Apr 13, 2000 - 12:30 PM

USA Today Software Glitch Delays Delivery of Newspapers

The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - USA Today has fixed a software glitch that delayed the delivery of some editions during the past few weeks, officials at the newspaper said Thursday.

A front-page note Thursday apologized for any inconvenience to readers.

"We promise you that were are doing everything possible to provide the dependable service you expect from us," said the note from editor Karen Jurgensen.

The most pronounced problems came Wednesday, when papers went to print about two hours late, causing tardy deliveries in most East Coast cities, a spokesman said. Time zone differences minimized the problems in the West.

The software that sends news and advertising pages to 36 print sites was recently upgraded, but officials were still ironing out kinks in the new program, spokesman Steve Anderson said.

"We did a fix last night," Anderson said.

Officials stressed the problems are not related to a recent design change undertaken by the newspaper. USA Today, based in Arlington, is the flagship newspaper of Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIMRSFL07C.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 13, 2000