369 ©Copyright 1996 by International Business Machines Corpora- tion. Copying in printed form for private use is permitted without payment of royalty provided that (1) each reproduction is done without alteration and (2) the Journal reference and IBM copyright notice are included on the first page. The title and abstract, but no other portions, of this paper may be copied or distributed royalty free without further permission by computer-based and other infor- mation-service systems. Permission to republish any other portion of this paper must be obtained from the Editor. IBM SYSTEMS JOURNAL, VOL 35, NOS 3&4, 1996 0018-8670/96/$5.00  1996 IBM BENDER ET AL. Four prototypes of news presentation are described. These prototypes share the common view of news presentation as a service that changes the relationship between news providers and news consumers. FishWrap™, an electronic newspaper, explores the relationship between individuals and communities in a university setting. PLUM contextualizes news from geographically defined communities. The India Journal addresses the needs of an immigrant population. Multi-user sessions in community (MUSIC) builds upon relationships among people in urban communities. he application of technology to the future of news dissemination is not only about the efficiency of professional production and distribution of news. It is also about providing the news consumer with tools that facilitate the gathering of, access to, and use of news in both individual and communal contexts. While the adoption of digital communication technol- ogy by the news industry will enhance consumer access to information, it must also support news deliv- ery as a “community service.” The news-as-a-service model is one in which the consumer of news is an active, engaged participant. This service model encourages two-way communication between the tra- ditional news provider and the consumer, and commu- nication within communities built upon common interests. The news service model becomes a part of the social fabric within communities, a catalyst for creating communities of interest, and a means of facil- itating community insight. Social constructionism In social and developmental psychology, constructiv- ist models depict the individual as a builder of knowl- edge, not as a passive receptor. Constructivism argues that the active nature of the learning process in which individuals are engaged needs to be enhanced and facilitated. Constructionism places a critical emphasis on particular constructions of the individual that are external and shared. 1,2 These external constructions involve both creative action and “recreative” reaction, leading to an interplay between internalized and external experiences in such a way as to promote fur- ther creative activity. Social culturalists, such as Vygotsky, 3 argue that learning to communicate is based upon internalized intellectual structures that allow messages to take on meaning. They argue further that these structures are initiated by external social and cultural relations. Social constructionism 4 combines the sociocultural and constructivist views: social settings can be enhanced by the developmental activity of the individ- ual. Likewise, enhancing the social setting by intro- T Enriching communities: Harbingers of news in the future by W. Bender P. Chesnais S. Elo A. Shaw M. Shaw