Computer helped launch Barlett & Steele to stardom

In 1973 the Philadelphia Inquirer fed 100,000 pieces of information into a computer and proved that the Philadelphia justice system, particularly the prosecuting attorney, was engaged in a massive paper-shuffling system loaded with indiscriminate indictments.

It was the first computer-assisted series of stories in newspaper history.

Donald Barlett and James Steele won the 1973 Heywood Broun Award for their series on violent crime and the justice system quagmire. The pair went on to successful, four-decade investigative careers that included two Pulitzers for their Inquirer work and the magazine equivalent for their Time magazine projects.

Today, feeding information into computers to spot trends or glitches or anomalies is routine.