Computers and Reporters: Newsroom Practices at Two Canadian Daily Newspapers

Catherine McKercher (Carleton University)

Abstract: Despite a massive increase in the range of technologies available in the last few years, most reporters at two newsrooms studied still tend to use computers to perform traditional functions. They use electronic clipping files to collect background information, and terminals to write stories. Small numbers are beginning to explore using computers for newer functions, such as communication, organization of databases, and data analysis. But reporters are far from being what one writer calls "technojournalists."

Résumé: Malgré une croissance massive dans l'éventail de technologies disponibles depuis les quelques dernières années, la plupart des journalistes à deux salles de rédaction étudiées tendent toujours à se servir d'ordinateurs pour accomplir des tâches traditionnelles. Ils utilisent des fichiers de coupures électroniques pour accumuler de l'information de base, et des terminaux pour écrire leurs articles. Un petit nombre commence à explorer l'usage d'ordinateurs pour de nouvelles fonctions, comme la communication, l'organisation de banques de données et l'analyse de données. Mais les reporters sont loin d'être ce qu'un auteur appelle des "technojournalistes".

Newspaper reporters were among the earliest information workers to use computers on the job. Terminals began popping up in newsrooms across Canada and the United States in the early 1970s, for writing, editing, and typesetting. Over the next decade paper clipping files were replaced by electronic files, which could be fed to a central supplier and made available to reporters across the country. In the 1990s, the number of databases available to reporters has soared. And with modems, reporters can communicate through local electronic bulletin boards or the Internet.

Anthony Smith argues that computers will bring about a fundamental transformation of all forms of intellectual communication and intellectual work (1980, p. 118). Patten contends that computer use will create a new kind of reporter, the "technojournalist" who combines reporting skills with "new information tools and information management techniques" (1986, p. 116). Koch argues that computers will change the very essence of journalism. Instead of relying on a minimal standard of accuracy based on correctly transmitting what a source says to the public, journalists will be able to have information that is equal to or greater than that possessed by the officials they cover. "The effects of this empowerment... will eventually redefine the form of the news in specific and of public information in general" (1991, p. xxiii).

The reporter of the 1990s has at her fingertips an array of technologies never available before. But how is she using them? How do these technologies affect her work? This paper begins an exploration into how reporters use computers. Its aims are very modest: it starts with a review of the literature on journalists and computers. It then presents a snapshot, taken in the spring of 1994, of computer use in two Canadian newsrooms. It concludes that Canadian reporters are not, in Patten's term, "technojournalists." Instead, they use new technologies to perform old functions.

Review of the literature

Little has been published about Canadian reporters and computers. A Leader-Post (Regina) writer has produced a handbook promoting the idea of computer-assisted reporting (Doskoch, 1992). This phrase, tossed around liberally in reporting circles, has several shades of meaning. One is the use of computers to tap into the ever-increasing store of journalistic databases--essentially an extension of the traditional journalistic task of "checking the clips" at the research stage. A second refers to the use of computers to find, collect, compile, or analyze large quantities of material, obtained either in bulk from a government agency or through the reporter's own work. These are largely non-traditional uses. While Doskoch emphasizes the latter kinds of uses, Koch concentrates more on online databases, such as VU/TEXT or InfoMart: "These databases for the first time place at the individual journalist's disposal the work of colleagues from across North America and, increasingly, the world" (1991, p. 65). Armed with new depths of knowledge, the reporter can ask far more penetrating questions in interviews. A Canadian reporting textbook discusses database searches in its research chapter, but mainly as an extension of documentary research (Cumming & McKercher, 1994, pp. 45-66).

Studies published in U.S. academic journals have looked at newsroom use of databases by various groups of writers, or types of newspapers. In an early study of the spread of computerized libraries, Endres (1985) found that large-circulation newspapers were using computer databases but the smaller papers were not. Endres identified general assignment reporters and management-level editors as the biggest users of the databases, followed by investigative reporters, business and feature writers, political reporters, columnists, and editorial writers. Kerr & Niebauer (1987) surveyed 40 editorial writers from 27 newspapers and found that two thirds of them seldom or never use computerized database systems. The authors identified time pressure--the problem of having to generate an informed opinion in just a few hours--as the key issue for editorial writers and concluded that the introduction of time-saving systems like computerized libraries has not solved the problem.

Some studies have looked at how the use of computers affects what appears in the newspaper.

Neuwirth et al. (1988) found that news releases delivered electronically to the two newspapers they studied got less editing and rewriting than those sent in on paper. "This suggests that electronic dissemination increases the source's ability to maintain control over its information" (1988, p. 91).

Hansen (1990) compared the "information richness" of articles that were nominated for or won Pulitzer prizes with a range of enterprise articles distributed at an Investigative Reporters and Editors convention. She found that the Pulitzer articles had greater information richness--more diversity of sources and qualitatively better sources. The Pulitzer projects also used less interview material and more background.

De Riemer (1992) surveyed journalists at four newspapers using Knight Ridder's VU/TEXT and found that 9 of 10 used a database every week. Access to the databases on VU/TEXT varied, however. Only 21% of reporters could use full VU/TEXT service anytime, compared with 68% of editors, 66.6% of feature writers, and 50% of columnists. Some 57.8% of reporters were limited to using their own newspaper's database, compared to 22% of editors. De Riemer also found a substantial level of ambivalence about the benefits of VU/TEXT use, "an uncertainty as to how quality and productivity in the newsroom may be related to effective database use" (1992, p. 969). She found this ambivalence puzzling, and suggested that the newspapers needed to look into their procedures to see whether institutional or administrative barriers were hampering effective database use.

By contrast, Jacobson & Ullman (1989) found that reporters, editors, and librarians see databases as a growing positive tool in newspaper coverage. Interestingly, only 28 of the 97 newspaper librarians who responded to their survey actually used a commercial database.

Hansen, Ward, & McLeod, in part of a series of articles studying the changing role of the newspaper librarian, argued that the library is "a significant provider of `facts,' perspectives, ideas and additional information sources" and that its contribution to news production is distinctive. Part of the protocol of news production is to check the clips, they found, and virtually all staff members of the metropolitan daily they studied did so. They concluded that any studies of newsmaking which ignore the library "should be judged incomplete" (1987, p. 720).

In a study of what appears to be the same newspaper six months after it converted to an electronic library, Ward, Hansen, & McLeod (1988) found that 84% of reporters were using the electronic system. This meant that 16% of reporters, a significant minority, had "perverted protocols requiring a check of the clips before proceeding with any story. These protocols concern all major phases of news story production: conceptualizing the story, analyzing previously-published materials on the topic and fact checking for accuracy and detection of discrepancies" (p. 851). Staff members who did not know how to use the system faced a serious handicap, they argued. They also raised the question of a double standard in news searches. Reporters were not given unlimited access to commercial services like Nexis because of cost, they found.

Yet journalists are expected to master their in-house electronic library system with minimal training and supervision. The search strategies and conceptual skills necessary for efficient use of the in-house system are as complex as those required for use of commercial systems. However, the financial "costs" of using the in-house system are largely invisible, and the news quality "costs" of poor system mastery are hard to detect. Therefore, newsroom supervisors may not recognize that news staff need additional training. (Ward, Hansen, & McLeod, 1988, p. 852)

Ward & Hansen, in a survey of news librarians and newsroom managers at 105 dailies (1991), found that the dual-search situation at that daily was not unique. The job of searching expensive commercial databases was filled almost exclusively by librarians, they found. "If the librarian chooses to search in a commercial database for the information, the journalist typically is not present during that search. This is important for story framing, since an online database search required rapid decisions on subject matter while the search is underway" (p. 495).

In a 1986 commentary, Ward & Hansen argued that as database search technology spreads, journalists will have to think about new models for information gathering. They combined traditional methods used by reporters and librarians into a model that "considers deficiencies inherent in traditional news reporting, reflects new developments in reporting and takes advantage of the proliferation of information tools that give speedy access to current information" (p. 57).

Academic research on computers and reporters tells only part of the story. Computer-assisted reporting is getting increasing attention at professional organizations. The annual conferences of the Canadian Association of Journalists and the U.S.-based Investigative Reporters and Editors both feature sessions on the issue. The Poynter Institute in Florida, the National Institute for Advanced Reporting in Indiana, American University in Washington, and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting in Missouri have offered courses on the subject, and a number of individual newspapers have produced guides for their reporters. Reporters interested in the field can join a computer-assisted reporting discussion group (CARR-L) on the Internet. And a number of articles in the trade press focus on what Gib Johnson (1990, p. 16) calls the "dazzling array of new gadgets" reporters can use to be "wired to the world."

Clearly, the question of how reporters use their computers is of interest in both the profession and the academy. But what is happening inside the Canadian newsroom?

Method

The Ottawa Citizen and The Gazette (Montreal) were chosen as research sites for a number of reasons. As large dailies, they are more likely than small papers to have experienced reporters and a fairly-well-developed supply of computer resources. As Southam papers, they have access to the company's InfoMart, a major Canadian database supplier. In addition, The Gazette has maintained a special investigative reporting unit for several years and, according to Doskoch, is "the one Canadian paper actually using CAR techniques instead of looking for excuses why they can't" (1992, p. 19). The Citizen, meanwhile, has access to the National Capital FreeNet. The FreeNet, which began operation in the fall of 1992, allows anyone with a computer, modem, and phone line to connect to a local network and from there into the Internet.

Reporters attached to The Gazette's city staff and The Citizen's city life department were selected as interview subjects. This group includes general assignment and beat reporters, and it was expected they would offer diversity in both experience and range of interests. Using staff lists provided by newspaper management, I sought to interview as many reporters as were available during a two-day visit to each newsroom in the first week of March 1994. A total of 17 Citizen and 13 Gazette reporters were interviewed. In each case this was about 70% of reporters on duty those days.

The interviews followed a structured guide that focused on five possible types of computer use, identified by the author as distinct elements of the job of the reporter:

  1. Communication. Of interest here was the use of the computer as an information-gathering or information-sharing tool, through computer bulletin boards, electronic mail, or FreeNet/Internet use.
  2. Background research. This probed the use of the local database or other newspaper databases available on InfoMart.
  3. Story research. This looked at the use of the broader range of commercial databases or government databases.
  4. Organization. Of interest here was the use of software like database construction programs (such as Claris Works) and spreadsheet programs identified by Doskoch (1992, pp. 7-14) as key devices of computer-assisted reporting. Reporters were also asked whether they use computerized organization techniques for their own files.
  5. Writing. This is the oldest use of computers by reporters. Questions here were aimed at finding out whether they have any concerns about it or, indeed, whether they think about it at all.

Reporters were asked whether they used computers in these ways, how often they did so, how they learned to do this, and what they saw as the benefits and drawbacks of the technologies or software programs. (They could give more than one answer to the benefits/drawbacks questions.) They were then asked to assess computer skills as part of the package of journalistic skills, and questioned about what, if anything, might be done to improve reporters' skills in this area. A final set of questions addressed home-computer use.

Newspaper librarians were also interviewed to discuss the kinds of materials and technologies reporters have available. Finally, the reporter/editor who heads The Gazette's investigative team was interviewed. The goal here was to get a sense of the kinds of stories that could be produced through more careful attention to computer-assisted reporting.

Findings

The 30 reporters interviewed included seven men and six women at The Gazette and nine men and eight women at The Citizen. Their professional experience ranged from 2 years to 42 years. Gazette reporters had an average of 15 years of professional experience, 10 of that at The Gazette. Citizen reporters had an average of 12.5 years of experience, 7 with The Citizen. The Citizen reporters tended to have more formal education than those at The Gazette: all interviewed had a diploma or university degree, compared with 10 of 13 at The Gazette.

Although both newspapers are owned by the same company, the information resources available to reporters in each newsroom differed.

At The Citizen, reporters have unrestricted access to InfoMart from their own terminals. They can get files from the newspaper's own database and from Southam papers across Canada without leaving their desks. The Citizen is a regular supplier of information to FreeNet and encourages reporters to use it. Two terminals near the library have a direct line to the FreeNet. (This "back door" is handy since phone lines to the FreeNet are often jammed by callers.) Citizen reporters who want to search through commercial or government databases do so with the help of the librarians--a practice that is in line with the U.S. newspapers studied by Ward, Hansen, & McLeod. The newspaper has access to a broad range of databases, including Lexis/Nexis, Dow Jones, Data Times, Financial Times, InfoGlobe, QL Systems, and so on. It has also begun a CD-ROM collection of reference works. A few months before the study period, The Citizen hired a librarian with some expertise and a strong interest in computer-assisted reporting.

At The Gazette, reporters have to go to special terminals in the newsroom to connect to InfoMart. To keep costs down, most are restricted to using The Gazette's database. Others, with special sign-on codes, can use the broader InfoMart service.

Like Citizen reporters, reporters at The Gazette rely on librarians for help with searches in specialized databases. The Gazette does not have a CD-ROM collection. Nor does it help reporters use the Internet. But one computer terminal located in the office of the police reporter offers Gazette reporters a range of information that is the envy of reporters in Ottawa: it lists all criminal and civil cases on file at every courthouse in the province, property transaction records for the City of Montreal, a National Assembly database, and a registry of debts. This impressive tool was put together by the province for the public's use in courthouses. The Gazette arranged to get a line into its office about five years ago.

At both newspapers, the mainframe systems used by the reporters were installed in the 1970s. The basic system is supplemented by a range of stand-alone computers used by some reporters. The mainframes will eventually be replaced by networked and stand-alone personal computers. The Gazette began giving reporters laptop computers with up-to-date communications systems in the spring of 1994. However, at the time the interviews for this project were conducted, city reporters had not received them.

1. Communication

A total of 11 reporters--or just over one third of those interviewed--said they used computers for communication, through electronic mail or bulletin boards. Eight of them work at The Citizen which provides reporters who want them with FreeNet account numbers (the equivalent of an address for electronic mail) and training in how to use the system. Asked how often they used FreeNet, four Citizen reporters said they were new users and had not tried to connect with the FreeNet in the previous week. The other four reported more regular use--two daily, two about once a week. Of the three Gazette reporters who used a computer for communications, one reported using it daily, one a couple of times a week, and the third only occasionally.

Nine reporters indicated that a key advantage in computerized communications was ease in finding new contacts. "It's the electronic version of grabbing people at the mall," said one. Another said, "It's good for finding people with expertise in an area you know nothing about. You can frame your requests broadly, and you can get a lot of responses." This reporter has used the FreeNet to find people to interview on a range of stories, from man-bashing to raising an only child to celebrating New Year's. Another reporter, who writes a food column, said he uses the FreeNet to solicit opinions about food outlets--for example, the best place to get fish and chips in Ottawa. Yet another, a new user, thought it would be useful for finding patients to interview for health stories. These people are hard to find, the reporter explained, because doctors will not give reporters the names of their patients. Other advantages seen by the reporters included finding story ideas, "listening in" to what's going on in the community, correspondence, and tracking down specific information the reporter might not know how to get otherwise. One indicated he occasionally received "old-fashioned tips" on the FreeNet.

But there are drawbacks. Four reporters warned about the dangers of seeing the FreeNet and Internet as representative of society. Said one, "The Internet is immense and growing. It allows you to target inquiries specifically.... But it's a very particular culture: you shouldn't take who's on the net for a microcosm of the larger society." Another reporter recalled posting a request for people who would be willing to be interviewed about turning 50. She got dozens of answers from men but only one from a woman. Two felt the FreeNet is too public--that by posting a request for help on a story they were letting every other reporter in town know what they are working on. Other drawbacks mentioned included the danger of finding sources who lack credibility, and the concern that a lot of the material posted on bulletin boards is not worth reading. One reporter said that when reporters post ideas or requests on FreeNet they often draw attacks from other users with a grudge against the media: "Reporters get flamed a lot," she said.

2. Background research

All 30 reporters interviewed said they use the computerized databases of their own newspaper files (and sometimes databases from other newspapers) for the whole range of activities that might be called "background research." These include: checking to see whether a story has been covered before and how; checking facts, names, dates or spellings; "reading in" on an unfamiliar issue; identifying sources; checking out a new enterprise by looking it up in other cities where it operates; and so on.

Average use was 9.5 times a week, or twice a day. Seven reporters said they use the system three times a day or more; five reporters said they use it less than once a day. (One of these used it less than once a month.)

Asked to describe the main benefits of the system, 20 reporters identified speed of finding information. Said one, "There's no comparison: it's a great step forward over the old system." Nineteen mentioned efficiency and convenience as benefits. "I like the fact that we can use it right at our desks," said one Citizen reporter. "That way, if you're waiting for a call, you won't miss it."

Ten said they appreciated the fact that files stored electronically cannot get lost the way clippings from the paper could. Five found InfoMart files particularly useful for fact-checking. Six found the electronic files useful for helping journalists provide context for their reporting.

But while the reporters saw speed as an advantage in a computerized library, 11 said the system is just not as fast as it should be. "There's time pressure to use it and get off as quickly as possible," said one reporter. "This means you end up printing out a lot of stuff. This can slow you down because you have to wait for the printer." Nine complained of technical problems, such as system crashes or difficulty getting printouts, and three were critical of the amount of paper wasted in printouts for some searches.

Thirteen said they thought the keyword system of searching was a problem unless the reporter knows exactly which keywords to look for. One reporter confessed, "Sometimes I'll call a reporter in, say, Vancouver to find out what keywords might work for stories [she] wrote." Seven said browsing is more difficult in the electronic files than in the old paper clippings.

Among other drawbacks seen by reporters are the possibility of repeating uncorrected mistakes; the possibility of getting lost in a flood of information; the danger of using the same old sources rather than finding new ones. A couple complained about technical glitches, such as inconsistent use of accents on French names. (Though these seem minor, such glitches can interfere with research.) One expressed concerns that the computerized library system might result in "less lively journalism--relying to a greater extent on the record and to a lesser extent on people."

Overall, 26 reporters said they think the benefits of the computerized files outweigh the drawbacks. Said one, "The old clipping files now seem so archaic and slow. I had to do a story recently on a politician who was active several years ago so I had to get out the old clipping file on her. It took me four hours to wade through it!" Four reporters, all from The Gazette, thought the drawbacks of the computerized system outweigh the benefits. One put it this way: "If I know exactly what I am looking for, if the system is running well, if the printer is working, then I can get information from the computer almost as fast as I could with a clipping file."

3. Story research

Sixteen reporters--or just over half the sample--indicated that they used databases beyond the newspaper clips on Infomart to do story research. Of these, 10 were at The Gazette and six at The Citizen.

The most common tool was the justice department computer in the police room at The Gazette. Eight reporters said they use it, though four said they had not used it in the previous week.

Among research databases consulted by reporters at both papers were the federal corporate directorship database, databases with clippings from U.S. newspapers, and Lexis/Nexis. Citizen reporters used auditor general's reports on CD-ROM and Medline, a medical database. Gazette reporters mentioned the U.S. Centres for Disease Control database and the provincial consumer and corporate affairs database of Quebec companies. Aside from the justice files, Gazette reporters used the other databases sparingly--less than once a week--and they drew on help from the librarians.

Reporters who use these tools said they see several advantages. Five mentioned ease of access to information, and four said they were useful in finding contacts or people to interview. Two reporters said they felt the larger databases were crucial to helping them generate their own stories. "It gets you away from pack journalism," said one.

The Gazette reporters appreciated having the justice computer in the newsroom. One reporter said, "It's the single most valuable piece of technology we have." But five of the reporters found it cumbersome and hard to use, and one worried about the possibility of abuse--of someone using The Gazette computer to run background checks on people for personal reasons, or for profit.

Three reporters indicated that knowing how to interpret what the searches turn up can be a problem. Two added that interpreting search results can be too time-consuming.

4. Organization

Nine reporters--just under one third of the total--used their office computers for organization purposes. Most were fairly rudimentary uses: keeping an ideas file; organizing interview notes; making outlines for stories; keeping a schedule. For the most part, the reporters developed their own organizing system.

Reporters who used some kind of organizing tool said they were limited by the capabilities of the aging mainframe computers at both newspapers. One said, "We have a poor retrieval system. The terminals are very dumb." Said another, "I started keeping a contact list on the computer, but it accidentally got lost."

Two reporters said they had tried running spreadsheets, one of the key tools in computer-assisted reporting. One was trying to put together a database on her own, using police department statistics. "I'm still learning how to do these things," said one. "We know in theory what it's supposed to do, but can't always get it to work."

5. Writing

All reporters interviewed did all their professional writing on a computer (including free-lance work), and all but two preferred it to using a typewriter. Twenty-four mentioned ease of editing as an advantage, and 22 said the computer allowed them to write more quickly. "It's been so long since I've written on anything but a computer I don't even see it as a possibility," said one. Said another, "Just about anyone writes better on computers because rewriting is so easy. And rewriting is the key to writing well." Eight thought that writing on the computer allowed their thoughts to flow more smoothly, enhancing creativity. "Any machine that lets you move text around, merge files, try out leads, and so on is helpful. For the creative process, writing on computer is vastly superior," said one. Another said, "When I sit at the keyboard, the thoughts just flow. I'd have a hell of a time switching back to a typewriter. It requires another mindset entirely." Among other advantages cited were the split-screen capability, spellcheck programs, and the ease with which a draft of a story could be stored. "You're not working with bits and pieces of paper that can get lost," one explained. Said another, "I just love it. It lets me edit and edit and hone and cut. I've got rid of more excess words with a computer that I would have thought possible. I think my writing has improved dramatically."

Not everyone was as enthusiastic. Six reporters expressed concern that computers lead to less disciplined writing, or less creative writing. Said one, "Sometimes the first draft is the best. The computer can make you write too much." Said another, "I think it has changed the writing process. With typewriters, you had to have your thoughts organized before you sat down to write."

Asked to identify drawbacks, 13 reporters complained about crashes, breakdowns, or purges in the computer system. Seven mentioned health concerns--ranging from electromagnetic radiation to stress injuries caused by the repetitive motion of typing at a computer terminal. But these reporters appeared to be more or less resigned to possible health hazards. Said one, "They haven't convinced me it's 100-per-cent safe. But I have to make a living."

Other drawbacks included lack of portability, or the need to go to the newsroom to write; lack of privacy in the newsroom mainframe computer; and inadequate (or non-existent) spellcheck programs. Two reporters worried about the ease with which errors can be inserted into copy written and edited on the computer.

6. The training issue

Reporters said they received relatively little formal instruction in how to use the computer programs or services available in their newsrooms. Six of those who use computers for communication, for example, said they were mainly self-taught. Four were taught by another reporter, and three said they received formal instruction from library staff. At both newspapers, reporters learned how to use InfoMart on the job, with an introductory lesson, an occasional handout, and a lot of playing around with the machine. Some worried that they didn't know how to work the system well enough. "I'm sure I could use it to better advantage, but I don't know how to make it do all it can," said one. Said another, "I don't know enough about how to use the thing. Sometimes there are technical glitches--and I'll be stumped." At The Gazette, five reporters who used the justice department computer said they were taught by another reporter, and one learned from a memo written by another reporter.

Nine of the reporters said relying on colleagues was necessary because their employers provided little or no training. "I've worked at five papers and I've never had anything that could be called training of any sort--computer-related or otherwise," one said. Nine reporters, seven of them from The Citizen, indicated that they got a good deal of help from the library staff, including training seminars. Said one, "There's been more help available to us in the last year than there was in the last 10."

Fifteen reporters said they thought more in-house training would be a good idea. "People should be coming into the newsroom to teach us," said one. "Right now, it's elitist: to learn this stuff you have to be sent away. The resources are concentrated on a small group, in hopes of a trickle-down effect." Nine reporters indicated an interest in attending outside workshops, though a couple raised the question of cost. "Management is more into cutting costs right now than upgrading skills," said one.

But some reporters who supported training had questions about the utility of such sessions unless reporters could apply what they learned quickly. "It's one thing to get a little seminar for a couple of hours. It's another to use it on a day-to-day basis. Until we get to that point (in computer-assisted reporting) I think there will only be one or two individuals at each daily who know this stuff." Another said, "Formal training is no good unless you're working on a story and can use what you learn right away." Said a third, "I still need to be convinced of what I can get out of this... what it can do for me."

7. The value of computer skills

The 30 reporters were asked how they saw computer skills (beyond simple word-processing) in relation to other journalistic skills. Nineteen rated them an essential part of the reporter's tool kit. "The job of the reporter is to deal in information," one reporter explained. "So much information now is on computers. If you don't know how to use computers, you're in trouble." Said another, "A good journalist is aware of relevant trends in society. There are 25 million people out there using the so-called information highway. As a reporter, you'd be dumb to ignore it." A third reporter noted that while reporters are getting new tools for digging out information, some officials are using access and privacy laws to close down the amount of information they will give out to reporters. Anything that can help reporters get access to or ferret out information is important, the reporter said. Another reporter argued, "Computers should be perceived as essential pieces of the reporter's tool kit. But a lot of reporters are frightened by them, daunted by them or just too lazy to learn how to use them."

Nine reporters saw computer skills as becoming integral to a reporter's job, but not yet essential. "You can still be a reporter without computer skills, but they're going to become much more important as we get into computer-assisted reporting. I don't think anyone could brag about being computer-illiterate any more," one explained. Said another, "We're on the threshold of change. Some reporters can manage without it, but it's becoming harder." A third said, "If a reporter has built some kind of reputation as a writer or as a digger, the computer stuff can be learned.... For research, computer skills will become increasingly important--having them will give a candidate for a job an edge." Another saw it in terms of keeping up with colleagues: "A colleague who knows FreeNet has a knowledge I don't have."

Six saw computer skills as add-ons, or non-essential skills. Said one, "You can be a reporter without great computer skills. There are some great pavement pounders, great schmoozers, and so on. You use the tools that fit the task, and these are new tools." Another said, "Computer skills are very much a secondary-level skill. Computers are just machines that help you do your job, much the way a typewriter was in the 1950s. Reporters who don't want to get more involved in computers aren't worse reporters. Some prefer to talk to people face to face, and that's fair." Another said, "I argue adamantly that it's not essential, or not central to what reporters do. The computer doesn't affect the quality of the questions you ask." Another said, "Journalism is a frame of mind. Computers are tools. But they're tools that open up a world of opportunity."

8. Home computers

Twenty-three of the reporters said they have computers at home. Four of them said they use modems at home to check their electronic mail or file stories to head office, and two use financial management programs to organize their domestic budgets. The rest use them strictly for writing, either for personal writing (correspondence, fiction, etc.) or to write a story for work. Some who write at home bring their stories in on disk and load them into the newspaper's mainframe. Two indicated they get printouts of what they write at home, then type the copy into the newspaper's system.

Discussion

As the research progressed, I discovered some design flaws in the interview guide. The most significant was how to cope with the different systems used at the two papers for getting access to the local database and the broader InfoMart databases. Citizen reporters tended to see this as one and the same function. Gazette reporters saw things differently, depending on whether they had basic sign-on capabilities for the newspaper's database only, or passwords that gave them access to extended service. This difficulty was compounded by a research methodology that asked reporters to describe how they use computers, rather than one that observed actual use. For example, Gazette staffers reported more frequent use of the computerized clipping files than those at The Citizen, 10.8 times a week compared with 8.4. But this may reflect differences in perception: The Citizen reporters can call up InfoMart from their desk and may underreport how frequently they use it; The Gazette reporters have to get up and go to another terminal to check the clips, and may overreport.

Nonetheless, it is clear from the interviews that this group of reporters are not the "technojournalists" envisioned by Patten.

The reporters have taken their time in adopting new technologies. In Ottawa, a year and a half after FreeNet began operation, only four of 17 reporters interviewed could be described as frequent users. At The Gazette, only a handful of reporters are comfortable using the powerful justice department computer which has been in the police room for close to five years. Few reporters at either paper have explored the tools of computer-assisted reporting, like spreadsheets or database analysis.

If they are slow to pick up the newest tools, the reporters also show some ambivalence toward the existing ones. Ward, Hansen, & McLeod (1988) found that 16% of reporters did not make the switch from using paper clipping files to electronic ones. This research found a similarly sized minority whose use of electronic clips lags behind the norm, or who cannot work the electronic system as well as the clipping files. Five of the 30 reporters interviewed (16.6%) said they use the electronic system once a day or less. (The norm is twice a day.) Even some who prefer the electronic system have problems getting information--figuring out the right keywords, deciding how to narrow down the search, making judgments about what to print and what to skip. As for writing, the vast majority of reporters interviewed would not trade their computers for anything. But each newsroom contains small groups of reporters who are not sure whether they write better on the computer--or merely faster. Each newsroom also has one or two curmudgeons (and not necessarily old curmudgeons) who simply do not like the new-fangled technology.

Some of this ambivalence toward computers may be linked to newsroom culture, which sees reporters as wordsmiths rather than number crunchers. Reporters think of their computers (at work and at home) as writing devices rather than communications links or file-keeping systems or aids to financial planning. Reporters specialize in getting other people to give them information. Hence, they place an emphasis on interviewing as a key journalistic skill. Reporters work to daily deadlines and require instant answers to their questions, or instant solutions to their problems. While they all have long-term projects on the go, they tend to be oriented toward results, and impatient with processes. Some simply are not interested in going through raw data; they would rather find an expert to identify the key points and provide quotable commentary on them. Finally, as newspapers come under increasing pressure to cut back on costs (and reduce the size of their staff ), reporters face increasing pressure to go for high-volume, no-frills reporting.

However, the fact most reporters see computer skills as of growing importance--even if they do not have them--indicates a degree of receptivity. And each newsroom has a small but growing group of reporters who are computer enthusiasts. The Citizen has sent a reporter to two U.S. conferences on computer-assisted reporting techniques, and has given him time to develop skills in the area and help train others. A few Gazette reporters have attended Investigative Reporters and Editors meetings at which computer-assisted reporting was a key topic. And reporters from both papers have attended Canadian Association of Journalists sessions on computer-assisted reporting.

Interestingly, while the rest of The Gazette newsroom is ambivalent about computers, the newspaper's investigative reporting team has had considerable success in using computers in reporting. For a series on a Florida food distribution company that paid off old investors with money from new ones, the head of the team turned his contact list into a database. It lists the names, phone numbers, and job titles of everyone he talked to. If he remembers that he talked to an FBI agent with a Scottish name but cannot recall the exact name or which FBI office the man worked in, he uses a database search sequence to find him. He created another database from individual claim reports filed in a Florida bankruptcy court. This allowed him to trace the evolution of the scheme, identify who invested when, find links between investors, and so on.

This kind of work is costly, time-consuming, and requires a high degree of skill, so it is not surprising that few reporters are able to undertake projects of this size. It is somewhat surprising, though, that other reporters have not picked up on the organizing tools used by investigative reporters--using database programs to organize their own contact files, for example.

One reporter said he thought computer-assisted reporting would not take off in Canada until some newspaper made a splash. "You need an outstanding precedent--something like a National Newspaper Award winner--to convince people of its worth." He noted that in the U.S., a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of discrimination in mortgage lending helped spark the growth of an interest in obtaining and analyzing large numbers of public records in reporting.

Conclusion

For most reporters at these two Canadian dailies, computers are used for two purposes: as electronic typewriters and as devices to check the electronic clipping files. Both are traditional parts of the reporter's job: in the past, reporters wrote on typewriters and checked paper clipping files. However, small but growing groups of reporters at both newspapers are using computers for communications, research, and organization in their reporting. These represent new techniques and reporting tasks.

The fact that reporters are aware of the wider possibilities inherent in computer-assisted reporting but have not made significant steps toward upgrading their own skills suggests that training may be an issue. But it also suggests that many reporters feel they do their jobs well enough with their existing skills, or believe they have little incentive, time, or energy to spend on acquiring new ones.

So far, it seems, reporters use computers as new tools to do the same old journalism. The predictions made by authors like Smith, Koch, and Patten of wholesale transformations have not come to pass in Canadian newsrooms. But as one reporter put it, "we are taking our first, baby steps" in that direction.

Notes

1
Doskoch's paper serves as a useful introduction to some of the jargon of the field--spreadsheets and relational databases (used to manipulate and compare numerical data), on-line databases, and so on.
2
Koch also provides a useful vocabulary for discussing computer research. A file is a single article, bibliographic citation, or abstract found in an electronic search. A database is a single collection of articles or citations stored by one company, which may or may not be the vendor. A supplier makes one or more databases available by providing the combination of phone lines and technology necessary to access digitally stored databases. A packager puts together and sells its own database products, or a number of databases created by individual suppliers. A gateway distributor sells the services of one or more packagers on a one-time, fee-for-service basis. A wholesale distributor offers a variety of services, including gateways (p. 241). Under Koch's definitions, The Gazette (Montreal) files form a database. InfoMart, which carries the databases of all Southam newspapers and a range of other databases, is both a supplier and a packager.
3
Gender imbalance appears to be characteristic of computerized communication systems. The Wall Street Journal quotes industry sources as estimating that women account for between 10 and 35% of users of on-line services (Rigdon, 1994).
4
This is reflected in some journalism textbooks: for example, the interviewing chapter in Cumming & McKercher (1994) is five pages longer than the chapter on research sources.

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