MCT Graphics selects MapStudio for Media

Redlands, California, USA, 8 March 2007 - ESRI has announced that McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT) has selected MapStudio for Media to provide high-quality mapping and cartographic output for its media clients worldwide.

This Web-based application provides MCT with an affordable means to access a vast array of datasets and quickly generate customized, user-defined maps as needed for locations around the world.

“At MCT Graphics, our job is to convey the news visually for our print and online clients around the world,” said Wes Albers, Director, MCT Graphics. “Maps can be a great way to do that. When major news breaks, the first graphic we create is often a map. And even with all the good follow-up graphics we create, that first map is often the file most downloaded by our clients. We selected MapStudio for Media to be a fast, flexible way to generate maps that we can then put into our own style.”

MCT is a news and features service operated jointly by the McClatchy Company and Tribune Company. MCT provides news stories, feature articles, opinion columns, photos, graphics, illustrations, caricatures, themed content packages, and paginated products.

With contributions from more than 60 newspapers in the United States and abroad and material produced by its own staff in the United States and Europe, MCT supplies content to 1,200 media clients worldwide. MCT is also a major provider of content to online information services and college newspapers.

Previously, MCT Graphics had extensive archives of Adobe FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator basemaps that were used for creating new maps that accompanied stories. While these maps are still available for use, MapStudio for Media will be used by researchers and illustrators at MCT Graphics to generate customized maps not already available in the organization’s archives.

ESRI’s MapStudio for Media provides a wealth of functionality, to go along with its extensive data library. Users can find millions of places by entering a keyword search or U.S. address or by simply zooming and panning around the map interface; they can create their own point layers and store them to be used again and again.

These might include restaurants reviewed or crimes reported. They can also choose to include a variety of data layers. Once a user lands on an area of interest, he or she can turn on and off data layers showing different levels of detail or thematic maps such as weather, terrain, or demographics. In addition, when the map is ready to be output, colors and type styles can be modified. If the user prefers a different projection, one can be chosen. Then the map can be cropped to a specific size and output in any of a number of formats. Finally, the application supports the output of an editable encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file that can be opened in either Adobe FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator, a shapefile that can be opened in ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop products, or various image formats.

“MCT has a rich history of excellence in media and we’re excited about their acquisition of MapStudio for Media,” said Eric Maier, Commercial Account Manager, ESRI. “We believe it will make it quicker and easier to map areas around the globe as well as locations they do not already have in their archives. In addition, the extensive databases, intuitive interface, and range of functionality provide valuable information that can add layers of meaning to the maps they generate for worldwide consumption.”

Source : http://www.esri.com