BACKGROUND
The "Press" defined here as the news media, with print journalism
in a leading role, has the power to signalize, monitor and confer status.
It is informative but not necessarily educational. It is a "spotlight,"
as Walter Lippmann once said. At its best, the Western democratic press
helps moderate the public affairs dialogue and acts as a public watchdog.
However, critics say it often it ignores its responsibility and focuses on
entertainment and a narrow ethnocentric mode of thinking.
The Third World press is heavily censored, and many journalists who have
taken an independent role have been killed over the past decade due to the
various military struggles over ideology and the fight against narcotics trafficking.
The Third World press seeks little more than independent status, regional
dialogues and access to information from developed nations on its own terms.
The emerging Second World press tends to be less a moderator than a platform
for a variety of opinions. It is currently receiving most of the development
attention but may be less amenable over the long run to the Western
/ democratic model of journalism. Still, development is vital for the process
of development and democracy. (Krimksy, 1990).
Media development for both "worlds" have included professional
training and regional development programs (such as the Central American Journalism
Program or the Clearinghouse on the Central and Eastern European Press) funded
by USAID, USIA, the International Media Fund and a number of private foundations
and scholarly exchange programs. Equipment has been delivered in a few
critical cases by federal agencies and private sources (Romania Libera, La
Prensa of Managua, Lidovy Noviny of Prague, and others). However, very
little has been done in technical information sharing on a broad basis.
Greater efforts should be made in all these areas primarily because of the
tremendous general impact of international communications. In addition,
U.S. policy has been to resist restraints on the free flow of international
communi-cations, no matter how well meaning the proposals or how sincere the
underlying concerns about imbalances in these communication systems. The corollary
to this policy is media development, and one crucial issue involves access
to equipment and infrastructure -- printing presses, radio stations and computers.
(Marks, 1986). To this list we should add information networks.
This doesn’t represent “linear” models of diffusion as much
as a common sense beginning.
INFORMATION SHARING
The cost of information sharing has dropped dramatically over the past few
years due to the spread of TCP/IP computer telecommunications networks.
According to the European RIPE committee, the two year period between Nov.
1990 and Nov. 1992 saw an increase in mainframe computer links on Internet
from 31,000 to over 271,000. (Sterba, 1992).
Studies in Latin America and Eastern Europe have shown that e-mail
services are at least one and often two orders of magnitude lower in unit
cost than fax or telex, at similar levels of service. A five-page message
from Prague to New York or Santiago to New York by Internet costs $.10-$.25
compared with $1.00 to $2.50 by mail or $5 to $15 by fax or telex.
(Ruth, 1993).
The cost of Internet messaging depends greatly on charges by local providers
and varies considerably from country to country. In Eastern Europe and
Russia, for example, costs of Internet connectivity are in the neighborhood
of $20 to $25 per month for uucp access to e-mail with anywhere from $1 per
16 K of information transmitted in Bulgaria to $.05 per thousand lines on
Russia's Relcom uucp network to unlimited e-mail access in Latvia. Some network
providers also said they would consider lower costs to the news media. (Kovarik,
1993)
The trend in these costs is downward, and there is little question that the
technology is on the threshold of instantaneous and virtually free international
mail. Just how it will be used is an open question, but one goal of
an interagency task force on US information policy ought to be broad avenues
for international information exchange. Clearly, the expansion of "information
superhighways" in the developing world is a high priority.
News editors who now rely on the wire services for information outside their
cities and countries could set up their own auxiliary information pools and
exchange news and professional development information with other regional
editors. This could not, for the present, replace the expertise of a wire
service, with a cost of several hundred to several thousand dollars
per month, but it will make the information system far more flexible and regionally
responsive.
Similarly, digital radio news transmission through Internet ought to be a
high priority in international media development. Uncompressed voice signals
at 10 K per second can be transmitted through T-1 or ISDN connections in compressed
mode at very little cost. Compressed signals at 2 to 4 Mb per minute
can be transmitted at the rate of 1.4 M/sec on T-1 lines, 60 Kb/sec. on advanced
circuits, and 2400 baud on analog phone lines. Thus, 15 minutes of news could
be received in anywhere from a few seconds with high quality connections
to17 minutes with a minimum quality connection. Sending digital signals through
telnet system would cost perhaps one to two percent of sending analog signals
through a long distance phone line -- assuming, of course, that the Internet
system is in place.
Internet has significant implications for regional news exchanges. The Caribbean
American News Agency, for example, spends almost $300,000 per year on telephone
costs alone simply to exchange 15 minute "round robin" radio news
broadcasts among a dozen islands. The capital cost to establish a digital
exchange system, with a dozen computers and uucp e-mail, would be perhaps
fifteen percent of this and the operating expense perhaps one to two percent.
It should be noted that by far the most important recommendation of radio
broadcasters in Central America in a 1990 US AID survey was the re-establishment
of the SERCANO network which used phone connections via microwave towers which
were destroyed in the wars of the 1980s. One broadcaster noted that
the emergence of democracy in Central America was so expensive in so many
ways that an interconnection such as SERCANO was theoretically quite cheap.
(Kovarik, 1991). In 1993 such a system is even cheaper to build.
TYPESETTING AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY
It took colonial printers about eight hours to set a full 200 line column
of type, and another half a day to break it down after it was used.
"Hot type" machinery (e.g., Mergenthaler linotype machines)
of the late 19th century allowed an order of magnitude increase in productivity
to about 2,000 lines per day per person. In the 1960s, linotypes cost
around $30,000, and many were purchased for scrap and shipped to India
and Africa. Unlike photomechanical computer systems of the 1970s, linotype
operating costs are low and, in situations where labor is cheap, have certain
advantages. (The use of lead in such machines is, however, a serious
occupational hazard).
The impact of the 1970s and 1980s generations of computers has not been a
linear increase in capability but rather a redefinition of typesetting itself.
Writing and typesetting are no longer separate functions; instead, the work
of the original writer has been extended further into the production process.
Typesetting costs are now more appropriately measured in terms of the operating
costs of the output printer at the typesetting shop. A laser printer
costs perhaps two to three cents per page, while operating costs of photographic
paper for 1970s vintage photomechanical systems is between $.75 and $1.50
per square foot. For this reason alone, photomechanical systems
of 1970s vintage are far less cost effective than linotype machines or
computers and laser printers -- even if the photomechanical system is available
at no cost. Thus, old computer tape and 8-inch disk systems (such as
the Compugraphic 8000 series) are too expensive to operate, even if spare
parts are available.
Captial costs for typesetting systems have changed greatly since the 1960s
when a linotype machine cost $30,000 or the 1970s when a Compugraphic cost
$20,000. A single computer and laserprinter which can do far more work
cost in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $4,000.
Similarly, in the late 1970s and early1980s, a computer system with a mainframe
and 25 terminals would have cost $350,000 and would have taken a staff of
two or three experts to run it. Today, 25 Macs or PCs and a network
with several laserprinters would cost less than $60,000, would not require
extra staff and would be far less susceptible to breakdown.
Without question, modern PCs and Macs with laserprinters are the most cost
effective forms of typesetting in all but the very poorest and least developed
nations. A survey of the media in Central America showed that only in
one daily newspaper plant out of 25 were linotype machines in use, and then
only to accommodate older employees who were somewhat resistant to change.
All used computers either for typesetting only or for both newsroom work and
typesetting. (Kovarik, 1991).
Page composition and the screening and preparation of photographs have also
been computerized at many advanced US newspapers, although the trend has yet
to be played out in smaller papers or in most of the Third World. The
Associated Press and other wire services are in the process of introducing
high volume satellite photographic feeds which have cut the time for photo
transmission from 10 minutes to 30 seconds per image. These images, in "jpeg"
format, can be edited, enhanced, screened and color-separated digitally and
prepared for printing plates without a specially trained engraving staff or
"wet chemistry" laboratory.
The decrease in production trade employment due to new technology has been
most pronounced in the United States with negative impacts on people and labor
relations in general. To the extent that book and magazine publishing remains
a labor intensive industry, much of the business is being exported to printing
plants operating in the Third World and the trend is for continued shifts
to regions of low-cost labor.
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
Printing technology ranges in capability and cost from a several hundred
dollar mimeograph machine that can make copies at a fraction of a cent per
page to a $30 to $40 million web offset press which can produce a much higher
quality image at much higher volumes for a fraction of a cent per page.
In between are photocopiers at two to five cents per page and small sheet-fed
and web offset presses which can produce images for perhaps a quarter to a
half a cent per impression.
Also of some note are pre-offset vintage web letterpresses which are available
virtually for free but cost enormous amounts to match-mark, tear down, ship
and reassemble. These presses, which did not change considerably between
the 1850s and the 1950s, used heavy lead plates (called "stereotypes")
created by the "hot type" (linotype) composition process.
Offset presses, in contrast, use a much lighter aluminum plate and, as a result,
need far less bulk and gearing to achieve appropriate registration between
web-fed color units. Also, color reproduction is much sharper in appearance
with offset.
Several hundred letterpress units are idle in the U.S. and are headed for
the scrap heap. It is unlikely that they will be used overseas, however.
The experience with some Eastern European newspapers with letterpresses has
been that it has cost from one quarter to one half a million dollars to move
them, even though their cost was negligible, while buying and installing comparable
offset units has involved about half the cost or less.
On the high end of printing technology, research is proceeding on presses
with plates that can be changed electronically without down time. This
would further reduce the number of employees needed in printing production.
Although such systems have already been demonstrated they are currently too
expensive for commercial operation and would have little overall impact once
they became cost effective.
Automated post-press handling operations have become common in many American
newsrooms although they have no strong financial advantage over unskilled
workers. In years past, these unskilled workers would insert the sections
for hundreds of thousands of individual Sunday newspapers
or insert "stuffers" during the week. Many metro dailies (such
as the Baltimore Sun) still eschew automation and continue to use unskilled
labor. In the Third World, automated post-press systems are a relatively
clear example of inappropriate technology given the shortage of jobs. Still,
many Third World publishers are not concerned about labor issues and prefer
capital investment as easier and safer.
PAPER MAKING TECHNOLOGY
For over half a century paper has been made by subjecting wood chips to sodium
sulfite and heat, a process which dissolves the lignin "glue" of
the wood along with the cellulose. The resulting product must be bleached,
creating dioxins, and the sulfite liquors create pronounced air and water
pollution problems. Moreover, depending on the lignin content, the paper tends
to be short-lived, with newspaper at the low end of the longevity scale. (The
yellowing and brittleness of newspapers left out in the sun a few days
deteriorates due to the high lignin content of newsprint).
During the 1980s a consortium of Canadian government researchers and
private companies developed a "steam-explosion" process for wood
chips, waste biomass and other cellulosic residue which effectively separates
lignin and creates a brighter, stronger and more long-lasting paper.
Stake Technologies Ltd. of Ontario is one of the leading companies in commercializing
the technology. One of the advantages of the Stake units, according
to a Wall Street analyst, is that paper mills an order of magnitude smaller
than existing mills might be developed. (B. Paul, WSJ 6/12/87).
Thus, Third World nations dependent on external sources of paper could
create mills for smaller niche markets and substitute industrialization for
imports.
Another technology of potential interest for developing nations involves
substituting agricultural crops like kenaf for trees in paper making.
USDA tests between 1960 - 1985 demonstrated that kenaf was cheaper and equal
in quality to commercial newsprint webs. (Touzinsky, 1980; Bagby, 1979).
USDA finished its research in the early 1980s and a pilot project, Kenaf International,
was launched in Texas in 1989. However, the project has not been able
to garner support from the paper industry and only a small pilot plant is
in operation.
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The printed page is a flexible, durable, user-friendly, high-density storage
medium which is easily transported. It is relatively low tech, message
centered and unitary in content and is available for use whenever and wherever
an individual desires. Newspapers tend to be locally produced and community-oriented
media with some individual attachments between readers and writers but little
opportunity for interactivity. (McQuail, 1989)
American newspapers are undergoing profound organizational changes as competition
from other news and entertainment media further erodes their markets.
Responses have ranged from zoned metropolitan editions (to further localize
the product) and increased interactivity (for example, sports and news hotlines,
computer data services, and subscriber programmed section selection).
Changes in information traffic are not just volumetric but also qualitative
(as described by the diagram below). The mass media usually practices
what is called "allocution," that is, the "few to many"
pattern of information flow where control of time and choice of subject is
central and the information store is central. As control of time and
choice of subject becomes more individualized, we use the term "consultation"
to describe information flow. Clearly, printed media tend to be more
consultative than electronic media; however, "time-shifting" with
VCRs and the potential for digitized programming on demand may lead to "consultative"
broadcasting.
Meanwhile, the store and production of information is also becoming more
individualized, leading toward a "conversation" pattern of information
flow. The attraction of the Internet and such features as Listserv,
Usenet and IRC has everything to do with this shift in the pattern of information
flow. The "many to many" model of information traffic has
been widely predicted as the predominant model of communication of the 21st
century.
FOUR PATTERNS OF INFORMATION TRAFFIC
Adapted from McQuail (1989)
and Bordewijk (1986)
Storage of information
CENTRAL
INDIVIDUAL
_________________________________________
Control of time,
|
choice of subject Allocution
| Registration
CENTRAL
"few to many"
|
____________________|____________________
Control of time,
|
choice of subject Consultation
| Conversation
INDIVIDUAL
| "many to many"
____________________|____________________
Whether professionals in communication will be "eaten alive" as
a media pundit claims in a recent Rolling Stone article (Katz, 1993), or whether
"the Press" as such is still needed to sort through a mound of conflicting
claims and information, a profound shift in the availability of basic documentation
and back-up information is taking place. One journalism theorist believes
that the shift from an essential oral culture reproduced in print to the possibility
of extensive documentation and backgrounding will lead to more accurate and
better informed public policy debates. (Koch, 1991).
Although widely diffuse information technology has thus far been politically
liberating, there are questions about what negative forces might also be liberated
as the technology changes which are broader than the scope of this paper.
But generally speaking, new technologies do not tend to replace, but
rather displace, the principle uses of prior technologies. For example,
the railroad didn't replace the canal, but patterns of development changed
greatly when the railroad became dominant. Similarly, the newspaper did not
replace the book, nor did television replace the radio. Instead, newspapers
displaced the political debate in the mid 18th century and television displaced
radio’s role as a theatrical medium. Yet books and radio remained in
smaller niches.
The power of the press and the printed word is the extension of ideas through
time and space and, especially, through adverse circumstance. It is interesting
to note that the first news to reach victims of the recent hurricanes in Miami
and Charleston came via newspaper since all radio and television stations
had been knocked out. Although only moderately flexible in terms of
content, immediacy and interactivity, the printed page will continue to play
an important role in local and regional communication in areas where high
technology can’t be made available. However, interactive multi-media
computer CD ROMS provide such large amounts of information on site at such
relatively low cost that they are destined to become ubiquitous in central
cities in the Second and Third Worlds.
Internet has tremendous potential for the international news media. First,
it has already shown tremendous promise in technical assistance programs,
and these programs are needed by the news media of the Second and Third World.
Internet can also provide very low-cost regional intercommunication, which
has been a major development need in regions such as Central America.
In addition, the wealth of information potentially available through Internet
on all kinds of topics provides some hope of an alternative to shallow and
event-oriented news coverage which is more or less typical. Clearly, the news
media will continue to occupy the center of international information systems,
and it is important that access to Internet be available to journalists.
Closed networks for journalists only -- which are currently being developed
by publishing associations -- represent an eggregious waste of resources
and a potential stumbling block to the open development of free international
information systems. US development of the international information
infrastructure should include the press in order to facilitate technical exchange,
regional inter-communication and greater access to expertise and sources.
REFERENCES
M.O. Bagby, et. al., "Nonwood plant fiber pulping: Progress report
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Jon Katz, "Bulletin Boards: News from Cyberspace," Rolling Stone,
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Tom Koch, Journalism for the 21st Century (Westport, Ct: Greenwood1991).
George Krimsky, “Third World Press,” Gannett Center
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Bill Kovarik, "A Survey of Central American News Media Hardware,
Intercommunication and Development
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Denis McQuail, Mass Communication Theory (London: Sage, 1989).
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