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The Vanishing Newsroom

By Gary Mariano

New Media Technologies

and Mass Communication Education
De La Salle University
November 25, 2000

1. Introduction

Let me begin by saying a few words about Balitang Kababayan, of which

I was billed as being creator and editor. Actually, it was a collaboration with my

colleague, Amelita Lopez. I wrote the news portion while she did the

entertainment. Balitang Kababayan was online from Aug. 5, 1995 until last

year, not because there was no potential in it but because it was taking too

much time. But there are some things worth saying about Balitang Kababayan.

For one, it was the first attempt to electronically publish news regularly about

and from the Philippines. Previous efforts were sporadic, delayed, or unreliable.

It went online ahead of the major broadsheets, some of which at that time were

tentative (and some still are) about taking their product to the Internet.

To my surprise, Balitang Kababayan had a following. Before we stopped

updating it, there were about 1,000 subscribers to our e-mailing list. Most of

them were overseas Filipinos who sorely missed home but found Philippine

stories appearing on CNN and in the New York Times too little, too scary or too

pessimistic. For the first time, they had in Balitang Kababayan some kind of

companion to their breakfast coffee and pan de sal, whether they were in

Australia, Germany or Canada. The bigger attraction was Lopez’s Sari-Saring

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Chismis column. At that time it was the only one of its kind that was trying to

whet the insatiable appetite of expatriate Pinoys for showbiz chiz. Because ours

was a free service done during our spare time there were some rare days when

we did not go to “press.” Immediately that would draw dozens of e-mail from

readers. The inquiries were polite if we missed the hard news, but sometimes

irate from those who demanded their chismis fix.

Balitang Kababayan was something we did mostly in the office,

sometimes at home – and on one occasion in Europe! Besides Lopez and

myself, we had no staff, although I must mention that Doy del Mundo wrote a

few film critiques and promised to do so regularly. But we were pioneer

publishers on the World Wide Web!

In this essay I will attempt to show how technology has changed the way

journalists operate, a particular consequence being the Vanishing Newsroom;

how this change is upsetting the status quo, and what I think can be done

about this. The data come from my graduate research in 1989 and 1998.

Quotes were lifted from Metro Manila journalists’ oral histories as collected by

students of my Inprint (Introduction to the Print Media) class in 1998.

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2. Technology and journalism

The Technological Determinists – Innis (1951), McLuhan (1965) and

Toffler (1990) – advanced the idea that over the years certain dominant

technologies have helped shape society. The Stone Age is a reference to stone, a

rather crude form of technology but technology nevertheless, inasmuch as this

new millennium is called the Information Age. McLuhan views technology and

media as synonymous. Any technology, he says, is “an extension or self-

amputation of our physical bodies” (p. 45). Further, he said that “the medium

shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (p. 9)

and that “the message of any new medium or technology is the change of scale

or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs” (p. 29).

Man’s ability to communicate beyond his physical reach is determined by

the existing technology.

2.1. Major technological developments and journalism

In the past 500 years a number of inventions have helped create a

product called the newspaper and transform it into a dominant medium of

mass communication beginning in the late 19th century. Before the movable

type, most printing was done using the xylograph and the text was limited to

the Bible and other religious documents. Gutenberg’s 15 th-century innovation

allowed printers to rearrange the same characters to form new words, new

sentences and new ideas. The next big improvements were inventions like

Ottmar Mergenthaler’s Linotype in 1886 (Baird 1980), the IBM selectric

composer in 1966 (Kelber 1967), and quite recently the personal computer.
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In the 1960s, the use of computers in newspapers was limited to

automating the typesetting function. In 1977, the Los Angeles Times had linked

400 terminals of editors and reporters, eliminating the need for typesetting

(and with it, proofreading) (Smith 1980). Throughout these years, it must be

noted that computers involved large and expensive mainframes.

In the 1980s, more newsrooms were able to enjoy the computer’s feature

of capturing the keystroke with the advent of the cheaper PCs for word

processing. But the bigger impact came in 1985 when Apple introduced the

laser printer (Seybold 1987). This was soon followed by desktop publishing

systems like Pagemaker and Ventura Publisher, for designating typographic

styles and sizes, arranging text and images on a computer screen, and

generating camera-ready material (Dallas 1988).

In 1989 all but one of eight daily broadsheet newspapers in Metro Manila

used computers, in varying degrees, for writing and editing copy, page design,

and generating the camera-ready layout. These tasks were performed on PCs,

with the exception of the Bulletin, the only newspaper with a dedicated

publishing system called the Atek. (Mariano 1989)

But the biggest was yet to come, starting in 1994 when a number of

newspapers started making available their content on the World Wide Web

(Mariano 1997).

2.2. I.T. and journalism

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Zorkoczy (1980) defines information technology as the devices used in

the gathering, storage, processing and dissemination of information.

Interestingly these are the very tasks that journalists do: cover an event, take

notes, shoot pictures, write the story, edit copy, design the page, print, and

circulate copies. We might want to add that editors and publishers are in a

constant race against time. Because of its ability to dramatically cut through

processes, if not rewrite (reinvent or reengineer) them, IT can have a perfect

client in organizations whose business is to sell information.

3. The traditional newsroom

Let us take a look at how newspapers operated before there were

computers or any advanced means of long-distance communication. The

process usually started in the morning with reporters meeting with their

editors for their assignments. Then they would go to their “beats” to collect the

facts. At a certain time of the day, usually after the lunch hour, reporters went

back to the “newsroom.” In this place they wrote their stories and handed them

to their editors. Editors would correct the copy and sometimes seek additional

facts or clarification from the reporters. At around 3 o’clock, editors would send

the manuscript for typesetting.

As for photographers, it was imperative for them to go back to the office

after taking pictures in order to develop their film and print copies.

Objectively, the editor’s job is to correct errors in fact, grammar and

style, and prepare a page “dummy.” In addition, they regarded it their sacred
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duty to prepare the next generation of editors. Ermin Garcia Jr., former

publisher of the Manila Times, said journalists then went through the rigors of

working directly under the supervision of their editors. “Our editors today were

trained in the old school,” he added. Augusto Villanueva of the Standard

credits that method: “That’s the reason why in those days, we learned more

and learned fast.” Ernesto Tolentino of People’s Journal says it was effective

because most of these reporters rose to occupy top positions in newspapers.

Diego Cagahastian, now a sub-editor at the Bulletin, said old-timers compelled

their reporters to “learn your language, to be perfect in your writing, with your

facts.”

But there is more to this. To the “cub” reporter, or even a number of

veterans, the editing process was a tense moment. Editors pressed for time

were normally at their wits’ end and could launch a tirade at the slightest

grammatical error.

Seasoned journalists recall such outbursts of temper. “Naninigaw yan.

Parang terror siya. Sa newsroom hihiyain ka niya,” said Cagahastian. “They

really banged the table and shouted at you,” recounted Tolentino. Ernesto

Singson of confided, “Kapag nagkamali ka, mura ang aabutin mo.” Villanueva

described his former bosses as having “the habit of shouting at you and

scolding you.” Ben Rodriguez, Bulletin editor, once spoke of how Jess Bigornia,

then a reporter, fainted while his editor, the legendary Felix (“Judge”) Gonzalez,

was giving him a dressing down.

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4. The new technology and its impact

Through the years new technologies found their way in the newsroom

and forever changed working habits. When the telephone became a regular

fixture in the newsroom, reporters no longer had to physically get their

assignments from their editors. Some journalists covering remote events or way

past the deadline were also allowed to phone in their stories. However, phone

dictation was more of a privilege than the norm because of the effort it required

and the disasters they often caused.

In the 1990s the fax machine became standard office equipment and

quickly became a favorite among reporters. In 1998, Metro Manila journalists

cited the fax as the most used means of submitting copy (Mariano 1998). Since

many press offices had typewriters and some even had computers all reporters

needed to do was to type their stories and send them by fax. This was the

beginning of the vanishing newsroom. With the copy now in their editors’

hands, there was no compelling reason for reporters to go back to the

newsroom – and put up with cantankerous editors. In 1998, more than half of

beat reporters rarely saw their editors.

Today e-mail even threatens to be the final stroke that would eliminate

the physical newsroom. E-mail is cheaper, quicker and more accurate than fax.

An added attraction is that editors can directly manipulate, without retyping,

the contents of e-mail. In contrast, fax copy had to be retyped. Two years ago e-

mail submissions ranked only as the third most common means of handing in

stories. However this is expected to have already risen in the interim.

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True, the physical newsroom still exists. But there are hardly any

reporters. In a sense, gone are the days of the newsroom and cigarette smoke,

spilled coffee, racing typewriters, crumpled copy paper and grisly editors.

5. Side Effects

McLuhan once said that the impact of media on society can be compared

to a double-edged sword. The same is true when one speaks of the effects of

technology on journalism.

It does make little sense to require reporters to be physically present in

the newsroom. After all, their job is to collect information and feed it to their

editors. These they can do without ever setting foot in the newsroom or meeting

their editors in the flesh.

Hence Doreen Fernandez calls the fax machine a “blessing.” Eugenia

Apostol says that computers in fact make things very easy for both editors and

reporters. According to Joem Macaspac:

“We are very glad to have fax machines and computers because they

speed up the work. Before you could only produce about two stories.

[Now] we produce about six stories. Habang pina-fax mo yung unang

istorya, ginagawa mo yung pangalawa. You can imagine the

convenience.”

Even payday is no longer reason to go to the office, especially if salaries

can be drawn from ATM machines. Inquirer news editor Nilo Paurom says he

hasn’t seen of his reporters “in months.”

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The editor himself does not have to be in his office. In real lifethey still

report for work. However, given the new technology, he can be at home, or at

some tropical resort, directing operations, retrieving copy, and forwarding

edited stories to the printers or Webmasters by e-mail. When this happens we

can say that the newsroom will have totally vanished.

To most editors this spells doom. The most modest concern is the loss of

camaraderie and personal relationship between editor and reporter. Others are

mourning the loss of control over their reporters. But the biggest question is

how the vanishing newsroom will affect the training of future editors. Says

Ermin Garcia:

“Today reporters find it unusual that they have to come back to the

office. But that is exactly what improved them, when they worked

together with their editors. Now they don’t get that chance.”

6. Conclusions and recommendations

Toffler (1970) describes future shock as the “disease of change,” the

condition resulting from an inability to cope with rapid technological

advancement. Yet he cautions against turning off the switch of technological

progress. Doing so, he said, would not only be “stupid but immoral” (p. 428).

Therefore there should be no going back to the past, no dumping of fax

machines, no swearing off e-mail access, and no forcing physical interaction

with reporters. Rather news executives must find creative ways to use the

technology without losing their sight on the original goal. The physical
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newsroom may have outlived its usefulness. Yet editors and reporters can

continue doing what they did with the help of modern technology. In this light,

allow me to propose a couple of suggestions:

6.1. News organizations can set up an electronic message board in

which editors and their reporters can leave notes for one another. This is

possible with free online services like E-Groups.com and Milomail.com.

Message boards though are open to more than one person. If they do not

want their messages to be accessible to everybody, members of an e-

group can resort to ordinary e-mail.

6.2. They can also create an electronic chat room in free sites like

Chatroom.com in which editors can discuss a story in real time (or

synchronous mode in IT-speak) with their reporters. Likewise, an editor

and reporter can go over copy interactively onscreen, minus the

histrionics.

It is my contention that a technological problem, or one caused by

technology, requires a technological solution, among others. Faced with the

very real prospect of vultures flying overhead, journalists will have to live,

survive and thrive with computers. In that way they can prevent the newsroom

from totally disappearing and transform it, fully functioning as in the days of

old, into a virtual newsroom.

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Works Cited

Dallas, Graham. The Pros and Cons of Desktop Publishing. The Philippine
Printer, March-April 1988.
Innis, Harold. The Bias of Communication. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1951.
Kelber, Harry, and Carl Schlesinger. Union Printers and Controlled Automation.
New York: The Free Press, 1967.
Mariano, Gerardo. Computers and the Philippine Press: The Use of Computers
in the Newsrooms of Metro Manila’s Broadsheet Daily Newspapers. M.A.
thesis. University of the Philippines, 1989.
---. Filipino Newspapers on the Internet. Fine Print, 3. 1996. Online
http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/colleges/cla/comm/fineprnt/internet.html
---. Mediamorphosis: How Journalists in Metro Manila’s Broadsheet
Newspapers Use Computers for News Gathering, Processing and
Transmission. Ph.D. dissertation draft. University of the Philippines,
1998.
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding the Media: The Extensions of Man. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1965.
Seybold, John W. The Desktop Publishing Phenomenon. Byte, May 1987.
Smith, Anthony. Goodbye, Gutenberg: The Newspaper Revolution of the ’80s.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock. New York: Bantam, 1970.
--- Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21 st Century.
New York: Bantam, 1991.
Turnbull, Arthur T., and Russell N. Baird. The Graphics of Communication, 4 th
ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1980.
Zorkoczy, Peter. Information Technology. London: Financial Times, 1980.

Oral Histories

Apostol, Eugenia. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Joan Medina. De La Salle

University, 1998.
Cagahastian, Diego. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Odessa Cervantes. De La
Salle University, 1998.
Fernandez, Doreen. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Corazon Atayde. De La
Salle University, 1998.
Garcia, Ermin Jr. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Sarah Go. De La Salle
University, 1998.
Macaspac, J.M. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Llaverne Reyes. De La Salle
University, 1998.
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Paurom, Nilo. Oral history. Audio cassette. (Interviewer’s name currently

unavailable). De La Salle University, 1998.
Rodriguez, Ben. Oral history. Audio cassette. 1995.
Singson, Ernesto. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Jessica Gonzales. De La
Salle University, 1998.
Tolentino, Ernesto. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Candy Diaz. De La Salle
University, 1998.
Villanueva, Augusto. Oral history. Audio cassette. By Joyce Santiago. De La
Salle University, 1998.