Systems Editor in NewsIT
Software: CCI, Adobe PhotoShop, Lotus Notes, iView, Merlin Photo Archive
Description: I started working as a Systems Editor in the NewsIT Department in Sept. 1999. I worked as a CCI SuperUser and a Macintosh Specialist on the Help Desk. I ended up being the top Macintosh expert in the whole building, the go-to person for all Macintosh issues. I set up networking protocol when we went wireless, I set best practices and I was the main troubleshooter for photo and graphics issues on deadline.
NewsIT is an IT department that solely served the Washington Post Newsroom. We specialized in pagination, general pc and mac use, some network issues, laptops, cell phones, sat phones and other electronics. We also did general computer setups and placed orders for software and equipment.
I was a CCI Superuser, our pagination system. I also specialized in photo and graphics issues, since I was the Macintosh expert. It never ceases to amaze me that I was the resident Macintosh expert, not just for the newsroom, but for the whole company. People in networking came to me for help and testing on lots of different issues when we started doing wireless and when computers had problems getting onto the network for various reasons. I worked with many departments.
Although it was great fun to troubleshoot problems, order software and equipment and learn a lot of new things. Creatively, I was floundering. After 9/11, I exported and archived pdfs of all the pages of our 9/11 coverage. I designed and created a digital archive of the pages for our Newsroom Intranet, simply because I was bored. I had an idea where we were going to put it on CD and try to sell it. I met with the head of marketing and he thought it was a good idea, but somewhere along the lines, the project fell apart and people got too busy.
Eventually, someone on the News Desk was taking maternity leave and needed a replacement for 6 months. My department allowed me to move up and fill in because I could fix problems on the News Desk faster that way. I worked as an Assistant News Editor on the inside-A sections, which included the Foreign Section and I also worked on the Metro Sections, which were zoned three ways. I also occasionally filled in for the Neighbors and Sports Sections.
Certification: UNIX I
Conventions, Training: Macworld 2000, Macworld 2001, SND 2004
Year: 1999-’04