Reporters and editors around the United States are warming up to the idea of integrating computers into journalism. And if the packed seminar on computer-assisted reporting at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Atlanta is any indication, the coming years will see the concept catch fire in our nations newsrooms.

"This is not a luxury. This is not the future. This is a way to get information now," said Bill Dedman, I.R.E. Board Member and freelancer. Dedman, who is currently writing a book on computer-assisted reporting along with MICAR founder Elliot Jaspin, said the use of computers in investigative journalism is changing the way government and the media do business together.

The Freedom of Information Act and access laws are slowly beginning to facilitate the process for those who use this new technology.

"The general premise is that if you can get it on paper, you can get it on computer." But, Dedman said state and local governments are routinely putting roadblocks in the way of reporters who attempt to gain access to computer records.

For example:

The state of North Carolina's attempt to charge the Raleigh News and Observer more than $12 million for the state's driver license records, which are on nine-track magnetic tape. The state and the newspaper are currently in litigation to decide on a fair price for the records.

"The federal government has spent billions of dollars inputting information on more than 32,000 mainframe computers," Dedman said. "And it spends no money telling you which databases it has."

Despite the government's obstacles, reporters are turning out award-winning stories that would have been impossible to complete without computers.

The News & Observer has arguably one of the best computer-assisted programs in the country. With about half of their newsroom trained in analyzing computer databases, the newspaper churns out computer-based stories on a daily basis. Here's a taste of what the News & Observer has been working on the past few months:

*Computer analysis of North Carolina Marriage records for the past 20 years yielded an interesting story for reporter Mary Miller. Her analysis found that although Friday is the most popular day to get married at the Wake County Courthouse, the 13th is always a slow day. It seems that people are superstitious about the 13th, no matter what day of the week it falls on.

*News & Observer reporter Carol Blaney performed a computer analysis of the state's escheat and unclaimed property program and was able to detail how uncashed checks, stocks, forgotten accounts, jewelry and cash left at hospitals, banks and other businesses can be found. Her story, "Wake residents owed $305,579: Escheats office holding millions in unclaimed funds," explains how the state runs the program and how the interest is used to fund the program and provide college scholarships.

*In February, reporters Steve Riley and C.E. Yandle performed a computer analysis of records from the labor department and the state office of the chief medical examiner. They found that because of Labor Department oversights, many on-the-job deaths remain uninvestigated. Their story, which ran last month, detailed seven cases of workers dying on the job. The deaths were never reported to all the correct authorities and never fully investigated. The News & Observer story stated that the Labor Department misses one worker death in four and the department relies on employers and the news media to notify them of worker deaths instead of checking in with medical examiners and taking a more proactive stance.

Also busy turning out computer-assisted stories are Doug McInnis and Steve Stephens of The Columbus Dispatch. The reporters recently completed a computer analysis of drug-crime records and conducted scores of interviews. The end result was a series entitled "Drug killings boom in just 16 months."

The series depicts the drive-by killings, crack killings and other drug killings that have shattered Columbus' image as a big city without big-city crime. The series includes graphics of the rising pace of drug-related killings and statistics revealing that they have become the leading type of homicide in Columbus.

Computers are being used more and more on breaking stories. For example, when a plane crashed in Dayton, a reporter using a computer discovered that the plane had previously had 32 serious maintenance problems.

Hal Straus from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution pointed out the trend toward using the computer to enhance solid beat reporting. Journal-Constitution reporters used a database to trace campaign contributions to Atlanta's governor and lt. governor. They found that the sponsor of a bill, allowing beverage companies to label just about anything short of sewage as spring water, had contributed heavily to the two campaigns.

"It took five minutes to search the database and get a really good story," Straus said.

IRE seminar

The widespread interest in computer assisted reporting has led IRE to establish its first all-day seminar on the subject at its national conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference will take place from June 11 to June 14, 1992. For more information telephone IRE at (314) 882-2042.