photo-illustration by Nick Ilieff

Convergence may be the future of journalism

It gives you an opportunity to have content you create exposed to a wider audience. David Bulla, doctoral student,
University of Florida
Photos and text by Zach Hester Ballard High School (Louisville, KY)

Im looking forward to it... I can see the good in it, but I still see the challenges for each.
Nick Ilieff, editor-in-chief of student newspaper, Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis, IN

They all do different things. Thats what theyre good at, so they should stick to that.
Kenneth Canady, sports editor of student newspaper, North Lawndale College Prep School, Chicago, IL

Future journalists, to be marketable, are going to have to be able to do a little bit of everything.
Janet McKinney, publications director, Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis, IN

I think its good because you have more than one view..people see things in different ways.
Daisy Stahley, broadcast reporter, Astoria High School, Astoria, OR

onvergence in the media, sometimes called multimedia journalism, is becoming more common in newsrooms across America. Convergence is a term that describes journalists working across media platforms, said David Bulla, a third year doctoral student at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Bulla wrote and presented an awardwinning paper on convergence to the Association of Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication, and coauthored another to be delivered later this summer. For instance, Bulla said, one journalist might write an article for a newspaper, write or report for a news broadcast, and write for an internet news site. The idea of different platforms to deliver news is something we all have to deal with, said Bob Zaltsberg, editor of The Bloomington Herald-Times. Its going to be a big issue. Mike Leonard, a columnist for The Bloomington Herald-Times, said many newspapers have turned to convergence because theyre losing ground. Zaltsberg and Leonard spoke as panelists in a news conference for the High School Journalism Institute (HSJI). The growth of convergence is in part, Bulla believes, because of relaxed FCC standards on cross-ownership. The FCC revised its 1996 guidelines to allow newspapers to own broadcast, as well as cable TV companies. The number of print and television news organizations to take advantage of these relaxations has been relatively small, but the vast majority of them have already branched out onto the web. Only about 25 percent participate on the triple level, said Bulla, referring to those who have more than two formats of production. Bulla explains that almost all ideas take time to catch on, like cable, the internet, or even home computers. Also like most ideas, convergence has its pros and cons.

With TV and newspaper staffs collaborating, There are more people available for each story, said Diana Hadley, newspaper/broadcast teacher at Mooresville High School in Indiana. Added staff availability is a necessity for most converged newsrooms, because converging gives you an opportunity to have content you create exposed to a wider audience, said Bulla. Typically a newspaper would have a circulation limited to its physical area. Now people can go to the (web)site of a newspaper that would have a circulation of a few thousand, and now all of a sudden you have a readership of hundreds of thousands. This expansion of readership and viewership is enhanced by what Hadley calls cross-branding. Cross-branding is when a viewer sees a TV news program or logo and automatically thinks of the paper with which it is affiliated. Cross-branding usually occurs when viewers see a news show, because its superficial; if you want the details you have to go to a newspaper, said Hadley. Television is such a quick-hitter...its sound-byte journalism, said Zaltsberg. This problem as well as challenges for print journalism calls for a compromise between the two, Zaltsberg said. Newspapers have traditionally been too boring, he said, while TV is traditionally not thorough enough. Zaltsberg believes that to make the marriage work, there must be a compromise between the two mediums to minimize these issues. More viewers mean more profit for the media companies, but Bulla worries about the news itself. He said that convergence may affect quality and competitiveness in media in an area If you only have one (source of news), is that much different from one government-run system like they have in so many other countries? Leonard is also concerned about the quality of news being affected by convergence. I think were losing a lot of intellectual advantage when we go that way, he said. Reporters complain theyre not getting enough column inches to cover the story thoroughly... Its forcing people into a box, and I dont like that. instruction at the HSJI. Its awfully hard for people to do a smattering of things in such a short time, Dvorak said. Our feeling is you might do something with convergence, but where would the person be at the end of the thing? It would create a neurotic situation where you know a little about a lot of things but not a lot about each, he

Also, Bulla explains that many journalists in converged newsrooms believe that their routines as professionals are more stressful They have to do a whole lot more than they were prepared for. But all too commonly, he said, The pay is the same. They either dont feel totally competent or they dont feel totally compensated, he said. Despite these flaws, however, Bulla believes that convergence is going to keep gaining ground. I think right now were in the early stages of this innovation, he said. In answer to the prospect of convergence being the future of journalism, universities are starting to form programs to train students in converged newsrooms. One is Ball State, where a former producer of CNBCs The Wall Street Journal Report is working with the university to develop a digital news project as part of a $4 million convergence undertaking. Convergence training has also reached high school newsrooms. On the high school level, it gives you a chance to learn a little of everything, said Hadley. My students who do the reporting also will do some of the TV things, said Janet McKinney, newspaper instructor at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Were just going to combine departments, said Nick Ilieff, McKinneys editor in chief. Our reporters will help the WBDG radio and the broadcast stations find news. Emphasizing that working in a converged newsroom in high school is very advantageous for students, McKinney said, Future journalists, to be marketable, are going to have to be able to do a little bit of everything The students who are considering a career in journalism will become more marketable when they get out of college. Bulla said that at this time, high school convergence is a good idea if its feasible, and believes that those things are coming, and within ten years that will be the standard in high school journalism. Agreeing, McKinney said, Its going to said. This does not, however, rule out convergence programs in the future. Of course we are always looking for new ideas, new ways of doing things, said Dvorak. We already have all the components here, he said, so it may be a future endeavor.

Convergence at HSJI?
The focus of the HSJI has always been to sharpen the skills of aspiring journalists and to help them prepare for their future careers in journalism. Though these futures may be influenced by convergence, Jack Dvorak, Institute director for 17 years, said he has no immediate plans for future cross-media