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In tern al forces
It is unclear how widespread
newsroom convergence is in the academy. Aside from Brigham Young University, convergence efforts are taking
place at Marshall University and Virginia Commonwealth University. Joyce
Dodd, director of VCU's School of Mass
Communication said, "This (center) is
what the newspaper industry needs.
This is something The Associated Press
and newspaper managers think would
be very effective as tbe 21"' century demands different news products"
(Intress, 1996).
Dodd and others advocating convergence see students who are more
technologically literate, who face a dynamic economy and need more portable
skills. BYU News Director Dean Paynter
said, "These students are not technologically shy. Even those who see themselves as anchors know how to handle
the equipment." One graduating senior
said, "If this broadcast thing does not
work out I want to have something to
fall back on. I can write, and I know how
to make technology work ... I can find
SUMMER 2000
a job anywhere."
18
TABLE 1
RANKED PRIORITIES
FOR FUTURE SEARCH
How it works
The future search conference
came four months before the first publications and broadcasts by the converged newsroom. During that time of
intense planning only some of the problems with convergence were foreseen.
Once the organization began serving an
audience and readers, learning and
change accelerated. First came general
changes in the organization. These lead
to changes in the editorial processes,
particularly in the story flow.
Three generic transformations
were observed in organizational pro-
FIGURE 1
SHIFTS IN CHARACTERISTICS:
MOVING FROM A COMPETITIVE TO A CONVERGED NEWS ORGANIZATION
Competitive
Processes
SkiUs
Culture
'Cooperative
Converged
Monochronic-
-> Polychronic
Differentiated-
> Integrated
-> Self-organizing
Hierarchy
19
SUMMER 2000
1 fe
r,
COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR
20
Edi
Writin
Intranet
Production
Radio Producer^
Newspaper Editor
Lifestyles
Sports
Campus
National/Intemat
J Television Prodi
1 Online Editor
covery Devel
Repo ers
FIGURE
ITORIAL FLOW i
O
O
PQ
c
S
o"
such as copy editing or videotape editing. In the new organization those skills
were needed, but students were more
highly valued if they had integrative
skills that allowed them to contribute
across medium. News Director Dean
Paynter said, "We expect our students
to do more than anchor, more than report, and more than produce. The best
ones can do it all, including write for
the newspaper." Some who had specialized began to feel undervalued. A photojournalist said, "Seems like [we're]
getting pushed more and more into isolation ... [They] don't care about photojournalists learning more about photography. [This is a] major frustration
forme ... Photojournalism's not becoming more involved. [I'm] never gonna
work here again!"
Third, the converged newsroom,
viewed as a living, self-organizing system is a substantially different environment when compared to the traditional
pyramid bureaucracy driven by titles,
positions and flow charts.
Co-author Daniel Petersen, a
graduate student doing a study of the
converged newsroom observed;
As the new system emerged, new
relationships were created and
previously significant titles fell
away. The convergence produced an interwoven fabric of
new and dynamic newsroom
roles: Networker, Information
Broker and Team Player. The
Networker is focused on relationships, contacts, and connections.
The Information Broker is more
interested in the value of the information and how it can be used
to generate more. The Team
Player tends to support the entire team in creating the best possible news product (Petersen,
1999).
SUMMER 2000
Unanticipated problems
The first two years of convergence
involved considerable experimentation
and organizational changes. But in the
last three years the organization has
operated with relative consistency, allowing us to make several critical observations that may be of value to journalism educators interested in creating
a converged newsroom. We did not consider how identity, disrupted career
plans, or increased complexity might
effect the students.
22
23
NewsNet in the first survey, and commitment increased in the second survey. Of the 13 public relations majors,
five identified highly with the program
before actual involvement, and eight
had moderate levels of commitment. By
the end of the semester, six people identified highly; four scores were only
slightly outside the bottom boundary for
the "high" range.
Print journalists seemed to be the
most skeptical of the system before starting. Only three individuals identified
highly before starting the program,
seven identified with it moderately, and
three had low levels of identity and
commitment before any involvement.
One print journalist whose score went
down by 13 points said, "This is not
what I expected. I've never been so miserable ... I didn't feel I was taught much
at the beginning of class, so most of
what I learned, I learned by making
mistake after mistake." Disrupted
dreams
The mid-semester interview data
offers suggestions as to why commitment to the convergence experiment
went down for over most the period of
a semester. Interviews suggest that the
identification with medium comes prior
to university experience for many students. Many of the print journalists bad
been part of their high school newspaper staffs. Many broadcast students had
dreamed of being on network television.
The integrated newsroom began to undermine that identity. One student said,
"I told my parents that I wanted to be a
TV news reporter. That's why I came to
BYU. That's what I want to spend my
time doing ... you have me all over the
map doing other things."
In addition, the strong commitment to a medium is reinforced by tbe
existing prerequisite curriculum. Students reported in the interviews that
JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR
Recomm en dations
There is annecdotal evidence to
suggest that the BYU convergence case
has increased employability of the students. Overall cost reductions have yet
to be realized. In 1998 and 1999 the
NewsNet organization was the topranked student online news service by
Editor and Publisher. The combination
of visual and textual material has been
cited as a major reason.
The case does suggest the following important accomodations for education institutions planning integration:
1. When considering creating an integrated newsroom, account for external industry needs as well as educational trends.
2. When converging, use a whole
systems approach that allows for all
stakeholders to contribute. Move slowly
and expect a localized hybrid version
of convergence.
3. Make sure there is adequate technical support. This means equipment,
maintainance, and training.
24
25
SUMMER 2000
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