Let us not dance around the issue any more: All newspapers, no matter how small, need a computer-assisted reporting specialist. To say otherwise is to say that newspapers don't need copy editors who know how to operate pagination software, graphics artists who know how to make a bar chart, or even photographers who can shoot straight and can work in Photoshop.

This is my conclusion after a decade of trying to talk editors at two newspapers into making CAR a big part of our reporting. I've tried doing it on the sly with the computer sitting on the desk of my publisher's secretary after she went home, on my home computer, and as a sideshow to busy beats. None of that worked well.

We're becoming the authoritative source on a lot of topics, such as the economy, that we simply quoted experts on in the past.

I believe what we are doing at the Duluth News-Tribune (circulation in the 50,000 range) is working well enough to say it is the best way to go. My first job is taking care of computer-assisted reporting issues. My second is filling in on general assignment tasks when needed, just like any other reporter at a paper this size.

As a result, we're making CAR a regular part of the paper. We're giving our readers something that nobody else has in this market. We're becoming the authoritative source on a lot of topics, such as the economy, that we simply quoted experts on in the past.

So, I'll preach to the choir here. I hope I give you some ideas how to get this job if you are at a smaller newspaper and need ammunition. I'll tell you how we've succeeded here and how we've failed.

If you despair when thinking about the money required to get mapping and statistical software, take heart: We're succeeding without being anywhere near the cutting edge.

Daily routine

I'm sure my days are quite similar to CAR specialists at bigger newspapers, although I also sense that the daily demands have a lot more variety. Reporters will come to me for help converting files or press releases into a usable format. They'll ask a lot of questions about basic math, or basic file management. Most weeks, I'll search our warehoused data for someone's phone number, address or criminal history at least a few times.

Mostly, however, I do three main tasks: Generate and write stories, do computer work and analysis for other reporters, and help editors plan ahead well enough so we can include data analysis in our stories.

Writing stories is the best part. For one thing, they can be fun. Each year, Duluth throws a big party that starts with a marathon. We've written about runners who have cut hours off their times, the demographics behind marathons' growth, and why our local marathon is financially successful. (It has more to do with the beer and bands after the marathon than the entry fees).

For another thing, I'm the reporter who gets to needle politicians about touchy subjects, too. For some reason, some of our officials think our region's population and economy are growing. The Census and our other reporting help us remind people (especially our mayor) that we aren't.

On the beat

We've had a lot of success adding computer work to our beat coverage. The state of Minnesota releases its test scores on the Internet, on the same day at the same time for everyone. We'd look like country bumpkins if we weren't able to download the data and crunch it into something meaningful.

Our business team helped craft a package of economic indicators to track our region's economy. Now, every six months, we put out the most comprehensive and regular report on our economy that people have ever seen up here. It pays lots of dividends beyond helping our readers understand what's happening to their pocketbooks. We even have gained respect from our local university economists.

Finally, each week, I swallow hard and spend an hour sequestered in a room with editors so I can find out what's coming up over the next several weeks. That way, I can try to make sure we plan well enough to do all the computer work we should.

We have used computers on a few big projects. One, in particular, won a Headliner Award and was a finalist in the IRE contest (see "Death Beds," in the IRE Resource Center, story #15068). But I don't believe that's how we have made this beat an entrenched part of our culture.

Instead, my beat evolved into something I never expected and wouldn't have wished for, except that it has been successful so far. I have developed a few rules to keep it successful.

Much of the success comes from a web of relationships that would be hard to dismantle.

I thought my job would be judged mostly by the number of cool CAR stories I turned out. Nope. It's judged, it seems, by how much I spread around the help among the editors' teams.

I work with the school reporters on test scores, the city reporters on property values, anybody who covers an election on campaign finances, the business reporters on a bunch of topics, the crime reporters looking for scofflaws, and - most important here in the north woods - the outdoor reporters wondering where to find big fish. Much of the success comes from a web of relationships that would be hard to dismantle.

My rules

So, my first rule: Don't be a Lone Ranger. I also spend a lot of time on small, simple tasks. We did a quick analysis of property values around bed and breakfasts, for example, and it's common for me to help other reporters find the right demographic information for an info box. Those good feelings go a long way, hence my second lesson: Think small. And I also spend a lot of time turning my hard-earned data analysis over to reporters, who make some phone calls and write the story and get their name first on the byline. When I'm cranky, it seems they have fun and get top billing, too. But again, they should remember that help in the future and hopefully editors will want more of it. So, my third lesson: Swallow your pride. It also would be nice to have an editor that has the time and expertise to dig for money and technology, but I don't. Instead, I spend far too much time politicking and trying to find out what happened to budget requests. And "far too much time" isn't much, as busy as I am.

Hence, my final lesson: Learn the art of the well-timed memo.

Which brings me to my final piece of advice, whether it's useful or not. As I mentioned early in this article, I tried every way I could think of to get computer-assisted reporting in my newspaper but none of them worked. I even tried to talk editors into making it my specialty for years.

I finally succeeded with a well-timed memo. The message of the memo was simple.

I made two points: We said we wanted sophisticated reporting in our newspaper. CAR, of course, is the best way to go, but we were failing because data analysis always was second priority to beat responsibilities.

We also faced new competitive pressures from a string of community newspapers surrounding us. We had added a lot of community coverage to the News-Tribune, but CAR was the way to give our readers something they couldn't get anywhere else. That would make it more likely we would prevail in the newspaper war.

In other words, I said we were failing to get enough sophisticated work into our newspaper. And that making me a CAR specialist would help us win the competitive battle, i.e., make more money. (OK. That's a marketing argument. But remember my third rule: Swallow your pride).

It worked.

I also was lucky. I had some good editors at the time, good enough to understand where newspapers were headed. They didn't just want enough quotes to fill the white space. They actually wanted a newspaper.

We're far from being as far along as we should be. I haven't persuaded editors to make CAR training a required part of a reporter's experience here. We have been slow keeping up with technology over the past few years, and my pleas for mapping software haven't been successful yet.

But then the Census is coming up and I can't justify trying to report it without mapping software. I'm getting busier and busier and adding mapping to my duties means other people are going to have to start doing the simpler CAR work.

I'm just waiting for the right time for my next memo.

Craig Lincoln can be reached by e-mail at clincoln@duluthnews.com