Delivering the news with integrated technology

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Technology has changed the way the world receives and demands its news – especially in the last few years.
Watching the Gulf War live on CNN was a watershed moment. When Kenneth Starr’s report about the Clinton escapades hit the Internet, readers flocked to read documents online. On Sept. 11, people received information by cell phone, Blackberry, the Internet, e-mail and other means. Just a few weeks ago, the first news of the space shuttle Columbia’s fiery end came from a discussion of space enthusiasts communicating online as they watched it sail overhead.

Are you a player in this new age of communication?

Integrating all technology available – including e-mail alerts, updates on the Web and a presence on television – serves the public, beats some competition and improves the overall quality of reporting.

If you haven’t integrated your newsroom yet, maybe you’ve used cost as an excuse. It’s not a good one. You can do many things without spending a dime.

• Build a model for updates on your site around the fact that most Web traffic for news happens during the business day, spiking at key points: first thing in the morning, then at lunchtime and just before the afternoon commute. Remember that shelf life has grown shorter with the popularity of the Web. For expanded and more detailed coverage, push to the next day's paper or that night's news out of Web stories.
  
• Partner up. Local radio stations often don't have the resources to devote to local news. They want to partner with you, carry your broadcast or your print stories. Ask around in your market.
  
• Use alerts. People are tied to e-mail and, despite spam, sign up to receive more of it. Many want it on their phones, Palmtops or PCs, among other devices. This can serve credible newspapers and TV stations well because the public will sign up to get alerts. TV stations have provided some of the best models for this, with their weather alerts. Consider applying the same strategy for a major breaking news story that will notify your audience of a breaking event. People will then go to your site, newspaper or TV station for more information.
  
• Work with each other – newspapers with TV and vice versa. Both should work with the Web. Tap the resources of newsroom employees who grew up in TV land. Draft reporters with established credibility to discuss their stories on air, on the web and in the newspaper.

Lou Ferrara is the general manager for electronic media at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he oversees the paper's 24-hour local news TVstation, SNN-Channel 6, and heraldtribune.com.