To: "David E. Anderson" 
cc: online-news@marketplace.com
In-Reply-To: <9410061846.AA19263@prodpyr1.us.oracle.com>
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On Thu, 6 Oct 1994, David E. Anderson wrote:

> 
> The exchanges about Lew's posts make me curious about the backgrounds of 
> members of this list.  Lew indicated that he thought we are all journalists.  
> I am not.  I understand terms such as "news feed" used here, but I wonder if 
> others do.  I'd like to seed discussion with a few questions.  These are an 
> attempt to get a sense of the audience. 
>  
>  
> Do you consider yourself a journalist?  A "computer/network" person? 

I consider myself a hybrid.  I work for a major news publishing firm, but
my primary activity there is providing channels for distribution of news
to coporations and corporat LANs.
  
> What mix of network experience do you have, such as BBS/large systems such as 
> AOL, Compuserve, or Prodigy/Usenet News/Fidonet/other? 

In the past 15 years, I've been on practically everything, Compuserve,
AOL, Prodigy, Fidonet, Wildcat, Internet Shell Accounts, Internet Slip,
and Corporate Internet to LAN services.  I've helped 5 large companies put
themselves on the internet, and have worked in information retailing
ranging from Wire Services to Directory Assistance Systems (555-1212). 


> If you work on an on-line publishing project, what kind of skills does your 
> organization look for in its project members?  For example, must your system 
> administrators know anything about publishing and must your 
> editors/moderators/etc have a networking background?  Or is this ad-hoc? 

We have a number of people.  We try to make sure that all people in the
organization understand the nature of our business.  We also provide a
wide range of services ranging from real-time quotes for stock-brokers to
low speed dial up research of over 2600 publications.

We have a whole team of editors who are both computer literate and good
journalists.  We also have people who are bit-jockeys, but they still are
encouraged to understand the impact that our news can have.

There are so many ways to present the same information that we have other
companies develop presentation products compatibile with our feed.  Look
and feel, selection of articles, storage and access, and even distribution
characteristics range so dramatically, that it is actually more choice
than we can provide internally.  The products range dramatically in terms
of price, performance, reliability, and information value.  
  
> -- 
> I speak only for myself and no other person or organization. 

Me too.

	Rex Ballard.



From rexb Fri Oct  7 15:19:31 1994