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Role of computers(Information Technology)

in Journalism

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

ofMASTER OF ARTS IN JOURNALISMuniversity of Balochistan 2009

CONTEXT

ACKNOWLEDGMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

WHAT IS COMPUTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

JOURNALISM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TODAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

MAJOR THEME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

STORY RESEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

COMMUNICATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

EDITING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

PRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

THE REALITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank all of the journalists listed as interviewees for their

time and consideration of my questions and hypotheses. I hope that I have

represented their views fairly and accurately. In this regard, I would like to

acknowledge the assistance of my classmates, for their assistance in

introducing me to many of their colleagues.

Would also like to thank my work placement employers at Computer

Publications Group for their latitude in my arranging the interviews for this

project and in allowing me the time off to write up the final work.

Within the University, I would like to thank my teachers, for there

assistance.

MOHAMMAD WAQAS ASLAM

STUDENT OF

MASS COMMUNICATION

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INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this project is getting a sense of Pakistani print journalists

experiences of that technology and to examine how its ongoing adoption

might affect their work.

In attempting to define the work of journalists in a manner which might

assist an assessment of the influence of information technology, I haveidentified five areas of activity which broadly encompass their work:

Research Communication Writing Editing Production

These areas of activity were used in the case study interviews to tease outthe specific effects on the day-to-day work of the journalists and as a

framework for the material covered in the literature review.

This study of Pakistan journalists and their interaction with new

technologies raises more questions than can be answered here. It does

however shed a little light on the way in which this technology has impacted

upon their lives and how it may continue to do so in the future.

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WHAT IS A COMPUTER

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set

ofinstructions.

Although mechanical examples of computers

have existed through much of recorded human

history, the first electronic computers were

developed in the mid-20th century (1940

1945). These were the size of a large room,

consuming as much power as several hundredmodern personal computers (PCs). Modern

computers based on circuits are millions to

billions of times more capable than the early

machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small

enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch

battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of

the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers".

The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3

players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the

most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions calledprograms makes

computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators.

The ChurchTuring thesis is a

mathematical statement of this versatility:

any computer with a certain minimum

capability is, in principle, capable of

performing the same tasks that any othercomputer can perform. Therefore

computers ranging from a mobile phone to

a supercomputerare all able to perform the

same computational tasks, given enough

time and storage capacity.

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JOURNALISM

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Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material

and opinion via a widening spectrum ofmedia.

These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television,

the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone. Journalists are

they writers, editors orphotographers; broadcast presenters or producers

serve as the chief purveyors of information and opinion in contemporary

mass society. According to the BBC journalist, Andrew Marr, "News is what

the consensus of journalists determines it to be."

The formal status of journalism has varied historically and, still varies

vastly, from country to country. The state and hierarchicalpower

structures in general have tended to see the unrestricted flow of information

as a potential threat, and inimical to their own proper

function. Hitlerdescribed the Press as a "machine for mass instruction,"

ideally, a "kind of school for adults." Journalism at its most vigorous, by

contrast, tends to be propelled by the implications at least of the attitude

epitomized by journalist Secretive power loathes journalists who do their

job, who push back screens, peer behind faades, and lift rocks. Opprobrium

from on high is their badge of honor."

Censorship, governmental restriction or even active repression of individual

journalists and non-state organs of communication continue to cause, at best,

intermittent friction in most countries. Few formal democracies and no

authoritarian governments make provision for protection ofpress

freedom implied by the term Fourth Estate.

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The rapid rise of Internet technology, in particular the advent

ofbloging and social networkingsoftware, further destabilize journalism as

traditionally understood and its practitioners as a distinct professional

category. Combined with the increasing leakage ofadvertising revenue from

pre-existing journalistic media into the internet, the full impact of the arrivalof the citizen journalist potentially positive (proliferation having thus far

proved more difficult to police) as well as negative is yet to be seen.

Information Technology

Today

Information technology is increasingly affecting our lives in a manner which

has become commonplace. The year 2000 has long been portrayed by

scientists and storytellers as an age of the future, where technology would

impinge upon our lives far more than we could ever have imagined. As we

stand on the verge of the new millennium, this age of electronic innovation

seems to have sneaked up on us without our being fully aware of any

material change.

Almost unbeknownst to us, this electronic era has reshaped our lives. The

ATM machine allows users to withdraw money from their bank account, 24

hours a day, as easily from quetta as from karachi. While in karachi, the

same bank customer can send and receive phone calls on an Pakistan

number using their GSM cellular telephone, from which they can control an

elaborate home security system back in quetta. All of these daily

occurrences would have been regarded as futuristic only a few years ago.

As recently as 1989, the CD-ROM was described as "a 5 inch silvery circle

that stands to revolutionize libraries" (Abrams & Berstein, 1989). In only 6

years, something which had been seen as a revolutionary tool of the future

for libraries and large companies has become a standard element of a family

PC for games and reference material.

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When Beekman refers to the computer, he doesnt just mean the PC or a

large mainframe. He includes embedded computers which are central to so

many everyday devices in our homes and at work. In fact, Beekman makes

the point that the rapid evolution of the computer to the level of something

which is integral to so many aspects of our lives has disguised its potential

effect: "In less than a human lifetime, computers have evolved from

massive, expensive, error-prone calculators like the Mark I and ENIAC into

a myriad of dependable, versatile machines that have worked their way into

just about every nook and cranny of modern society."

Journalism is one area in which information technology, or more specifically

media technology, has affected the way in which people work and in some

instances, the very nature of that work. At a Journalism conference in lahore

earlier this year, identified "several ways in which information technology

touches on the practice of journalism, all of which have affected howjournalists do their job":

Direct input by reporters and from external agencies,

into the editorial system;

Transmission of journalists copy from remote location

into the editorial system;

On-screen page make-up;

Electronic scanning and on-screen editing of photographs

and graphics;

Development of in-house electronic libraries; Access to electronic information sources;

Electronic publishing of specialized publications and

some existing publications.

For each of these activities, todays technology offers journalists a growing

capacity to accomplish them with ever-increasing efficiency. Such

technology is becoming increasingly more powerful and more affordable, by

smaller media organizations.

Direct input and transmission of copy have been greatly enhanced by the

availability of ISDN, a network of high capacity digital telephone lines. This

has allowed high speed error-free transfer of all sorts of information across

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wide areas. Such information would include large quantities of text,

photographic images and computer programmers; all of which may be sent

from one side of the globe to the other in minutes.

Cellular telephones and laptop computers have made around-the-clock

availability of skilled personnel possible. The recent combination of both

these electronic tools has allowed the ultimate mobile office to offer

reportage direct from the scene of news events, almost anywhere in the

world. The question must be asked if this increased mobility has led to a

better quality of life in terms of managing ones timetable, or alternatively,

an inability to escape the workplace.

Other computer-based technology has caused a blurring of some traditional

responsibilities in the workplace. Because elements of the skills of some

workers have been automated, these skills can sometimes be carried out justas effectively by other workers, in addition to their own work. Inexpensive

desk-top publishing (DTP) systems have made available much of the skills

of former print and design houses to many people with a personal computer

and an eye for design. This ease of demarcation in the workplace has

delivered substantial cost savings and offered a growing degree of flexibility

and speed of operation.

In the area of research, vast quantities of information are being made

available in new and more accessible media, like CD-ROM. This same

information is being made globally accessible by the exponential growth ofthe Internet and other computer networks. Allied to these sources of

information, are additional electronic search methods, which have made

access to such information simple, quick and inexpensive.

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Major ThemesThis chapter examines some of the studies and articles on major themes

within media technology. Much of this literature is Pakistani, which reflectstheir advanced stage of the adoption of much of the media technology

available today. There have been a number of studies which have examined

both the level of adoption of technology and the degree to which it has

impacted on the work of journalists.

Research studies of Pakistani newspapers have shown that "electronic

information technologies have been adopted in a large majority of the

nations biggest dailies. Examined the uses of technology in 105 of the 108

largest dailies in the Quetta. With an average circulation of 193,445 and an

average of 193 editorial staff. The results of this study show that the mostwidely adopted technologies were that of the portable computer (97%) and

the fax machine (93%). The study noted that "these technologies are

relatively inexpensive and produce few changes in routine that would

demand important managerial decisions."

The same study showed that 90% of the newspapers had at least one

commercial database subscription. The number of these subscriptions varied

greatly, with 10 newspapers having none and one newspaper having

subscribed to 14 different databases. The growing importance attributed to

the use of electronic libraries is underlined by the fact that 67% of the 105

newspapers were operating one, with a further 28% having had plans to

install electronic libraries in the future.

Despite such high rates of adoption of the available technologies by leading

newspapers, some commentators have insisted that the newspaper industry is

still slow to change its traditional methods of discovering and delivering the

news. In a survey of two large daily newspapers examined the practices of

30 journalists in their use of computers as part of their work and its effect on

their traditional roles. The study found that the main use of computers was"as electronic typewriters and as devices to check the electronic clipping

files." both these activities as variants of traditional aspects of a reporters

job, "small, but growing groups of reporters at both newspapers are using

computers for communications, research and organization in their reporting"

and regarded these activities as representing "new techniques and reporting

tasks".

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Story Research

In an article about their 1990 study of 105 Pakistani Daily newspapers,

referred to in chapter one, identify the area of story research as that which

has gained most from the application of the new technologies: "Electronic

information technologies have vastly improved both the speed and the

comprehensiveness of information access for newsrooms. News libraries

play increasingly prominent roles in reporting and editing in newspapers".

In another study published in the same year, compared 30 stories that won,

or were nominated for, newspaper with 30 other newspaper stories from the1985-1989 periods. The conclusions of the study refer to the prize-winning

journalism as having information richness. The stories used a far greater

diversity of sources in their preparation and relied more on third-party

research than did the non-prize-winning stories. This study underlined the

importance of the diversity and quality of information sources to generating

high quality news stories.

The effects of the adoption of electronic library systems for newspaper

research was examined when proposed that "the change in the way

journalists acquire information for their reports has substantial potential both

to influence news production and to change the character of news stories."

The results of this study demonstrated that although there were several

important changes in the way a story was written, the extend of these

changes depended on the degree to which news reporters had adopted the

new technology. Whilst this may seem obvious, it had been accepted by staff

that all journalists would use the old clippings facility, but that a

significant number of journalists failed to use its electronic equivalent. The

impact of this technology varied greatly depending on the level of

participation in any given publication. This point will become significant inthe light of the case studies, when we discover the degree to which the

journalists interviewed have adopted the technology and the degree to which

proper training has facilitated that move.

The use of technology for researching news stories has become known as

Computer Assisted Reporting, or CAR. The extent of its impact was

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underlined in a recent article by the Pakistan media correspondent, "The use

of computers for investigating news stories, providing background to

profiles, allowing analysis of complex financial data and generally

sharpening up news, will probably have greater impact on the news media

than newspapers going online and being available on email or on the World

Wide Web."

A similar concept of Computer Assisted Journalism (CAJ) is defined as

encompassing "online database research, the acquisition and analysis of

government databases and the creation and use of staff-developed

databases". Underlines the importance of CAJ as providing a means to make

stories definitive in a more realistic time frame than would have been

previously available. Clearly such use of computers requires the availability

of government databases and access to them by members of the press.

Communication

With the provision of global cellular telephone systems and increasingly

easier methods of transferring elaborate messages from one country to

another, it is ironic that the most popular method is also the least elaborate -

and not coincidentally, the least intimidating. The most popular means by

which technology has effected communication is in the provision of email

facilities.

The nature of the use of email will vary from one instance to another. It can

be used to keep in touch with colleagues within or outside any news

organization. In addition, if offers the facility to conduct interviews with

someone who is unavailable at a time or venue which is convenient. Finally,

email has provided access to electronic discussion groups between people

who share a common interest, by means of an email mailing list, orlistserv. This final use provides a wealth of experts from many fields to

those who subscribe to a particular listserv, which is a resource that is

increasingly being used by journalists.

Email, more than any other means of communication has provided a direct

and very personal method of audience response. In an article in Magazine,

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writes about the growth of online newspapers and their use of the Internet as

a new means to reach their readers. However, he points out that the

provision of email addresses for their reporters has "an electronic dialogue

between journalists and their audiences that is having a subtle, but important

effect on both and inevitably, on the whole profession of journalism".

The Pakistan media also seem keen, if a little skeptical about the benefits of

email. A survey published in August 1996 found that 45% of Pakistan media

had access to email facilities and that 71% of those currently without it

indicated their intention to have it in place within a year. An interesting

aspect of this survey was that despite the widespread access, the preference

of editors remains to receive press releases and stories by traditional

methods.

EditingIn a survey the question was posed as to whether sub-editing on a computer

terminal was faster and/or more accurate than hard copy editing. The study

focused on the sub-editors of newspapers which had been operating on-

screen editing for a period of at least two years. Although many of the

differences uncovered by the survey were not statistically significant, there

was a contention that on-screen editing was slower, but more accurate than

hard copy editing.

It is not only the journalists who have access to the facility of direct input.

Since the early 1980s, some companies have chosen to issue news releases

electronically. This material initially enters the editing system of many

newspapers in the same way as the direct input copy of the reporters. If

reporters have been given more control and with it more responsibility in the

input of copy, then does the same additional control, (without the

responsibility), fall to external agencies submitting copy electronically?

A study conducted relating to the publication of material based on newsreleases from the University of Balochistan that "electronic news releases

are edited less than hard copy news releases". The study examined the

treatment of over 300 electronic news releases and the subsequent

publication of related stories in the newspapers. The impact of the news

releases was measured both in the timeliness of the copy and story length.

37% of the news releases issued were published by the newspapers in some

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form and 31% of those published were almost entirely rewritten in their final

publication. The study also found that the reduction in substantive editing

associated with electronic receipt was higher in stories of low news value.

ProductionPerhaps it is in the area of page makeup that the introduction of media

technology has been most visible. This process which is referred to as

pagination in Pakistan , allows an editor to operate a computer terminal

from which he may select and edit copy, write headlines, select and size

photographs and graphics, lay out and set a page and output the result as

camera-ready copy, to be photographed and made into printing plates.

The adoption of pagination was far slower than had been anticipated, mainlydue to the industrial relations problems involved. However, from 1985 the

larger newspapers began to replace the computerized systems which had

been adopted for the first wave of new technology, direct input, in the 1970s.

As these systems were replaced, some publishers chose to include full

pagination facilities as part of the replacement editorial systems.

The impact of the introduction of pagination systems was examined in a

study discovered that the job of sub-editor was to undergo substantial

changes with the adoption of the systems. "The job of putting the type on the

pages becomes the work of the editor. This requires editors to perform newfunctions - functions of a technical, non-traditional and production-oriented

nature."

Editors interviewed welcomed the additional control it gave them, but many

acknowledge that the quality of the traditional editing skills suffer as the

editors concentrate on the design and layout elements of their work. Some

editors who moved across to pagination systems regretted the time

constraints which limited their opportunities for proper training. This lack of

proper training for some editors may explain observation that "some editorsnow see part of their work as wrestling with an unfriendly machine; others

see it as working with a sophisticated new tool".

The survey confirmed that the workload of sub-editors had increased

substantially, but that this additional workload would easy off as newsrooms

became more adept at using the new technology.

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In a study the increased workload of sub-editors using the pagination

system. In studying the work practices of sub-editors in 12 newspapers

varying in circulation from 18,600 to 508,500, discovered that 10 to 20

minutes was spent doing electronic makeup for each page. Although the

average time of 15 minutes seems small, for a paper producing 50 pages per

day, it amounts to more than a full shift for an editor. Russial pointed to this

factor for the falloff in attention to traditional editing skills: "If it continues

to take up those extra minutes and additional editors are not hired, quality

will almost surely suffer". New Publishing Opportunities:

One of the great advantages of the growth of new technology has been the

provision of new opportunities in the form of electronic publishing. The

growth of the Internet in the past few years has provided a new and

burgeoning market for an industry experiencing a shrinking and ageing

customer base. The Internet may also provide a second bite of the cherry increating additional revenue for the same material which appeared in print.

The area of electronic publishing, both on the Internet and by other means

has created new problems for journalists. "Publishers see the Internet and

other new media as a chance to syndicate your work to individual readers,

viewers and listeners. Most dont really understand the new media much

beyond that. So, apparently with the encouragement of the Periodical

Publishers Association, theyre trying to grab everything from you for a

one-time fee." The easy with which copyright can be ignored is

demonstrated by the publication on the Internet.

The impact of new media on the future of news is difficult to imagine. I

underline my impact on access to the media: "A personal computer, plugged

into a telephone, becomes a printing press, a broadcasting station, a town

hall meeting: connecting a computer to a telephone creates a new medium,

with unique properties and powers."

One of the greatest changes will be a merging of current media. Newspapers

online will include video clips and sound files of todays headlines. The use

of hypertext links will offer further information for those who wish to takethat option. The reader can then return to the original story, or follow a

series of related links. This will require journalists to write stories in a non-

linear fashion, allowing the reader to determine the level of information they

want at any particular point.

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THE REALITY

Summary of findingsThe interviewees at the four publications in the preceding case are not all in

agreement as to how new technology has influenced their work, or even that

it has done so at all. Whether this divergence of opinion is due to the work

methods of a particular newspaper or the personal experiences of the

journalists concerned is unclear. What is apparent is that definitive changes

have taken place in Pakistan journalism and that these changes have, at the

very least, been facilitated by the use of technology.

These changes have brought many benefits to the newspaper industry. In themain, these benefits have been financial in cost-saving to the newspapers

themselves. Because this primary motivation was based on job losses and

increased workloads, many journalists have been suspicious of all aspects of

the technology and may be open to accusations of having thrown out the

baby with the bath water.

The Pakistan newspaper industry has not finished its technological

transformation. It is unclear how long it will take for the available

technology to become a standard feature of Pakistan newspapers. It is likelyhowever, that the pace of technological advances will continue to maintain a

lead on their application within the industry. The Report of the Commission

on the Newspaper Industry acknowledges the uncertainty of that future:

"The speed of technological advances in both the publishing and printing

trades in recent years has been very great indeed. Those involved in the

industry are agreed that they are in no sense at a standstill and that in the

reasonably near future; further significant advances are likely to develop.

The nature and direction of such future advances is insufficiently precise to

make speculation concerning them of value."

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