“The Arizona Republic” Items

Named as IT Director

In February 1997, I was named as the director of information technology.  Here’s what the company newsletter wrote:

Howard Finberg, director of infor­mation technology, will direct the Information Services department for the next 18 to 24 months, effective Jan. 30, Vice President/Operations & Product Development Rich Cox announced last week. Sam Young will remain as Services director and turn his full attention to expanded responsibili­ties with several important Services issues and projects. Finberg will report to Cox on IS issues and continue to report to Publisher & CEO John Oppedahl on strategic technology issues.

A couple of months later, I wrote a memo to the IT staff outlining my goals:

As we discussed a little more than a month ago, the leadership structure of the information services department will be changing. During our first staff meetings I outlined my vision for the department. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to discuss this vision with many of you. Your enthusiasm has confirmed my thinking and serves as a guiding force towards our future. That vision statement is worth repeating:

“There are no system projects, only business projects enabled by information technology.”

To reach our vision, we need clear and consistent expectations. At our staff meeting I outlined those expectations. They are also worth repeating. An effective information services department:

• Makes sure all infrastructure works properly and is positioned for future growth.
• Develops a coherent architecture and clearly communicate its structure to the company. Standards can save companies money if they are applied properly; a poorly chosen standard or standards that do not change as technology changes can cost a company time and money
• Develops a team structure at both management and staff level. In addition, every team member needs to understand everything that is going on; you need to know more than your own projects.
• Makes sure that the company and its directors understand the full cost of the latest technology and the risks involved in trying to satisfy all demands all the time.
• Provides leadership, advice and it assists and works with customers so they can accomplish their business goals with a minimum of effort and expense.

 

Celebrating The Republic’s Centennial: How We Worked

In 1990 The Arizona Republic celebrated its 100 years — its centennial. There were many different projects that I had role in editing and/or coordinating. It was a once in a lifetime project. One of the projects involved a full page timeline [called “Paper Route”] of how a story is reported, written and edited. In addition, how do photographers and others in the newsroom work to create the still ‘daily miracle.’

Joining the Arizona Republic

Moving to the Arizona Republic was a big and important step in my career.  I finally reached the level I had work toward — the second level in newsroom management.  In 1987, The Republic was run by the managing editor.  Next on the organization chart were the assistant managing editors, of which I was the newest, with a newly created job.

Here’s the press release send by the parent company, Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.

PHOENIX, ARIZ . (July 30, 1987) — Howard I. Finberg, former photography and graphics editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, has been named to the newly created position of assistant managing editor/graphics at The Arizona Republic.

In his new position, Finberg will be responsible for the visual aspects of the paper–supervising the photo, graphic arts and page design departments. He also will play a major role in the redesign of the newspaper, a pioneer in pagination.

Later, after one of the three AMEs left the paper, I would assume responsibilities for the features sections and the Sunday editions.

In addition to the press release, there was a nice note in the newsroom’s newsletter, EN.  I like the small personal touch which talked about my interest in cooking.

Technology Leadership at The Arizona Republic

One of my roles at The Arizona Republic was to run the information technology department.  One of my important responsibilities was to make the case internally and externally for investment in equipment and services.

In April 1997, I did a “Technology Leadership” presentation.  I’m not sure who was in the audience.  I laid out our plans for the future on two information pillars:

Two types of information technology support our organization
1. Business and financial applications
* Advertising, finance, circulation support systems
2. News and information applications
* Editorial and other content, regardless of delivery method

I concluded with the idea that all of this spending is needed to build “strong technology foundations for the future.”

Covering the Big Story: Pope Visits Phoenix

On September 14, 1987, as a part of his whirlwind tour of the United States, Pope John Paul II visited Phoenix.  It was one of the biggest news events that The Arizona Republic and its sister newspaper, The Phoenix Gazette, would cover during my career at the newspaper.  In Tempe, he held Mass for 75,000 at Sun Devil Stadium.  As a way of celebrating successful coverage the papers jointly produced a special section about how they covered the event.  From the opening story:

The Pope is coming to Phoenix. Those six words, spoken more than a year ago, launched a herculean effort by the state’s two largest newspapers, The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette, to cover Pope John Paul II’s visit on Sept. 14, 1987. The goal was to capture the essence of the man and his effect on the city and those who saw him.

The task enveloped not only the Republic and Gazette newsrooms and such support services as the Library, Photo Lab and Promotion Department, but also Production, Circulation and Security.

What I like most about this special section was seeing all of the faces from the Republic newsroom and reading this list of managers at both newspapers.

Phoenix Newspapers Inc. publishes Arizona’s largest newspapers, The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette. Pat Murphy is publisher of both papers. The newsrooms are competitive. The Republic is a morning newspaper with a daily circulation of 343, 723 and a Sunday circulation of 539,323.

Alan Moyer is managing editor: Coordinating the papal coverage were Assistant Managing Editors Howard Armstrong, Howard I. Finberg and Robert Franken. Tom Bauer served as special sections editor. The Gazette, an afternoon newspaper, has a daily circulation of 111,253. Lynne Holt is managing editor. Coordinating papal coverage were Assistant Managing Editor / News Administration Mickey Hirten, City Editor Mike McGrevey and Photo Editor Mary Ann Nock. Nock also was special sections editor.

Running Technology at Phoenix Newspapers

In early 1997 I took on the assignment of running Phoenix Newspaper’s technology department for an 18 to 24-month period.  The goal was to bring some of my strategic thinking to the daily operational aspects of the department.

Here’s what John Oppedahl, PNI’s publisher and chief executive officer is quoted in the Arizona Republic story about the announcement:

“In essence,” he said, “we are restructuring the information services department to address some of our operational challenges and provide better service to all PNI departments.”

Here’s what I said:

“I’ve had the strategic view of technology and its importance to the company…The goal now is to get us in a position to go into the next century, and to use technology to better serve our customers.”

Customers, always the key to success.

Mario Garcia on The Arizona Republic Redesign

The Arizona Republic’s redesign was an interesting exercise in trying to find a way to please a publisher who had the dream of making The Republic a New York Times-style  newspaper.  That meant he wanted a subdued approach to headlines and design and NO color.  Putting it in positive terms: classic design.

When the publisher of The Arizona Republic, Pat Murphy, commissioned me to redesign his newspaper, he had brought to our discussion a clearly defined blueprint of what he wanted his newspaper to look like: “Make it elegant,” he said. “Also let it look like a classic, reliable newspaper, one that readers will feel comfortable and safe with.”

Truthfully, I hated it.  Mario Garcia didn’t care for it either. He was very kind in an article he wrote for Newspaper Techniques, the monthly newsletter of IFRA.  He was also said some very kind things about me.

The Arizona Republic, is totally paginated (triple-I), which facilitated the idea of a half-column concept. Into the third month of the redesign, the newspaper hired an assistant managing editor for graphics, Howard Finberg, who came from The San Francisco Chronicle, and had served as graphics editor of The Chicago Tribune, as well. With his impressive credentials and experience, he became a full partner in the process, refining the use of informational graphics, guiding the every day logistics of the redesign, and hiring new designers for the different sections.

 

Arizona Republic Announces Redesign (and My Hiring)

The Arizona Republic’s newsroom newsletter, EN, announces the hiring of Mario Garcia to redesign The Arizona Republic.  And, burying the lede [grin], my hiring.

TWO MORE STEPS have been taken in our continuing effort to improve The Republic: A contract with Dr. Mario Garcia of the Poynter Institute to redesign the paper, and the hiring of Howard Finberg of the San Francisco Chronicle as our new assistant managing editor for graphics.

Garcia’s redesign of The Republic will begin in July with research to understand how readers and editors perceive the newspaper. He will be here the week of July 6. The schedule will give him a chance to live up to his nickname, “‘the Human Hurricane”.

I just love the irony that years later I would be working at Poynter, although Mario would be gone. The world is a small place.

How the Arizona Republic Installed its 2nd Gen Pagination System

One of the most read newspaper industry technologist is David Cole, who published “The Cole Papers.”  In 1997 he sent one of his reporters, John Bryan, to write about how Phoenix Newspapers replaced its first generation of pagination with a new system from CCI Europe.  One of the reasons we selected CCI in 1995 was its ability to hold items in a publishing database. Here’s one of my quotes from the article.

Chief among the Republic strategist is Howard Finberg, longtime industry pundit, designer and evangelist who professes to be interested in pagination only as a means to an end.

“We don’t want to paginate anymore,” the paper’s director of information technology said. “I believe in publication systems that slice information into smaller and smaller pieces,” which can be used by an infinite number of information “products,” such as a web site, CD-ROM or whatever comes down the pike.

The article described how we made the transition [not quite complete when the reporter visited] and our vision for the future of newspaper publishing.

Pagination: Implementation & Human Factors

One of my roles as Assistant Managing Editor of The Arizona Republic involved steering Phoenix Newspapers [PNI] into its next generation of pagination, the electronic design and production of newspaper pages.  In early March, 1993, the Newspaper Association of America held a Prespress Technology Symposium in Phoenix, AZ. I gave two speeches at that conference, one on how The Republic implemented its system.

If you were to create an adage about the installation of a pagination system it might go something like this:

Installing a pagination system is much like building a ship while already at sea – it is possible, but be prepared to get wet.

The second speech involved the human factors in pagination:

A design department using pagination can be one of two things:

  •  A creative department using a specialized electronic tool
  • A service or production department using new tools but following the direction of the paper’s editors

A design department using pagination can’t be both.

This is the fundamental linchpin of any discussion about the human factors of pagination. How to manage the people doing the work.

 

Scenarios at The Arizona Republic

In 1999 the management of Phoenix Newspapers, publishers of The Arizona Republic and AZ Central, embarked on an ambitious project to take the company into the next decade.  Part of that process involved writing scenarios about “possible futures”.  We had five objectives as we looked toward the next five to seven years:

  1. As technology and the Internet continue to evolve, how will reader and advertiser needs and behaviors change? How fast will it all happen?
  2. Use scenario planning to enhance our strategic conversation
  3. Involve the organization at all levels.
  4. Craft a point of view about our future.
  5. Develop a more agile Year 2000 operating plan, and budget and craft a three-year  strategic plan.

I wrote much of the “Zero Time” scenario:

Zero Time asks us to throw out the notion of a continuous, predictable future. It represents our most challenging scenario. How rapid and radical is change in this Future? In just the five years between 2000 and 2005, the U.S. economy has morphed from a mass industrial economy to the new economy, an Internet and information economy. Computing is ubiquitous and touches every aspect or almost every person’s life–much like a telephone or television did in 2000. Communication is seamless and superfast broadband connections to the Internet have become standard. Customers get the information they need, exactly when they need it, and can do most transactions without the aid of intermediaries such as auto dealers, real estate agents and travel agents or newspapers. Audiences are increasingly fragmented, and mass is no longer the dominant model in any advertising medium.

Maybe not quite right for 2005.  Certainly on target for 2013. Read about Zero Time in the PDF.

Named to New Job: Senior Editor/Information Technology

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.