Most newspapers start and run their computer-assisted reporting program with one trained person; few papers train more than half of their staff. But that's what The News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina did.

"We made a decision early on that we would not restrict our equipment and knowledge," said Pat Stith, a reporter at the paper. "Access to databases would be made available to everyone interested in the newsroom, even interns."

Management knew that not everyone who was trained was going to become an expert, but it wanted to eliminate the mystery surrounding computers and databases.

"We attempt to instill in our staff that looking for and through databases is a routine part of the job," Stith said. "When you have a story idea you go to the library, interview sources and talk about it with your colleagues. Now you also look for databases with something additional that's important to the story, acquire the database, do the work on it and use the information."

To make databases a more routine part of the job management has held training programs since July of this year for anyone interested. Six people are trained in each class, which is held from 8 to 10 a.m. for two weeks.

"We start off as if they don't know anything not even DOS," Stith said. "We teach them DOS, FoxPro, tapes, NineTrack Express, R&R (Report Writer) and MapInfo."

The classes are divided into two groups. One group loads the tapes, and the other writes reports, Stith said.

Reporters work on the paper's 17-station computer network, which is served by a Hewlett Packard 486. The paper has two additional 486s and one Qualstar tape drive with a total of 2.2 gigabytes of memory. One of the additional 486s is used to load tapes and do mapping, the other is a backup used for projects with large, complex calculations.

For some newspapers, starting a computer-assisted reporting program often meets with resistance from management or financial capabilities. But that didn't happen at The News and Observer.

"What's different here is that we were not required to prove that the concept of computer-assisted reporting works to our management," Stith said. "It was accepted as a given. The general outlook is that this is an expected thing to do.

"Some newspapers, and this is an impression of mine, use database analysis on a few major stories," Stith said. "We intend to use it on any story where the time and expense of acquiring the database is negligible compared to what it adds to the story."

For example, the paper acquired the state's death records for the past 15 years on tape for $18.97 and used information for a story about cremation, he said.

Along with building the network and teaching the system, The News and Observer has created a manual and a list of 3,000 databases available from the government. The list grows as reporters looking into a subject find what the state has available on it.

So far, the paper has acquired more than 25 databases-some federal, most state, Stith said. One agency in North Carolina keeps all the computer records for the state. The paper pays State Information Processing Services charges, which is the amount the state pays to get access to the computer records, but it won't pay more than the state does, Stith said. For example, a database of corporate companies and limited partnerships cost The News and Observer a total of $43.

The public record law in North Carolina is particularly helpful because everything in the state is a public record unless another law specifically says it isn't, Stith said. When some agencies do deny the paper access to public records, The News and Observer goes to court.

"We have a well deserved reputation for not taking prisoners when people try to bend the law," Stith said. "We're polite and we say 'please,' 'thank you,' and 'may I,' but when we're denied access, we don't stand still or walk away. We insist on making these agencies obey the law. We've done it for years with hard copies and now computer tapes."

When the paper decided to do a story about what happened when people moved away without a forwarding address and left safe deposit boxes, checking accounts, stock dividends, etc. behind, it ran into trouble getting the tapes it wanted from the state.

In North Carolina it's against the law for people who find this money to keep it-they must turn it in to the state who then must make an attempt to try to find the people and return it to them, Stith said. The state can't use the money; it must hold it so the people or their heirs can claim it.

When the paper first asked for the database, it said it wanted the state tape. It was given the county's tape instead. The tape was a print image and needed to be parsed. The paper asked again for the state tape and was denied. The state said that fortune hunters would read the papers, tell people that the state owed them money and take 25 percent from the recipients just for telling them. Eventually, the state gave in and the newspaper received the tape, Stith said.

"What we found in our story was that a number of people were owed huge amounts of money and that the state had failed to make even a passing attempt to find these people," Stith said. "One elderly woman had $40,000 being held by the state. She didn't want it back. She felt the state had forced her to sell her land, and she didn't want any part of taking their money."

These are some of the ways that newspaper stories can be improved by using computer-assisted reporting.

The News and Observer has used computer-assisted reporting to cover more in-depth stories it normally runs and to answer questions that sources won't.

For example, the paper did a feature story that told people how fast they could drive over the speed limit without getting a ticket from state troopers.

"The troopers we talked to said they looked for a clear and substantial violation depending on traffic, weather conditions and other things. In other words, they'd never tell you," Stith said. "When we looked at 300,000 violations on the database it was clear that 99 percent of the violations were for driving over 10 mph over the speed limit. It just jumped out at you when we graphed the information."

When the paper looked at how much lobbyists spend to wine and dine legislators, reporters found that using databases saved them precious time. Instead of spending days hand-copying the records at the Secretary of State's office, reporters got the records on floppy disks and within an hour started analyzing them with Report Writer for the next day's story, Stith said.

"This was much cheaper and better than the old way," Stith said. "It has to be, or we won't do it."

The News and Observer won't do a story just because it involves the computer, because there's too much out there that needs to be covered, Stith said.

"Computer-assisted reporting is like a tape recorder-it's another tool for accuracy," Stith said. "But if there's a paper report that will answer your questions better than a computer database, then use it and leave the computer alone."