Original newspaper model remains the best medium

 Focus on Weeklies

From Newspapers & Technology, June, 2002

 By Rob Carrigan

Rob Carrigan specialized in pre-press systems for weekly newspapers. At the time of this article, he was publisher of the Ute Pass Courier in Woodland Park, the Gold Rush in Cripple Creek, and the Pikes Peak Journal in Manitou Springs, all Westward Communications Inc. weeklies in Colorado. He can be reached by robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Thing of the past ...

Linotype machines, Anthony Hordern and Sons department store,  

c. 1935,  by A. E. Foster

Less is more

In 1855, Robert Browning hit the nail on the head when said, "Less is more."

All of us long for a simple existence. If we only could get the code writers, hardware engineers, and other technologist to help us out.

I have a lengthy and detailed wish list  but several prepress items bob to the top with consistency. Thing like page layout applications that automatically convert RGB photos to CMYK files reliably, the ability to manage fonts (and lots of them) built right into the operating system, and PDF creation software that gives you fewer choices, embeds everything and produces better files. But all of these are involved in creation of the news product. But what about just reading one?

 Still you have to turn on the computer, launch a browser application, sign on to a service, perhaps download a file, and if you want something to tape to the 'fridge to remind you of Junior's graduation – get it to print on your printer. It just seams like too much effort.

Maybe it is as easy to run barefoot out to the driveway, and barring the paper carrier didn't toss it on the roof or in the sprinkler, you can read the ink-on-paper version almost anywhere in the house. It is still more portable, inexpensive, disposable, and in many respects, reliable.

And as soon as I resolve to muddle through —  enter "the radio paper.' A Wall Street Journal article Carl Bialik tells the tale.

"According to Michael McCreary, within five years, some newspapers will be published on displays dubbed 'radio paper.'  The devices which could be made of plastic or eventually paper, will be updated wirelessly, likely via radio waves so they need never be discarded," Bialik wrote.

The displays, according to the article, are as thin as a few sheets of paper. The 'ink' is made of tiny microcapsules that have black or white capsules, oppositely charged. Applying an electric field to each determines whether black or white particles will come to surface and are visible to the reader. 

Apparently, some in the news industry think it might work. Investors include Gannett Co., Inc. Hearst Corp., Gruppo Editoriale  L'Espresso and Vivendi Universal SA. It is also developing technology jointly with Lucent  Technologies Inc. and Phillips Electronics NV. according to Bialik's article.

With some of the biggest expense in the newspaper business falling in the printing and distribution categories, and with the promise of these expenses being eliminated or greatly reduced, the business models could take on very different look.  

The community newspaper might in fact move from a weekly publication, to an hourly one. And my quest for a simple existence is out the window.