Page 219 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

Changes in How We Work, Not What We Do

different. To be converged is to respect those differences, but also to
celebrate our similarities. We have a common goal of gathering and
disseminating information that matters to audiences in varied arenas.
To that end, the rest of this chapter takes a big gulp of air and makes
some suggestions for you as you prepare for a future in journalism.
The variety of devices for receiving and delivering news will increase.
News is already a 24/7 operation, and that process, if anything, will
develop in intensity. Convergence means a change in deadlines and atti-
tudes to those deadlines. Ben Estes, editor of one of America’s leading
Web sites, chicagotribune.com, applies these principles to online jour-
nalism through what he calls the Tao of floid. His floid is an acronym for
content that is fresh, local, often updated, involving images and inter-
active, and aimed at the young demographic. This acronym should
apply for all media sites. Let’s take a look at the chicagotribune.com
site. The day starts at 6 a.m. with overnight content from that day’s
Chicago Tribune, but updates marked with time stamps and update tags
soon appear. Local news is provided by Tribune reporters and agency
copy with local angles. “Our franchise is not Iraq or Washington. It’s
local news,” Estes said (2003). The site concentrates on local content 209
such as utilities, schools, weather, crime statistics, and traffic updates.
The site is updated as often as possible. Estes said he wants the audi-
ence to perceive the site as fresh. Content varies depending on time of
day. The weekday morning concentrates on hard news. At noon, the
news is more utilitarian and includes advice on mortgage rates or how
to get a better deal on a cell phone. In the evening the focus is more on
entertainment. “The stories people see at 9 a.m. are very different from
the stories [they see] at 3 p.m. that day,” Estes said. Images and a high
level of interactivity are integral to the floid process, he said, because
readers love photographs. They are often the most viewed feature on
the site. Interactive features such as polls and message boards are also
very popular, Estes said.
In this fast-paced world, ethics becomes even more important than
ever. Journalists need a strong moral compass, and they need to be
trained in good ethical decision making to deal with a changing, fast-
paced world. Similarly, skills such as flexibility of mind, a good broad
education, a specialist’s knowledge, and a global view are essential.
You must also expand your view of journalism. If recent research
on how journalists view their profession is any indication, one of the
few things staunch print and broadcast journalists can agree on is that
they’ve got the best way of telling the news. We sometimes fail to see