Since the Internet started to steal the audience of print media and TV channels, the editors began to study how their western peers work to retain positions. The answer appeared to be quite simple – to establish a convergent newsroom.

 
Print media and TV cease to be the only source of information for most Ukrainians nowadays. Most white-collar employees in cities and towns start their working day with online news review. Some people, by the way, try their hand as journalists publishing on the web the fresh news overheard or seen on the way to work. These trends obviously are making publishers and media owners to get involved in the situation and use various information sources in their business. Publishing houses need to keep up to date and have a business model that meets markets demands and generates profit. One of the ways to be successful is to create a convergent newsroom, which is not at all new for most international publishing houses today.
 
Why does it happen?

We are lucky to witness the process of convergence in Ukraine. TV channels broadcast on-line, while newspapers make their web-portals into recognized online bases. Today online resources of some publishing houses offer regularly updated newswires not limited to text format only. They contain both video and audio podcasts, opportunities to comment on news, many journalists present their blogs and publish off-screen information. For example, STB TV channel broadcasts its reports at YouTube, and Liga.Business.Inform as well as Korrespondent enable viewers to read fresh news and watch video reports covering these topics. Publishers have to develop their online resources since readers don’t want to wait for the next issue of the newspaper, magazine or evening TV news any more. The work and supply of information used as the basis for a convergent newsroom needs to be done quickly.

 
What is convergence?

The core of convergence lies in creating content (information materials) for all media and managing the flow of information from a single centre. It doesn’t mean that all publishers stop making some of products and switching to online only. It concerns rather combining various information sources and creating a single creative editorial office that ensures the utmost media synergy. The approach to organization of the newsroom changes dramatically. New roles emerge, the need for advance training for journalists and new equipment appears, etc.

 
Journalists must be able to present the information product in different formats in a convergent newsroom. The job of a reporter should not obviously remind of a one-actor theatre where he does everything alone. The journalist must create content in the format he is good at and which is the best to cover the certain news. Say, the news is published online with video or audio, and a print medium features an article with proper analysis and comments of experts. Using different ways to present information on one platform is another feature of convergence.

 
Convergent newsrooms led to the concept of a universal journalist in journalism. A universal media professional is not only about his knowing how to use camera, dictaphone or writing texts. His major skill is to understand which format is the best for a concrete story. For example, some news is covered better in a newswire. Some information will be interesting just for a specific group of people and thus it’s better to communicate it through publications on dedicated websites-communities. The journalist must be highly skilled with various media and know how to make a good content to hit the bull’s eye and realize what, where and when to place. So, the journalist must shoot and cut video, make an audiopodcast, handle a blog that can help get plenty of information, and make pictures.
 

For example, when the editorial office of the English Daily Telegraph switched to convergence in daily work, journalists started to think in a multimedia way. The fashion column editor visits fashion shows and writes notes for the newspaper. The article is accompanied with an invitation to go to the newspaper website and read a detailed report. A slide show of photos and sound background as well as audio comments of the journalist are added as well. As a result, the journalist delivers full information to readers.

 
Reasons for emergence of convergent journalism include:

 “old” media (traditional newspapers, radio, magazines, TV cease to be the only information source) decline;
 new communication channels emerge – digital phones (text, audio, video) and Internet (web-pages, mail, blogs, RSS, etc.);
 new mass media appear (online media, digital speech, personified content);
 interactivity - statistics of website visits helps understand wishes of people and their ability to get involved in content making.
 

Сhanging approach

Yet an editorial office may not turn into convergent immediately. It requires to change organization, teach and, most important, encourage journalists to be specialists of a new generation. The example with Daily Telegraph shows that some reporters didn’t believe they could learn new skills. As actual practice demonstrates, a properly chosen motivation system and training help 90% of specialists advance to the new professional level, which they never regret. Although a journalist needs to work more, he can fully realize his potential, while professional skills cover not only in beautiful wordings but also the talent to cover the story differently and as interesting as possible. He doesn’t have to create journalistic masterpieces, which was highly appreciated when print newspapers were the major information source.

 
Also, they don’t have to deliver the quality similar to top-flight journalists with 10-year experience. For instance, an editor won’t accuse a reporter of making a worse video story than of a cameraman with a 20-year track of shooting record. The journalist should yet understand that although the information product is of lower quality, it must be exclusive and exciting.

 
The most successful examples of international convergent editorial offices:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://boston.com/bostonglobe/
  
 
Roles in convergent newsroom

A journalist is a team member. It is not quite right to give him a video camera, a dictaphone or a camera and send to a press-conference. And then expect him to return and immediately write an article, cut a video story, perhaps get comments for an audio report and also publish it on the web. To ensure the most effective results, the journalist must be trained new professional skills (as a rule, making photos, shooting videos, and recording audio properly) – and thus writing in different formats. But having attended an event, the journalist must present his information product in the format, which covers the issue utmost effectively.For example, the atmosphere of a car accident can hardly be covered better than in a photo or video story. A press-conference following the approval of an important law requires rather a text note that can cover opinions of different parties.

The main difference of a convergent journalist from a traditional media-man lies in his ability to choose the most appropriate format for a particular news and create an information product in the format. In particular, he must be good in interview techniques, selecting facts and data, working with video, audio and photo materials, making graphic design, and writing texts (for newspapers, radio, TV and internet).

 
It should be born in mind that the content for different media requires different formats. The information for a weekly doesn’t work easily for an online newspaper or an audio report. Audio report needs to reproduce the atmosphere for the listener to have a visual image of the developments. A video must comment on off-screen information, while the internet – if we talk about news – must cover a story in an inverted pyramid manner. The next step for a journalist is to collect the information at the place of the event so that it could be used in any format.

 
Roles in a convergent newsroom are as follows:
a universal journalist;
an editor of the news flow;
a person responsible for the story;
a person responsible for background.
 

The convergent newsroom introduces new roles to identify formats and distribute duties among reporters as effectively as possible. Editor of the news flow is one of the most significant ones. He selects the most important newsbreaks and distributes the work among journalists. If the editor knows that particular information will better work with a photo report, he will send a journalist making the best pictures and writing excellent articles. A universal journalist occupies the second brick in the convergent newsroom pyramid. He goes to the place of event, collects useful information, and writes in the format fixed by the editor. Having a journalist working “on field”, a specialist responsible for the story remains in the editorial house. His duties include coordinating activities of all specialists responsible for a particular story and bringing it together. Meanwhile, assistants appear in the convergent newsroom collecting additional information from various statistics, info graphics, background, etc. Another role is an editor of the content formed by readers. He controls the information received by the online resource of the edition from external users. All these new roles have been introduced to ensure rapid, timely, and full coverage of information through their media channels.

 
A convergent newsroom differs from a traditional editorial office in the work place structure. The new type office has the decision-making table placed in the centre of a big hall. The editors sit at it with rows of tables responsible for their areas behind them. A hundred of huge LED displays broadcasting 24h news are located in the hall. Each journalist has two monitors on the desk: one helps monitor news, whereas the other – to have the article in sight. The furniture is arranged in a “sun” manner.
 

A newsroom of the future targets to:

 focus on story, plot, information, not technologies;
 ensure more content, more management. The role of editor becomes more significant;
 create content for different media types;
 improve content-making process;
 carry out trainings for journalists regularly.

 
The system can be developed and created. International practices prove 4-12 months will be required. It should be highlighted that besides investments in new equipment and working space, the funds will be needed to train journalists, editors, and all employees of the creative editorial board. The last but not the least important is to establish a system of motivation and show colleagues the prospects of the new format.
 
Modern journalism needs a new impulse. Firstly, the attitude towards the work must be changed. Also, the media experts need to understand how to do that. This requires to provide them with knowledge that would show them the area of future development.

Last November launched project initiated by the Foundation for Development of Ukraine. This is the first and the only program in Ukraine that focuses the education on modern digital technologies in mass media industry and principles of convergent work. The project is being implemented in partnership with National University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy and covers a 10-month course. The alumni will be awarded with completion certificates. The course also includes a training in the USA. Students enrollment for the next year will start this August. Education under the program is provided free of charge and will be financed during the next three years.

A joint information project was launched by the Foundation for Development of Ukraine with Telekritika magazine in 2008. Each issue of Telekritika will feature a materials of the Digital Future of Journalism project, inform readers about digital technologies in journalism, principles of convergence, and modern media practices. The magazine will be delivered to 700 Ukrainian TV companies all year round. The subscription to the magazine was funded by the Foundation for Development of Ukraine.
 

Svetlana Panuyshkina for Telekritika, 7 May, 2008

Joint information project of Telekritika magazine and the Foundation for Development of Ukraine.
First published in Telekritika magazine No. 1-2/2008
To read this article, please click: http://www.telekritika.ua/magazine/infoproject/2008-05-07/38219