Published: September 04, 2009 08:50 am      

GARY'S WORLD: The future of news is already here

I miss the tick, tick, ticking, bell ringing and carriage return noises of the typewriters. I miss the sounds of the old telephone rings. And I already miss the sound of the rollers running across the pages of the paper being put up on the paste-up boards.

I miss the sounds of the pre-digitalization of the classic newsroom. The newsrooms of days gone by.

So far I have been taking it all in stride. Hearing and reading about the collapse of newspaper empires all across the country bothers me. The age of computers and digitalization in the newsroom is here. Hearing about the end of an era in the newspaper business has bothered me to a certain extent. Mostly, I've been reading about it online. Electronically.

But earlier this week it really hit home as I saw the paste-up boards of the Chronicle being ripped apart and removed from our newsroom like a big-old piece of junk, or a clunky old duct-taped recliner that's been in the way.

And it hurt. I'm not kidding.

It felt like they were destroying my office and a part of me.

We went to electronic pagination at the Chronicle many years ago. However, we still printed our pages out on paper and pasted them up for our copy editor to proof. For all of our eyes to look at.

Those paste-up boards took up a huge part of our newsroom. They were the first thing you would see when you came into the building and approached the newsroom.

In these times of scaling down and scaling back we are utilizing our room more efficiently. But now that they are gone, it feels so big, empty and bare. It feels more like an office.

I have so many memories generated from those big paste-up boards.

Memories of our dear friend and former co-worker, Linda Ashburn, who would often look at the pages as they sat on the paste-up board and make comments about the stories or pictures — talking to me as she leaned against the boards. I can still see her.

She saved us from making so many mistakes. Linda passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. I think about her a lot and miss her and our daily conversations.

Memories of returning from lunch with David Spates and having some brand new bouncee balls from the 10-cent machine and throwing them off the paste-up boards and catching them.

It was therapeutic.

I haven't bounced one in years. Not since David left.

I can still picture him reaching into his desk (my desk now) grabbing a bouncee ball and tossing it against the board, while seated, catching it and quickly returning it to the drawer.

And memories of Mike Moser slapping a pica-pole on the paste-up board, scaring my young son, who was visiting and causing him to let out a scream I have never heard him make since.

For 11 years I have looked at those paste-up boards.

Since we moved into the new building and I watched them being put into place, those paste-up boards have been the center of gravity in our newsroom.

I guess what really got to me is that it signals the end of an era for us at the Chronicle. The end of paper and the full transition to computer and computer pagination.

I guess I'm feeling so nostalgic about it because I've seen so much change in newspaper newsrooms. Not just here at the Chronicle.

We used typewriters at the first newspaper where I worked. Our stories were typed, given to the editor for reading and proofing and then given to the typesetter who would type them into the computer, print it out and paste them up on the boards.

But, here we are in the digital, electronic age. How does it affect us?

I get asked about it all the time from people.

"Is the Chronicle going to be able to stay in business?"

"I heard newspapers are closing everywhere. What about the Chronicle?"

"No, the Chronicle isn't going anywhere. We are staying right here," I always respond.

The truth is, sure, the economy and advance of the digital age has made a tremendous impact on the way things are being run at the Chronicle.

However, it has not been anywhere near as detrimental to us, a community newspaper, as it has to the multi-billion dollar daily newspapers.

We also continue to advance and use the latest tools to serve our readers. With our Web site we are engaging more readers and continue to serve our faithful subscribers with the paper.

I must admit this age is so amazing, fascinating and so instantly gratifying. In days gone by some research would take hours, maybe even days to find the facts you were searching for. Now, that information is only a few keystrokes away.

Through Web sites like Facebook, Twitter and online news sources — news is available in real time. Instant connectivity to friends and family thousands of miles aways. Instead of resisting and fighting this age, we are using it to our advantage and bringing our readers along with us.

Look for the Crossville-Chronicle on Facebook.com and Twitter.com, where we will be utilizing these social networking sites to enhance our readers' experience online.

Those paste-up boards may be gone and be a part of the past, but our future will always be fixed in serving our readers and being a part of our community.