As I moved out of the newsroom, I had a number of different roles/titles. In late 1993 I moved into the newly created position of senior editor/information technology. Among my duties were:
*Working on the planning and establishment of new ventures by PNI. These could include on-line news and advertising services; new printed, fax and audiotex news and advertising products, and CD/ROM marketing of databases and photos.
*Directing the introduction of new text-editing and pagination systems for the newsrooms.
*Leading PNI in assessing the possibilities of new technology, especially those efforts relating to the integration of newspapers, telephony, fax technology, television and computers. He will work to keep PNI abreast of all developments that could affect its interests in news-gathering and advertising and will make recommendations for PNI’s involvement in new technology in these areas.
It was an exciting opportunity to help influence a company and the digital revolution was about to take hold of the media industry. I’m indebted to John Oppedahl‘s vision and his trust.
“The consumer’s need for information is changing and so is the delivery of that information,” said John Oppedahl, PNI executive editor. “PNI is in a unique position to be Arizona’s source for news and other information regardless of how it is delivered. While we’ll still publish on newsprint, PNI needs to look at other forms of delivery, such as via computers.