THE balancing act between print and digital in today’s newspaper world was on the agenda at Cowdenbeath Rotary Club on Thursday.

Speaker was Times Chief Reporter, Jim Stark, who talked about the changes the expansion of technology had brought to newspapers of all types.

Jim started with the Times in 1973 and recalled that he had enjoyed the opportunity to work with former editor Jack Dougary, the popular Lochgelly entertainer, who ‘was a very funny man’.

Said Jim: “In my first 20 years of working with the Times and Dunfermline Press the typewriter was very much the key implement to prepare copy for the paper but in the late 90s technology started to take a strong grip of things and the arrival of direct input computers started a rolling programme of changes.

“Websites were still some way off at that time but by 2007 these had arrived on the scene but were something that only one or two stories a week would go on.

“By 2013 we were geared to put more items on the website and today we put a much higher percentage on the site than then, but by no means does everything that goes in the paper go on the website.”

He added that the industry has always worked on a balancing act so that both the digital side of a paper and the print side could flourish working side by side.

“It is something which is a very delicate process and of course the Times digital service also includes a Facebook page and Twitter feed”, said Jim.

“The publishers are committed to providing a service for those who prefer their news in print and also those people who want to access news online and it is something which means that staff have each day to put together a programme of what will go online.”

He also talked about the change in photography with the development of digital cameras which made it so much easier to put pictures online and he added that there had been huge changes in the past seven years and the speed of change would continue to increase.