Today's paper
A month ago, when the Charlotte Observer was unable to publish because of a power failure, I almost posted an item here headlined, "There but for the grace of God."
This morning we came close. A computer network problem prevented us from getting most pages and stories out of our publishing system. We were able to cobble together an eight-page news, sports and editorial section late last night. The Life section and classifieds were printed early so readers will get their features, comics and bridge fix.
On the bright side, virtually all of the eight-page section is local, posing an inadvertent but interesting pilot program of a paper without significant national and world news. We've been emphasizing local more and more these days, and this is the logical extension of doing away with the commodity wire news. Yes, I'm stretching here.
On the dark side -- and it's dark, indeed -- we were unable to get the obits out of the computer, and they aren't in the paper. You youngsters may not care much, but newspaper editors know that, given the age of our most devoted readers, this is bad. I mean, bad. And of course, most ads are missing.
Go here for all the news, local sports and today's obituaries.
We hope to be back to normal tomorrow. At 3 a.m. today, our IT department had the network back up and working. Thank you for your forbearance.
Update: My favorite reader comment so far: Thank you for this morning's newspaper! It was nearly perfect:
Nothing about Truth and Reconciliation;
Nothing about County Commissioners;
Nothing about adding/subtracting troops in Iraq; and
The newsprint was substantial, elegant, ink-holding and very readable!
Keep up the good work
Comments (13)
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As a Techno-Geek, I often wonder what causes these technical meltdowns and why alternative plans were not in place.
I worked at ABC45 when they had a computer meltdown and they blew out the 11 PM newscast because of a computer glitch. Something they were not prepared for technically or emotionally. By the next week, a detailed plan was in place for almost every error condition. It never happened again; but they were ready.
Hopefully, your guys can go geek with us on the inner workings of a meltdown and how they plan to work around the next one.
Posted on December 20, 2006 7:16 AM
Oh, there are plans, Don. That's how we got out what we got out. The real issue was time. When the system shuts down at 9 p.m., three hours before the pages must go onto the press, we have little time to recreate the stories and ads, redesign a couple dozen pages and output them on a separate system.
Posted on December 20, 2006 7:34 AM
Just remember that some of us do want national and international news. If we ever drop our subscription it will likely be because of that aspect.
Posted on December 20, 2006 10:18 AM
Last night was another bout of insomnia and at 5 a.m., I was waiting for the paper so I had something to do. I searched and searched for the local section, till I realized that the printed page "felt funny" and I actually read the blurb on the front page.
You should give those IT folks a Christmas bonus and they can take solace in the fact that "network down" are the two words you never want to hear.
Did you feed them pizza and Diet Coke (geek feast)?
Posted on December 20, 2006 10:20 AM
DIET Coke?
No, but cake is on the menu tonight.
Posted on December 20, 2006 10:28 AM
John,
Was the actual paper it was printed on different as well?---It felt different---thanks
Posted on December 20, 2006 12:47 PM
Yes, it was on heavier stock. We did that to ensure the thinner section would go through the press and insertion process smoothly.
Posted on December 20, 2006 1:00 PM
I like the thicker paper but feel sorry for the trees; however, MY geeks live by Diet Coke. Besides that, if I wrote, "coke," I'm sure we'd both have heard about it from the dentists, the anti-drug folks, the family-friendly associations, and the nutritionists.
Posted on December 20, 2006 2:12 PM
Right. I certainly don't want angry people criticizing me here. :)
Posted on December 20, 2006 2:15 PM
You should get some IT people from George Gilbert. They're so good that his (election) computers don't have problems; never have, and never will, to hear him tell it. :)
Posted on December 20, 2006 3:08 PM
NICE JOB. IT WAS ESPECIALLY NICE TO FEEL NEWSPRINT THAT WAS NOT A NOODLE.
Posted on December 20, 2006 3:22 PM
And folks, while I overheard some of our IT staff brainstorming about different strategies to resolve these issues last night, I never heard any of them utter one profanity, not even loud enough for a trained journalist to hear. I can't say my former newsroom crew in Florida had that much poise when our system crashed more than once during the evening... :)
Posted on December 20, 2006 8:38 PM
My father worked for the Greensboro Daily News and Record from the 1940's until his retirement in 1978.
When my husband saw the newspaper today, he commented in a statement "resembling" a mixed metaphor: "If your Daddy were alive today, he would be turning over in his grave."
Posted on December 20, 2006 10:34 PM