The Convergence Newsletter
From Newsplex at the University of South Carolina
Vol. 1 No. 10 (May 5, 2004)
Exploring the Meaning of Media Convergence
The purpose of this newsletter is to provide an editorially neutral forum for
discussion of the theoretical and professional meaning of media convergence.
We welcome articles on any topic directly related to media convergence,
including academic research or information about convergence experiences in
your newsroom. We also welcome information about conferences, publications and
related links.
Holly Fisher
Editor
convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu
Feature Articles:
New roles in converged newsrooms
Getting Iraq War News: Were
Younger Audiences Bored with the News or Bored with the News Media?
Newsplex News
Conference Information:
Editor & Publisher and
Mediaweek's 2004 Interactive Media Conference & Trade Show
Newsplex Summer Seminars
Partnership for Online and
Beyond: Strategic Thinking for a Multiplatform World
Convergence: The Tour
Convergence for Teams:
Visions & Values in Action
Digital Revolution Conference
(call for papers/presentations)
Announcements/News:
Lack of Unions Makes Florida the
Convergence State
---------------Feature
Articles
New roles in converged newsrooms
Editor’s Note: In this issue
we continue our series looking at the four new roles in a converged newsroom.
Last month, The Convergence Newsletter looked at the role the storybuilder has
in a newsroom: supervising all aspects of an individual story, coordinating the
reporters, photographers, and other personnel assigned to a story in the
gathering of information and the distribution of the stories produced across
media. This month, we look at the function of the news resourcer. Upcoming
issues of The Convergence Newsletter will profile the newsflow manager and the
multiskilled journalist.
The most important
characteristic of these new roles is that they do not necessarily reflect
individuals or specific positions in a newsroom. Rather, each of the four
represents a new set of responsibilities and activities in a newsroom. In
Newsplex training, individuals are assigned to each role, but, in newsrooms,
the roles may overlap across individuals or may be split, with two or more
people combining to serve the role.
As you read these
articles, please keep in mind that there may be other emerging roles that also
should be profiled. If you have identified any other new roles, please let us
know so that we can address those in a future edition.
News resourcer is key
information chief
By Geoff LoCicero, Ifra Newsplex News Resourcer
Charles Bierbauer, dean of
USC’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, likes to call the
position the “news sorcerer.” It’s an apt description for a journalist who is
supposed to be able to conjure information from the ether, or over an Ethernet.
Officially, it’s news resourcer,
one of four new positions envisioned by Kerry J. Northrup, director of the Ifra
Newsplex at USC, for converged newsrooms that are providing content in multiple
media.
In short – this is the nut
graph for those more comfortable in print, or the 30-second sound bite if you
prefer broadcast – the news resourcer and news resourcing staff are journalists
who specialize in information skills, not unlike a journalist with expertise as
a graphic artist or photographer. It’s the best of journalism – writing,
editing, news judgment – combined with the best of librarianship and
information management – super searching, technology, training and
content/knowledge organization and infrastructure.
As news operations
increasingly adopt the role of 24/7 information providers they need a better
system to further information management, accessibility, sharing, archiving and
retrieval. In short, they need a chief information officer, a no-brainer of a
position for most savvy businesses. Of course, given mainstream media’s
aversion to change, we may need to consider the title news enforcer in order to drag curmudgeonly journalists kicking and
screaming into the 21st century.
The big picture for the news
resourcer’s role is how best to deal with the wealth of information that news
organizations deal with – internal archives of stories, photos, graphics, video
and audio; content from fee-based databases such as Nexis, Dialog or Factiva,
or from free databases that lurk in the “invisible” Web not indexed by search
engines; the vastness of the general Web, not to mention credibility questions
about much of its content; wire service feeds; live news content gathered
locally; and the finished products, whether newspaper, TV/radio broadcast, Web
site or SMS message.
A second tier of information
to consider would be documents, records, faxes, press releases, messages and similar
content. In a truly converged news operation, with bureaus, mobile units and
journalists constantly on the go, wouldn’t it be efficient to prioritize and
digitize such information to increase resource-sharing and accessibility?
Looking beyond the materials
and content that make up the news organization’s information, the news resourcer would want to consider his
company’s knowledge. How do you
find out the valuable knowledge – about, for example, the organization, how to
cover a beat, the beat’s background – that resides in people’s heads? What
could these journalists share with others? What will be lost when they leave?
What are the many work processes, tasks and procedures that go on each day in
order to get the news to the consumer? Are there standards for efficiency and
consistency? What happens when one of the two employees who know how to perform
Task A goes on vacation and the other one calls in sick? What happens when
these tasks and procedures of a traditional news operation triple as it becomes
a converged news operation? All this valuable knowledge is lost when it’s not
recognized, valued, captured and disseminated.
A news resourcer must also be
a technology liaison for the converged newsroom. Remember all the audio and
video now filling the archives? Remember all the new tasks and procedures?
Whether the stereotype of the tech-impaired journalist is accurate or not, it’s
clear that as the necessity of technology increases, and as it continues to
change, the newsroom will need support. And the most effective day-to-day
support will not necessarily come from the IT department, despite its good
intentions. When teaching new software, hardware or other equipment,
journalists are often the best trainers for other journalists because they understand
their needs and perspectives.
Aside from the management and
technology issues, you might say the news resourcer’s journalistic function is
the information beat. Like a good reference librarian, the news resourcer can
track down the right piece of information in a timely fashion, primarily
through the news operation’s own archives, various databases, the Web and
public/government records. On larger news staffs, departments such as
business/finance, government/politics and education might have their own news resourcers
who specialize in those areas. The information that a news resourcer can find
will add depth and context to any report or story.
The key difference in the news
resourcer concept and the role of news librarians in even the most progressive
media companies is that the news resourcer is clearly a journalist, perceives
himself or herself as such and is perceived by his or her colleagues as such.
He or she is fully integrated into the newsroom, is proactive in driving the
news, has sound news judgment and can write and edit for multiple media. The
news resourcer also brings the ability to search and evaluate information like
a skilled librarian or information specialist.
If this sounds like a knock
against librarians, it’s not. In fact, it’s another example of that old line
about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. It’s an epiphany about
the value of news libraries and librarians, too often underutilized in the
newsroom. Historically, this was true when news libraries were called the
morgue, were tucked far away from the newsroom and operated strictly as service
providers. Even today, though, many news librarians, even the best ones,
struggle for status in the news management hierarchy, for integration and
involvement into the newsroom and for pay parity.
While most librarians would
probably agree they would like to be recognized, respected and better utilized,
many still prefer to think of themselves as librarians and find the value in
the distinction or specialization. They don’t want to be journalists. In fact,
they believe that because journalists face such a demanding workload, it is
unrealistic to expect them to develop the skills that many librarians have
spent their whole careers learning. They believe they can work more effectively
by playing to their strengths and supporting the information needs of the
journalists. This position is certainly valid.
There is no perfect model for
how best to develop an effective working relationship between the newsroom and
the library. Most good newsrooms already have a staff with a mix of talents and
skills. With the right support and newsroom structure, journalists can learn
from and develop skills sets from librarians, and vice versa – if they choose.
The key is for the news operation not to work in isolation but to find areas to
integrate. In this respect, the news resourcer’s job description also includes
being a demolition expert and an engineer: blowing up silos and building
bridges.
Getting Iraq War News:
Were Younger Audiences Bored with the News or Bored with the News Media?
By Dr. David Weinstock and
Dr. Timothy Boudreau, Central Michigan University Journalism Department
Two Central Michigan
University journalism researchers report that younger audiences are not bored
with the news so much as they are bored with the news media.
In research they presented in
the Communication Division of the annual conference of the Michigan Academy of
Sciences, Arts and Letters, in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March, Drs. David
Weinstock and Timothy Boudreau found that young people in their study expressed
great interest in war news but were less interested in actually seeking it out
and reading/watching/listening to it.
The outbreak of the Iraq War
in spring 2003 presented a unique opportunity to study how young people
read/listened to/watched the news media during what the authors thought would
be a time of compelling news content. They thought, in light of the increased
attention this content might generate, “What better time to ask a group of
people who are normally less attentive to news what they liked and disliked
about the media?”
In their sample of 244
college students at a medium-sized, public Midwestern university, expressed
interest in war news was high (91%), but interest in seeking out war news (75%)
and consuming all of what they found (24%) were both considerably lower.
Interest in non-war news hovered at 38% and more than one in four subjects
(29%) admitted to no interest in any news whatsoever.
Overall, 75% of their sample
spent an hour or less seeking news the previous day. Most respondents (61%)
rated television as the most informative medium, with considerably fewer
choosing newspapers (21%) and the Web (17%). In one of the more interesting
findings of this study, 60% of the subjects reported using other media while
simultaneously accessing the news. Other media they reported using included
playing computer or console games, listening to music, watching television and
surfing the Web.
Some of the biggest news in
this study was how thoroughly interest in the Web, as a news medium, tanked. A
little less than a third of those who accessed the Web for war news reported
reading only the blurbs on the top level of the Web site. While 60% clicked
through to the full articles, only 40% actually read them; 53% said they only
scanned second-level articles. More than half of those who read the articles
(55%) read at least half of the article they accessed; 40% said they read less
than half the article.
Another interesting finding
was how their subjects “de-converged” Web news content by selecting more
traditional visual media options. The vast majority of their subjects (89%)
viewed still photography at online news sites; 87% read the captions under
those photos. Only 32% clicked on video links and only 22% clicked on audio
links.
One reason why the more
interactive content on news sites was bypassed might be that on-campus high
speed access was generally limited to computers in public places—labs and the
library—where playing this kind of content might have disrupted those
nearby. Weinstock and Boudreau
believe bandwidth issues will continue in the immediate future, even though
overall speed will increase with the addition of cable modem access to off-campus
housing, since cable modem access speeds tend to diminish as more people are
added to local hubs.
The two researchers concluded
that high interest in war news, low interest in non-war news that resulted in
low news access and consumption means the younger audience’s disinterest lies
more with the media and less with the content. For this reason then, content
providers need to tailor their messages to a less traditional audience that
will likely want to read and process less information and very likely be paying
attention to other content forms while getting their news.
To deal with this, they
suggested the newspaper industry, for example, could add more visual content to
their editions and reduce overall article length. They also suggested Web media
might create video and audio offerings consisting of smaller, punchier,
single-quote segments rather than larger, more comprehensive pieces. Web audio
and video providers might also consider using buffered, auto-run video and
audio content that is complementary rather than redundant with other news
material within stories.
To request a complete copy of
this paper, e-mail Dr. David Weinstock at weins1d@cmich.edu.
---------------Newsplex News
By Julie Nichols, Newsplex
Projects Director
It’s pouring rain as I write
this, but the weather has been fantastic in Columbia this month—warm with
everything in bloom. Columbia is incredibly beautiful in spring, with white and
pink dogwood, azaleas in every hue, and lavender wisteria all showing their
colors at the same time.
So it’s perfect timing for
the Newsplex to welcome our third group of trainees from the Guardian Media
Group of the U.K. Participating in Ifra Newsplex roles training are journalists
Christopher Brierley, Nicola Dowling, Colm Griffith, Paul Ogden, David
Ottewell and Sebastian Ramsay from the Manchester Evening News, and Jonathan Barbuti from Manchester Online. Participants from the Guardian Media Group’s weekly
newspapers are Richard Butt,
editor of Metro, Amanda Leigh, editor of the Stockport Express and Claire Mooney, editor of the Rochdale Observer.
Other visitors to the
Newsplex in April have included Hans Månson, editor in chief of Sydsvenskan, a newspaper in Malmö, Sweden, and Dr. Daniel
Stout, a faculty member at Brigham
Young University in Utah. Two student groups also toured.
Dean Byrd, director of distance learning for SCETV, accompanied
faculty members Jay Coomes and Jim
Liverett and 14 undergraduate
students from Isothermal Community College in Spindale, N.C., on a tour of the facility.
The Public Relations Student
Society of America’s University of South Carolina and College of Charleston
chapters also held a joint meeting in the Newsplex. Tom Klipstine, a faculty member in the USC School of Journalism and
Mass Communications and about 30 PRSSA members welcomed special guest speaker Randi
Gatto of Newsplex directorate member
PR Newswire to the meeting.
-----------------
Newsplex at the University of
South Carolina Web site: http://newsplex.sc.edu
For information about our
Academic Affiliates, visit www.newsplex.org/affiliates.shtml
---------------Conferences
Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek's 2004 Interactive Media
Conference & Trade Show
www.interactivemediaconference.com
May 10-12, 2004
Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Peachtree Street.
Also part of the program, the 2004 EPpy Awards Luncheon will be May 12 at the
Hyatt.
Newsplex Summer Seminars
Teaching & Researching in
Convergent Media
May 16-20, 2004
Location: Newsplex, Columbia,
S.C.
The College of Mass
Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina is offering
funding to underwrite the cost of faculty attendance at the 2004 Newsplex
Summer Seminars on Teaching and Research in Convergent Media. The cost of the
five-day session has been reduced to $500 per person. This fee includes
tuition, supplies, and lunches, but does not include hotel. Attendance is
limited to 12 persons for each of the five-day sessions, and one space is still
available.
These week-long seminars are
designed to provide college faculty with advanced training in converged media
operations and journalistic practices that they can adapt to their individual
programs. Through an intensive set of seminars and hands-on workshops,
participants will learn and practice skills essential to working in a converged
media environment, as well as studying the process of teaching and conducting
research in a converged media environment. All enrollees completing the program
will receive a Newsplex training certificate. For more information, e-mail
Augie Grant, Newsplex Academic Liaison, at augie@sc.edu.
To register online, visit the Newsplex academic Web site at http://newsplex.sc.edu.
Partnership for Online and
Beyond: Strategic Thinking for a Multiplatform World
For regional
and local markets, May 18-21, 2004
http://www.mediacenter.org/04/OnlineBeyondApril/
Reston, Va.
This intense seminar gathers
senior executives from both Web and traditional media operations to tackle the
challenges and rewards of multi-platform and interdepartmental cooperation. It
is designed to boost cross-company teamwork and sharing of the core knowledge
and strategies required for building lasting multi-platform news operations.
The team package price (includes tuition, 5 nights hotel, most meals for two
people) is $6,600.
Convergence: The Tour
Oct. 19-22, 2004
http://www.mediacenter.org/04/Convergence/index.cfm
Location: TBA
Visit three of the most fully
converged multi-platform newsrooms in the world in this convergence tour hosted
by the American Press Institute. Meet executives and rank-and-file staffers who
“do” convergence, see firsthand what convergence is all about and learn what it
takes to build a converged news operation. Attendees will gain a better
understanding of the costs and benefits of the various convergence models and
of the nuts and bolts of structuring a convergence partnership. Tuition is
$2,100 or $1,890 if you register by the Aug. 19 early-bird deadline.
Convergence for Teams:
Visions & Values in Action
http://www.poynter.org/seminar/seminar_view.asp?int_seminarID=3128
Oct. 24-29, 2004
St. Petersburg, Fla.
A Poynter Institute program
Companies are eager to build
and discover ways to share their journalism on television, radio, in newspapers
and on the Web. But many fear they will damage their core values or water down
their reputation for excellence. Converged newsrooms need a practical plan that
will help them strengthen their journalism, maintain their standards and reach
more people. You will see the plans and best practices of other converged
newsroom around the country. As a team, you will evaluate your own convergence
efforts and make specific plans to move forward and you will get feedback from
your newsrooms about what is working and what needs work in your convergence
plan. You also will explore the ethics and leadership issues that arise when
newsrooms converge.
A Conference on The
Digital Revolution: The Impact of Digital Media and Information Technologies
(Call for papers)
Oct. 14-16, 2004
Location: University of South
Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
The purpose of this
conference is to provide a scholarly examination of the attributes and
implications of the digital revolution, including discussions of social
influences, media practices, integrated information systems, cultural issues,
legal implications, information needs and effects upon consumers. A showcase of
convergent media practices will run concurrent with the academic conference. Paper
submissions may address theoretical or practical examinations of digital
photography, video, information archives, telephony, consumer electronics and
information infrastructure.
Faculty and graduate students
are invited to submit in one of three categories: completed papers, proposals
or abstracts of papers in progress, or proposals for panels. Papers, proposals,
abstracts, and panel proposals should be addressed to: Augie Grant, conference chair,
Digital Revolution Conference, College of Mass Communications and Information
Studies, Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC 29208 or via e-mail: augie@sc.edu. For more information, see http://newsplex.sc.edu. Submission
deadline (postmark) is June 15, 2004.
A Showcase of Digital
Media and Information Projects and Practices (Call for presentations)
Oct. 14-16, 2004
Location: University of South
Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
The purpose of this showcase
of digital media and information projects and practices is to provide a venue
for scholars and professionals experimenting with digital media and information
technologies to demonstrate their systems, processes, experiments and innovations.
This showcase is the demonstration component of The Digital Revolution: The
Impact of Digital Media and Information Technologies, an academic conference
exploring practical, theoretical, phenomenological, critical and/or empirical
approaches to digital media and information technologies.
Faculty and graduate students
are invited to submit in one or more of four categories: hands-on
demonstrations of media and information projects and practices; PowerPoint,
video or other multimedia presentations of digital media projects or practices;
software demonstrations; or case studies (poster format with demonstration)
For registration and further
information about the academic conference or this showcase, visit the
conference Web site at http://newsplex.sc.edu.
Proposals and questions about the showcase should be submitted electronically
to augie@sc.edu or mailed to: Augie Grant,
Conference Chair, Digital Revolution Conference, College of Mass Communications
and Information Studies, Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC 29208. Submission deadline
(postmark) is June 15, 2004.
---------------Announcements/News
Lack of Unions Makes Florida
the Convergence State
Source: Online Journalism
Review www.ojr.org
By Mark Glaser (April 7,
2004)
When I think of Florida, my
mind wanders to scenes of orange groves, Spring Break partying at beaches,
sprawling retirement communities, a space shuttle rocketing skyward, hung
elections and the art deco of Miami Beach. But a converged newsroom? It’s
becoming a mainstay from Orlando to Tampa to the “Space Coast” to Jacksonville,
all locations were some degree of cooperation exists between print, broadcast
and online media.
The American Press
Institute’s handy Convergence Tracker confirms the trend, with eight listings
of converged operations in Florida – nearly double the number in any other
state (Texas has five). So it made sense that I would be heading to the
University of Florida at Gainesville to speak at the third annual Symposium on
Converged Journalism last week. The question on my mind was: Why Florida? Do
journalists there grow multi-platform heads?
Anthony Moor, the editor at
OrlandoSentinel.com, summed up the answer: No unions. He gave me a brief
history of how the power of unions slowed down convergence efforts at his
former workplace, KRON-TV in San Francisco, as well as in Rochester, N.Y.,
where he worked at the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper site, DemocratandChronicle.com.
Linda Foley, the president of
the Newspaper Guild, says that the Guild
has no problem with the concept of convergence, except when it impinges on the
rights of individual workers who might have to do more work for the same pay.
She told me in a telephone interview that in converged operations such as
Tampa's, print reporters must make a huge adjustment to meet 24/7
deadlines and to constantly rewrite stories.
Read the full story at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1081317274.php.
---------------Interesting
Links
Convergence reports – Visit www.convergenceonline.com
to read the latest reports and surveys from The Convergence Consulting Group.
Recently released is the April 2004 edition of “The Battle for the North
American Couch Potato: Bundling, Internet Access, TV, VOD, PVR, HDTV, ITV,
Telephony, Portals, Games, Music.”
Web Tips – Visit the Poynter Institute online for information
about how to use the Web as a reporting tool at www.poynter.org/web. Columns are written
by Sreenath Sreenivasan, a professor at Columbia University who has a Tech Guru
segment on ABC-7 in New York City, and by Jonathan Dube with
CyberJournalist.net.
---------------Copyright
and Redistribution
The Convergence Newsletter is Copyright © 2004 by the University of South
Carolina, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. All rights
reserved.
The Convergence Newsletter is free and published by The Center for Mass
Communications Research at the University of South Carolina, College of Mass
Communications and Information Studies. It may be redistributed in any form –
print or electronic – without edits or deletion of any content.
---------------Submission Guidelines/Deadline Schedule
The
Convergence Newsletter welcomes
articles of all sorts addressing the subject of convergence in journalism and
media. We also accept news briefs, calls for papers and conference
announcements. Our audience is both academics and professionals, and the
publication style is APA 7th edition. Feature articles should be 750
to 1,500 words; other articles should be 250 to 750 words; announcements and
conference submissions should be 200 words. All articles should be submitted to
The Convergence Newsletter Editor
at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
Please include your name, affiliation and contact information with your
submission.
The
Convergence Newsletter is published
the first week of each month (except January). Articles should be submitted at
least 10 days prior to the publication date. Any questions should be sent to convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
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