IT questions for newspaper executives

Friday, 16 February 2007, 13:47

Robb Montgomery has left a great comment on a post over at Andy Dickinson’s place:

The typical newspaper newsroom traditionally has been undercapitalized and stuffed with crummy old computers.

These are the questions I ask news executives.

Is your IT department under editorial control? Why not?

Has you boss ever blogged?, or hand-coded anything in HTML?

Have they ever posted a photo on Flickr, mixed multi-track audio or edited news video?

Does it feel like your paper’s IT department has turned off the most vital parts of the internet and are filtering your access as digital reporters and editors?

How are you going to transform into multi-platform news operations if you are a journalist working in a newsroom that can’t even use the internet as well as your readers and users can at their home?

I’m not sure the MD needs to know HTML or use Flickr, but beyond that, the words ‘nail’, ‘hit’ and ‘head’ spring to mind.

Entry Filed under: Journalism, Online, Video

Carlos

I work at a small paper in southeastern Washington and our newsroom is horribly, horribly under-equipped. I am web content editor and I only recently got a computer upgrade but only after the 10year-old computer I was previously using (without a graphics or sound card, might I add) died. It took 2 weeks and I got a "new" computer with a soundcard and a LCD screen! I have been doing multimedia work: audio editing, Flash, etc. on my own trusy 12" Powerbook and using my own consumer-grade MiniDV camera. It has been very, very frustrating. Not to mention our web host that greatly limits what we are able to do. In general our CMS is outdated and on the verge of collapse. I am new to the newspaper industry so this has really blown me away. Where have all the forward-thinking people gone. As an information industry it is absolutely ridiculous that newspapers are only now realizing the potential of new media.