By: E&P Staff Think you've had a bad day? Last week, the Sun in Baltimore experience what Public Editor Paul Moore called a "perfect storm" of computer malfunctions and delivery delays.
Moore writes in his
weekly column that a "computer software problem threatened the publication of an entire edition."
The problem was with a computer program that transforms digitized newspaper pages into film used in printing. The late-night production of the Sun's Nov. 5 edition was delayed 41/2 hours, meaning many of the papers were not delivered until late Sunday afternoon, some even later.
"Thousands of readers were angry," Moore writes. "To make matters worse, The Sun's customer service phone system broke down as it was inundated Saturday morning with thousands of calls from customers trying unsuccessfully to find out what happened."
Lou Maranto, The Sun's vice president for circulation, told Moore that the newspaper would upgrade its customer service phone system, and the IT department would review its systems and make any necessary changes. "We don't want this to happen again," he said.
"We have instituted a monthly test of all backup procedures to ensure that everyone is thoroughly trained," Carol Sholes, vice president for information technology, told Moore.
"It often takes a crisis like last week's production and communications breakdowns to identify needed improvements," Moore writes. "In a competitive media environment, reducing the risk of problems that jeopardize publication or customer service must have the highest priority."
Ed's Note: E&P's technical editor, Jim Rosenberg, will return from vacation on Nov. 21.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here