By: Jim Rosenberg Computer Bulletin Board Once Served Thousands
The Journalism Forum on CompuServe ceased operating Thursday
after its merger with CompuServe's PR Forum. JForum and PR Forum
were merged into a new service, MediaPro, available on CompuServe
and on the Web at http://go.compuserve.com/MediaPro.
Launched on a Radio Shack laptop in 1985, the then-300-baud
journalists' computer bulletin board eventually served thousands
of members worldwide, with job listings and messaging in four
languages on a variety of topics.
The first online home of the Society of News Design, National
Press Photographers Association, Investigative Reporters and
Editors, and other organizations, set a legal precedent in the
early '90s when a U.S. judge found CompuServe not responsible for
messages it was unaware of that were posted in JForum.
Former NBC News manager Jim Cameron said he "founded JForum ...
for the dwindling number of radio news people to share survival
tips." He also credited section leaders and assistants "who
really ran JForum as editors."
Among them, former journalist and Central Newspapers technology
executive Howard Finberg most remembered that in the days before
easy Web communication, "You really had to commit to be a member
of this community. At that point, you realized the possibility of
community was not a geographical issue ... It was about shared
interest." Besides jobs, said Finberg, members found sources
through JForum to do their jobs better.
"This is a passing of a forefather of a lot of what is going on
right now," he added. "This was an educational experience for the
digital pioneers. This is where we went to school. We learned
from each other."
Cameron will remain in an interim capacity, though MediaPro will
be operated by PR Forum's Mike Bayer.
Jim Rosenberg (tech@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor covering newspaper technology for E&P.
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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