"Journalism, The Press and New Technology"
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Table of Contents

Issue #1 as well as supplement added at the end.

Communication Research Trends:
Journalism, The Press and New Technology
vol. 6 no. 1 1985

Research Trends in Religious Communication:
Religion On The Electronic Newspaper
vol. 6 no. 1 1985

Abstract

In Japan, the newspaper Ashai Simbun has installed a computer system which transfers newsprint to the presses, photosets the print, automatically bales the 12 million copies in the required numbers for each district of the country, and loads them on to waiting lorries; all without the help of a single human being.

Though the degree of automation at the Ashai Shimbun is exceptional, newspapers throughout the world are beginning to exploit the power of the computer to revolutionize the work ofj ournalists and printers. And not only the computer. The use of satellites for remote site printing and facsimile transmission, the replacement of news fihn by videotape, and the emergence of videotex all herald a profound transformation in the practice and organization of newsmaking.

As yet the implications of this technological change are but poorly understood. As always there is optimism on the part of some that technical developments will lead to significant improvements in the extent and quality of news coverage; others see the same developments leading to more standardization, more superficiality in reporting, and an increase in the power of a few media barons.

This issue of Trends highlights research that has begun to explore some of these is<.ues. The following sections consider 1) the general implications for journalism and the press; 2) the impact of the computer on the organization of the newspaper and the work of journalists; 3) the consequences of technological change for newspaper print workers; and 4) the emergence of the 'electronic newspaper' and its challenge to the established press.

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