Yes, he had even experienced a newsroom’s
transition to pagination, and lived to tell the tale.
Fine and good, the jaded editor replied. But what about the other parts of the newspaper plant–the pressroom and mailroom, where heavy metal rules the roost and mild-mannered editors usually fear to tread?
So the aspiring young writer told the story about the ink truck. As an assistant city editor at a small daily, he made its arrival something of a newsroom event. As the clock inched closer to deadline and the phones clattered with death notices, he assembled the entire staff to sprint downstairs and watch the ink truck pump–well, ink–into an underground tank. He offered no explanation for this ritual, except to say "it was fun."
Amazingly, the aspiring young writer still got the job. And you probably know what comes next–I only wish I could say that starry-eyed whippersnapper was someone else.
Five years later, after chronicling the changing worlds of newspaper operations and the Internet for Presstime and serving as this magazine’s associate editor, I’m ushering in my first issue of TechNews as editor (though after sharing that ridiculous story, it may well be my last).
We begin by attempting to pin down the amorphous concept of content-neutral publishing. John Bryan, himself a recent veteran of a newspaper’s search for a next-generation editorial system, spells out what the multipublishing push will mean for the newsroom rank-and-file (see p. 8).
We also look at two newspapers with different approaches to introducing XML-based systems, and our bonus poster adds historical perspective to the tectonic shift. Then, in a different take, columnist David M. Cole points out how many of these new trends really aren’t new at all (p. 35).
And that’s not all. With TechNews regular Pete Wetmore as our tour guide, we visit The State-Journal Register in Springfield, Ill. (p. 17). We also document the industry’s ongoing march to the 50-inch web and offer up a tool to help take off the inches (pp. 4 and 30). And we share results from a call-center study that suggests that newspapers often don’t track performance (p. 24).
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But oddly, the most important part of the magazine is missing this month. That, of course, would be your feedback. As with the rest of NAA’s publications and programs, TechNews’ primary goal is to reflect your interests and priorities. We always welcome your suggestions (tonem@naa.org) and especially your letters.
Here is where I should try to salvage this column, and what’s left
of my reputation, by saying how the excitement of being a part of how
newspapers happen hasn’t faded since those nights of running downstairs
to watch the ink truck. But I’ll spare us all the embarrassment and
get straight to the more sensible pages that follow. 
Mark Toner
TechNews Editor