| Summary: | This article deals with the press coverage of the health and safety aspects of the use of video display terminals in the U.S. According to the International Data Corporation, more than 1.6 million video display terminals (VDT) were in use throughout the country in 1979. By 1984, the Waltham, Massachusetts, research firm predicts, the number will have jumped to about 5.3 million. Newspaper offices allegedly account for only a small percentage of the figure. The American Newspaper Publishers Association's (ANPA) research institute puts the count at least 23,000, which is the number reported by its members. According to the ANPA, newspaper use of VDT has increased by about 50 percent annually since the new technology was introduced to offices of all kinds in the late 1960s. The advantages of VDT, each, essentially, a combination keyboard and television-like screen hooked up to a central computer, are manifold. They afford reporters and editors instant access to stored information, speed the editing process, and produce copy that can be set in cold type immediately or held for future use. The newspaper industry has allegedly been willing to invest a lot of money to switch over to such time- and labor-saving devices.
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