It’s a fact: people spend less time reading newspapers.

But, it’s also a fact that every day more and more of them are taking advantage of the information mix of print, online, radio, television and Wireless Application Protocol news to keep informed.

The newspaper publishing company must remain information provider number one to survive on the market. And since the information mix is also a part of the editorial department’s daily business, that means the publishing company is already sitting on a gold-mine of information: information that could be quickly and easily accessed both by the newspaper’s consumers as well as by its editors. Information that could be repackaged in a variety of ways that could open whole new business opportunities for the publisher.

This cannot be done with old hierarchical structures and workflows. The digital walls between the various sections and departments of the publishing company must be torn down. That alone will save time and money while improving the quality of information and entertainment products.

In many editorial departments around the world, though, there is strong resistance to change from print to multiple-media. This is not only due to conservatism. Hardly any systems exist that are geared to satisfy the multiple-media needs of the editorial department. Though system suppliers are working full out on such solutions, for most of them it is just a continuation of their old philosophy. What the industry needs now are new work philosophies and models that can be tailored to individual situations.

One window to the information world

Ideally, an editor has access to all the information in the world and is able to do research in it. That means having all the news right at his or her fingertips. This data pool can give background information for topical articles, while at the same time offering readers an online information service. This data pool can contain texts, images and ads, as well as previously published articles, encyclopedias, trade directories, calendars of events or other useful information to manage the day-to-day business of an editorial department.

An information warehouse needs to be created, one that brings a global view of all the information to the user’s desktop, no matter where this information is located: on the Internet, Intranets, local disks or corporate databases. Navigation tools must give users access to documents, Web sites, spreadsheets, wire information, audio files and video clips with the same application windows. They have to show the documents in their original format without opening external, specifically native applications. The information density and quality that can now be achieved help save time and lead to a high level of working productivity.

An ideal system contains and combines all the characteristics of an editorial and production system, online publishing system, agency system, document management system, knowledge management system and a workflow management system. This system must have a workflow designer incorporated into it that can be used to define an individual workflow for the elements intended for each publication.

The key to this new editorial world is an eXtensible Markup Language knowledge base, which allows the storage of any type of file format. With XML the information technology world has a universal and widely accepted standard for information characterization at its disposal. With XML, details relating to the structure of a document (such as heading, subheading, body, etc.) typographical specifications (such as bold, typeface, etc.), as well as information concerning the content, are strictly separated from each other. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for document processing.

By presenting a file-system metaphor mapped on the top of the database, importing an object to the database is done by simply dragging and dropping. Any file, whether from the local disk, network or even the Web, can be dragged and dropped inside the database allowing the editor to create an all-inclusive document on a subject. This becomes a product in its own right and can be sold via the Web. Creating new folders must be as easy as on a file system.

In addition to the regular and widely-known functions of an editorial and production system, systems of the future require the following key features:

• Complete access to the program via any standard Internet connection

• Java client for Unix and Apple Macintosh

• Future-oriented data format XML and Unicode

• Separation of content and design

• Browser concept consistent for all objects

• Freely definable user interface, individual-mask design

• Dynamic management of user authorizations down to the level on individual object attributes

• Direct integrated use of all programs with OLE server functionality, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Corel Draw

• Management of any file-based binary documents in the database

• Different viewing modes — layout, WYSIWYG, raw text, PDF, lists and gallery views

• Multiple use of objects

• Navigation via link structures

• Photoshop plug-in

• Data storage in the database

• Freely extendable data model

• PDF output driver

The design should include:

• Flexible screens and supplementary lines

• Unlimited page formats

• Simultaneous display of several single and multiple page views

• Adjustment, change, positioning of elements via keyboard

• Cut-out paths with Bezier segments

• Interlacing of boxes

• Radial and linear gradations for filling form and text

• Scaling and rotating of text and graphics

• Rotating and changing of the size of graphics that lie outside the page format

• Ornamental boxes (round corners)

• Extra cut-out paths are supports for all image formats, not only EPS

• Editor for keyboard commands

• Inheritance of library contents, constantly available docked libraries

What are the benefits of this new all-in-one system philosophy?

• Knowledge can be used more than once, business competencies are enhanced while focusing on efficient operation and product innovation.

• Cross-media publishing is easy.

• The editorial department saves a lot of time.

• Information stored in a media-neutral format can be quickly retrieved for later reprocessing and repurposing.

• Information shared by different departments avoids extra costs in acquiring the same information multiple times.

• Information retrieved quickly and viewed on the same desktop application allows the user to concentrate on quality work rather than wasting time searching for information.

New responsibilities in the editorial workflow

Without a doubt, the implementation of these systems goes hand in hand with new responsibilities within the editorial workflow and a whole range of new job descriptions. As well as Webmasters, system managers and screen designers, there are online editors, sometimes referred to as Internet editors or multimedia editors. Then there is the chief editorial information officer. He is assisted by a resourcer, who supports the data traffic management. A story manager produces for different output forms, the production journalist is a specialist for individual media and carries on production. A technical journalist knows all the tricks, while the information broker collects and manages as much data as possible, a task that presupposes a high degree of journalistic competency.

But, whatever they do and however they are named, their daily work is based on an undivided working platform with maximum access possibilities.

You can imagine how complex the change to a new editorial philosophy is. The good old days of print are gone. But please remember: today we live in the good old days of tomorrow. So don’t refrain from editorial innovations. Seize the chance right now.