Page 15 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

What Is Convergence and How Will It Affect My Life?

(Gordon, 2003, p. 64). Other smaller but successful examples
were the News Center in Tampa, where the Tampa Tribune,
NBC-affiliated WFLA-TV, and TBO.com were all owned by
the Media General company; and in Columbus, Ohio, where
the Dispatch Media Group owned The Columbus Dispatch,
CBS-affiliate WBNS-TV, and the 24-hour Ohio News Network
plus a range of Web sites and community-focused publications.
● Tactical convergence. This describes the content-sharing
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arrangements and partnerships that have arisen among media
companies with separate ownership. The most common
model is a partnership between a television station or cable
channel and a newspaper where each company keeps its own
revenues. Gordon noted: “In most markets, the primary
motivation for—and initial results of—these partnerships
seemed to be promotional” (2003, p. 65). The relationship
between Florida Today, based in Melbourne on Florida’s east
coast, and WKMG-TV, headquartered in Orlando, about
70 miles away to the west, provides an example. This form of
convergence has become most common in the United States. 5
The American Press Institute publishes a convergence tracker
on its Web site and it represents a useful source for details
across the country. Between June and September 2004, Ball
State University professors Larry Dailey, Lori Demo, and
Mary Spillman surveyed editorial managers at all 1,452 daily
English-language newspapers in the United States. They
received 372 replies, a response rate of 25.6 percent. They
reported that almost 30 percent of daily newspapers had
partnerships with television stations, at various circulation
levels (Saba, 2004).
● Structural convergence. This form of convergence is associated
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with changes in newsgathering and distribution, Gordon wrote,
but it is also a management process in the sense of introducing
changes in work practices. An example was the Orlando
Sentinel’s decision to employ a team of multimedia producers
and editors to repackage print material for television. The
team rewrites print content in a form suitable for television;
meanwhile, a separate Web site produces original material and
also repackages content from the newspaper and television
partner. They also produce focused content, such as television
programs about the movies and high school sports, and arrange