Base paper goes electronic

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amanda Currier
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office will soon deliver news to Team McConnell members through the World Wide Web - instead of through a weekly hardcopy newspaper.

Public affairs members here will produce their last edition of the Contrails Feb. 2 and begin generating an electronic product called the e-Contrails Feb. 9.
They will publish the e-Contrails and distribute it all 22nd Air Refueling Wing members each Friday via e-mail. Individuals not on the 22ARW/All e-mail distribution list will need to sign-up to receive the e-Contrails.

The e-Contrails product will include links to the most current news on McConnell's public Web site, which people can also visit for news.

"This way our readers can still receive a weekly product, just electronically," said Lt. Ashley Conner, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs deputy chief. "However, people don't have to wait for the weekly publication to hit the streets to get their news. Now, their news is just a mouse click away on our public Web site, where we post stories, photographs and art."

Force shaping initiatives are driving public affairs offices Air Force-wide to make the transition from newspapers to Web-based and electronic news products. The public affairs career field currently includes 800 positions but is in the process of reducing its force by 200.

In addition to other duties, the 22nd ARW Public Affairs office is currently responsible for producing and arranging all of the Contrails contents except for the ads, which are placed by its publisher.

The current Contrails, which is more than 50 years old, is a civilian enterprise newspaper. This means the publisher does not charge McConnell to print it. Instead the publisher keeps the revenue it earns from selling and placing ads in the paper.

"Although the Contrails does not cost the base money to print, it takes an average of 40 hours per week to produce," said Master Sgt. Darlene Foote, 22nd ARW Public Affairs superintendent. "This is just one of the reasons moving to an electronic product is a transition that makes sense. We will still write stories and take photos for the e-Contrails, but it will take significantly less time to produce than the current Contrails."
The change goes hand-in-hand with Air Force Smart Operations 21, a program that basically asks Airmen to evaluate and eliminate unnecessary and inefficient processes in their workplaces - while still producing quality products.

"Once we begin producing the e-Contrails, we will have more time to write for and manage the public Web site - enabling us to provide rapid, widespread news coverage of McConnell members and units," said Lieutenant Conner. "Plus, we're simply getting on board with the modern method of news delivery. Sharing news on the Web is nothing new. It's what civilian media corporations have been doing for quite some time now."

"I'm excited about stepping into this new realm of journalism," said Tech. Sgt. Genevieve Morris. "It gives us, as PA professionals, a whole new set of skills."

People not on the 22ARW/All distribution list should sign up to receive the e-Contrails by sending their names and e-mail addresses to 22.pa@mcconnell.af.mil. People should send submissions for the e-Contrails to 22.pa@mcconnell.af.mil.

For more information, call ext. 3141.