The Daily Paper Route
It is 6:00 p.m. At USA TODAY's headquarters, the daily news delivery is about to begin. The 7-meter uplink antenna starts to pump data at 1.5-Mbps up to AMC 2 and AMC 4, and down again at the same speed. (In Europe and Asia, Loral Skynet's downlink runs at 512 kbs.)
To balance the requirements of up-to-date news coverage versus the realities of four-color printing, USA TODAY starts by sending out separate magenta, cyan, and yellow page files for the entire edition. Then, when the first three colors have been sent out and lined up with each other, the black illustration and text files are transmitted.
"By sending the non-black color files first, we give the printing plants maximum time to layout the edition, and calibrate the color mix," Terrillion says. "Meanwhile, since the black page files are the last to go, our editors back in Herndon can adjust the copy to include late-breaking news. It's an approach that meets everyone's needs."
At the receiving end, each page file is sent directly to the printing plant's computer-to-plate equipment. It converts the data into steering instructions for a laser beam, which burns each full-page plate. At 1.5 Mbps, a page file takes 10 to 30 seconds to deliver, depending on how graphics-intensive the page is.
Once the data has been burned into the plate, it is bent, removed and fitted onto the printing press. The presses are started, and USA TODAY's latest edition begins the leap from cyberspace into reality.
Racing The Clock
Even at T1 speeds, sending USA TODAY via satellite takes time. For instance, sending a typical 64-page edition with 20 full-color pages can take until 3:00 a.m., given last- minute copy changes and ad insertions. Of course, this time includes allowance for page retransmissions, in those instances where the signal's been garbled. Thankfully, the computers that control USA TODAY's satellite system automatically watch for signal dropouts and arrange for retransmissions without human intervention.
This said, the newspaper's staff can push USA TODAY out in just 2.5 hours when they have to. "We've done this during times when internal software or network problems have put us behind schedule," says Terrillion. "We have even started transmissions as late as 9:30 p.m. and still finished in time for the 11:40 p.m. print run, which is unspeakably fast."
A Key To Success
Even in today's well-cabled world, USA TODAY counts on direct satellite distribution. "The advantage to satellite is that you never have to worry about the 'last mile'," Terrillion says. "Even in today's sophisticated, redundant telephone network, it only takes a backhoe accidentally cutting a cable to put a region out of reach. With our deadlines, USA TODAY can't afford to take the risk. This is why we use satellite, which has proven its reliability time and again. In fact, I have tremendous faith in satellites. They don't let us down."
The combination of desktop publishing and satellites has made USA TODAY one of the trusted sources for up-to-date news coverage. It is a partnership that serves this newspaper, its advertisers and millions of readers worldwide, very well indeed.
James Careless is Via Satellite's Senior Contributing Editor.
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