Subject: RSCH VIA INTERNET REPORT From: MLST1@aol.com Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 12:21:41 -0400

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Thanks to everyone who wrote to me in response to my query "Research via the
Internet." Here is the response summary I promised. I have not included names
of those who replied. 

I am still researching the subject of my original query  and would appreciate
anything you can add. Send your input to me at EllenHF@aol.com.

I am planning to attend the CONNECTIONS X conference in Atlanta (June). If
anyone is attending and is interested in pursuing the subject, perhaps we can
get
together for a round- table discussion. Let me know.

Text of original query, for those who are wondering what this summary is
about:

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-----------------------------------
I am exploring usage of the Internet technology for our newspaper. One of the
items I am interested in is seeing if the newsroom can make good use of the
web
resources. Any insight into this matter would be appreciated. Some questions:
Is anyone using Web access to various databases to do research for newspaper
articles? If so, how has the experience been? Do you find that the time,
effort, and results enhance your articles? Do you have a designated person on
your staff to do the online research or is everyone doing it? How do you
source the information used from online research? What online sources have
been most useful? 

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-----------------------------------

WHEN TO USE THE INTERNET
(Also: 18 Ways to Successfully Use MediaNet)

1.  Locate an industry expert
2.  Find case studies to corroborate a trend
3.  Supplement your academic sources with practical, real world opinion
4.  Compile statistics
5.  Add another point of view to your story
6.  Create a "round-up" of organizations doing something out of the ordinary
7.  Conduct an informal poll
8.  Discover a new source
9.  Research an esoteric subject
10. Get organizations' in-house documents you didn't know existed
11. Uncover a scandal
12. Get a fresh perspective on a topic
13. Answer a tough question
14. Stumble upon a businessperson with an uncommon experience
15. Ferret out particular photos, footage or illustrations
16. Prepare background material
17. Learn about an industry that's new to you
18. Check your facts


EXPERIENCE
I find the Internet, whether it be E-mail, Usenet, Web, FTP or Gopher sites,
to be invaluable for my work. ... I was also able to contact users, both in
the states and in Canada, quickly, cheaply and easily...The Internet is far
from a panacea, in some regards it is quite useless, but for me it has become
an invaluable tool of my work. It is the place I turn first when researching
a new story. I can quickly find background material (or find there is
nothing) and sources.

Tremendous [experience] 

Oftentimes [worth effort, time]

 (FROM NEWS LIBRARIAN) It's impossible to recount everything we're using it
for, but for starters, we search library catalogs to get book information,
check
universities for contact phone numbers, use ProfNet for opinions from
experts, monitor Usenet groups to find out what people are saying about
various topics, use reference
works online, you name it.

IN THE NEWSROOM
As it's working out [at our paper], we have a couple of general access PCS
and Macs where people can get into the World Wide Web.  Many of the reporters
(about 1\3??) have a FreeNet account, and so can send and receive e-mail.
Reporters are gradually using the World Wide Web, but it hasn't really been
publicized to them yet.  The beauty of it is that with minimal training, they
can use WWW and not have to know a lot about it. The library will continue to
train people and promote the use of the Internet.  As we switch over to Macs
in the newsroom, eventually most people should have full Internet access at
their desks.

We here at [magazine] use the net to do research for our exclusively online
editorial content. Each editor does his or her own  research, but we have
created a centralized database of net resources,  including URLs, that is
searchable.  So if an editor needs resources he can see what his or her
fellow editors have found before going web crawling.  It is has been useful
and productive, but requires fact checking at the source all the same.
     
Newsroom was given training on WWW, news group and e-mail before system was
in place.Reporters are using these tools to enhance stories they are working
on, or to
find new story ideas. I personally have already written several sports media
stories and
used  the WWW and news groups to refer readers to more information on the
topic.

[Our paper] started with one account for all our electronic mail. Two of us
watched the incoming mail regularly and distributed.
 
We've added a couple of boxes/accounts for the areas where the mail flows the
heaviest: letters to the editor and our kids page. And we're training two
more people to watch those accounts. We're working out the details for the
business team and metro department to have their own accounts and someone to
watch.

That takes care of the "department" stuff. We've also been getting more and
more reporters, editors and newspaper execs on the Internet with their own
accounts. So, we try to publish those addresses so people can send things
directly to people.

We're also working to set it up so that reporters/editors will be able to
access the Internet from their Atex terminals. The next step is we want to
download the E-mail and drop it into their Atex queues.

I'm convinced we have to make the Atex thing work because that's what most
reporters have access to. (We've installed some software -- DBAcess -- that
lets the Atex
terminal get into our electronic library. It's also how they'll connect to
the Internet.)

UTILIZING NEWS GROUPS TO FIND SOURCES
I use mailing lists and news groups to find sources. If someone posts a
message that I would like to use, I send e-mail to that person or make a
telephone call to obtain attribution and more detail.

Slowly but surely, we can turn to news groups for some sort of early warning
sign of public attitudes. But truth be told, these groups aren't yet a good
sampling of
society. They're still male, young and educated. Newspaper readers are
generally older, less educated and a good mix of men and women. That said,
news groups are electronic town halls and can tell us much about the
percolation of new ideas and debates. Just as long as we don't consider them
full readings of society, it will be fine to tap into them.

Would you quote writing you found on a restroom wall? That's what Usenet news
groups are. Obviously no reputable reporter would quote from it without
determining the accuracy of the sender.

GUIDES/HELP ON THE WEB
--I was able to access these. Both were useful. 
Reporter's Internet Survival Guide by Patrick Casey:
http://www.qns.com/~casey/

National Press Club lists of news groups and mailing lists of subjects of
interest to journalists: http://town.hall.org/places/mpc/

--I was unable to access these so I am not sure if addresses work.

St. Louis Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Resource
Page: http://www.ccrc.wustl.edu/spj/ ; Surf Page (Internet primer):
http://www.ccrc.wustl.edu/spj/surf.html

Student Journalists' Home Page Concordia University Department of Journalism,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Designed to help make the web experience easier for
J-students. Uses a Lynx browser uses Lynx as a browser. Home pages are
generally text-based only.
http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp/journalism.html

BOOKS
The Online Journalist: Using the Internet and Other Electronic Resources by
Randy Reddick and Elliot King (Harcourt Brace, 1995)

SEMINARS
The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting plans to sponsor a
pair of 'Journalism on the Net' seminars this summer. They are tentatively
planning to hold the 3-4 day workshops on July 20-23 and July 27-30. Contact:
nicar@muccmail.missouri.edu

SERVICES
MediaNet: MediaNet is a journalist-owned-and-operated, computer-assisted
reporting tool that helps journalists quickly find experts to interview and
information from corporations, consultants, associations and non-profit
groups via e-mail. Contact uslifeline@aol.com or 71344.2761@compuserve.com,
tel. 717-243-4285, fax: 717-243-1810. "To make a request, send in your name,
news organization, what you're working on, your specific request, deadline
(very important) and contact info.  We'll e-mail
your request out the same evening to our large variety of subscribers who
will help you locate the right source or statistic if they can. If you want
your identity concealed from recipients, indicate so on request. No news
organizations receive MediaNet and you won't be put on routine mailing lists.
There is no charge for using this service."

VIEWPOINTS
I feel we have a responsibility to understand and use this technology,
because it's not going to go away....  Readers expect to be told where they
can find a particular government report if it's on the Internet, and the
reporter telling them should understand how to get it too.

The Internet will not do your job for you, cure cancer, or alleviate the need
to talk to real people. I see it, however, as an integral and essential part
of what we do.

With the increasing access to sources of information electronically, isn't
possible that journalists will end up spending more time online instead of in
the streets, at city hall, in the police station where they really belong? Of
course there are many positives benefits to computer-assisted reporting, but
what are the negatives? This is a realm of journalistic self-analysis that
needs to be addressed more closely, I believe. 

==================================================================

Hope this has been helpful! 
Replies have come from the USA, Canada, England, and Sweden. 

Ellen Highland Fernandez                                    EllenHF@aol.com
Clarksburg Publishing Company                           
(The Clarksburg Exponent, Clarksburg Telegram
 and Sunday Exponent-Telegram)
Clarksburg, WV



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