Why the Technology Mistakes?

In the past year, The Crimson has come in for some sharp criticism over its coverage of computer-related issues. As the Internet continues to explode in popularity, the number of stories written about computers in The Crimson has gone up; the number of complaints about them has as well.

Students and professors have charged that the newspaper is technologically illiterate. As such, it should leave discussion of computer issues to other, more appropriate forums, like the "Harvard general" newsgroup on the Internet.

Is The Crimson computer-dumb? And if it is at present, should it stay that way, or is there a way forward?

In my opinion, the coverage of computer issues on the news pages has been inconsistent; to say the least. Quality has varied from being extremely good to being ridiculously bad. A four-part series on computers last semester is an example of the good. But a story about the workload in Computer Science 161. "Operating Systems," and a recent piece on Internet pornography spring to mind as examples of the bad.

Here's my take on why the inconsistency exists.

For a couple of years now, The Crimson has had columns on computers run on page three of the Tuesday edition. Typically, the people who write these columns are quite knowledgeable about their subject. And while you may not agree with their views, its difficult to fault them on factual grounds.

Daily news stories, however, are not necessarily written by people who have an expert knowledge of computers.

Science concentrators, while not unheard of at 14 Plympton, make up a relatively small percentage of the staff. The consistent work required of science majors makes it difficult for them to keep up the schedule of a daily reporter.

As a result, computer stories are often written by people with very little experience in covering technology. This is especially true during the newspaper's comps, when we try and give compers experience with a broad range of stories. While we do, assign reporters "heats" after they complete their comp, beat reporters aren't always available on days they're needed.

In the short term, this is likely to result in some errors. But with time, somewhat random assignment is the only way to ensure that everyone is this building becomes familiar with an issue that is becoming increasingly important on campus.

All over the country, newspapers are realizing they need to know more about technology. Here's how The Crimson has responded.

We now have a weekly Science/Health page, which runs in the paper's Tuesday edition. The stories on this page are written by people who have expressed to desire to cover scientific issues.

We print part of the paper on the Internet, which can be accessed through gopher. And we are exploring the possibility of publishing on the World Wide Web.

In terms of story accuracy, the paper recognizes there have been problems in the past. As a result of the Science and On Line comps, we now have more science concentrators on the paper than ever before. We are making an effort to run every computer-related story by someone--sometimes another. Crimson editor, sometimes an outsider--who known more about the issues-involved.

Raj can be reached by calling 5-9666 or e-mail: rshouir@fas