DMN outsources to IBM

Dallas Morning News web site _ newly redesigned, marginally improved _ has been experiencing massive technical problems. Those computer problems apparently extend into the newsroom. Thursday night, reporters were told to e-mail their stories and to avoid accessing the web unless it was a dire emergeny.

Here's a post by someone inside the DMN regarding the reason for the problems:

A little background: the DMN Publishing Systems IT group is now down to 7 people. They are only allowed to deal with the specific applications used by editorial and advertising. It's tough on these guys to sit on their hands and watch the slowdowns and crashes that they were able to prevent prior to IBM taking over.

The DMN group is also supporting The Providence Journal. In Belo's wisdom, they allowed all of the publishing systems techies to leave or transfer, leaving no one to cover the ProJo apps and the roll out of a new editorial system. At least one, usually two of the DMN IT staffers are in Providence for two weeks stints until the Belo HR bureaucracy finds and hires new staff.

The hardest thing is having IBM tell TDMN what a "severe problem" is. Memos have flown from Belo in the past two weeks letting us know that ONLY if the presses cannot turn or a broadcast station is dark does IBM consider that a Code Red priority.

Within the next year, the TDMN's computer hardware will move to IBM facilities in Lexington, KY.

Like yourself, many of us are not going to be surprised one morning when the DMN hits the streets as an afternoon edition, if at all.

 

I dare say something phonetically close to "DMN IT" is heard a lot there these days.

 

Don't matter how shitty you'all look . . . WE'RE SAVING MONEY!

-- Belo (aka Blow)

 

Biggest problem with the DMN is the people running Belo Corp. are greedy and not very bright. That's a bad combination.

 

Nothing surprises me any more when it comes to newsrooms fucking up technology.

I remember about 15 years ago, someone in USA Today (not a Gannett exec tool) saying newspapers were fucked because they had failed to keep up with technology.

Of course, I'm sure that person was bought out or laid off about 14 years ago.

 

That might have been me. But they moved and forgot to tell me.

 

Should've outsourced to Apple.