Page 34 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

THE MULTIMEDIA ASSIGNMENT EDITOR AND PRODUCER

several hours before the presses have to roll. The Web, however, has
no deadline. It needs to be updated constantly.
In a fully converged newsroom, one assignment desk would oversee
all news coverage and content. However, if you ask 100 people to define
convergence, you’ll get 100 different answers. Some see it strictly as
promotion between independent newspapers and television stations
and Web sites. Others see convergence as one giant newsroom, where
reporters move freely from one medium to the other. Lori Demo, Larry
Dailey, and Mary Spillman (2003) from Ball State University have
come up with the idea of a “convergence continuum.” They define the
levels of convergence and what each one means, as shown in Figure 2.1.

• Cross-promotion is the process of using words and/or visual
elements to promote content produced by the partner and
appearing in the partner’s medium (e.g., when a newscaster
urges the viewers to read a story appearing in the newspaper
or the newspaper publishes the logo of the television partner).
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Figure 2.1 The
convergence
continuum.

• Cloning is the unedited display of a partner’s product (e.g.,
content from a newspaper or newscast is republished on the
partner’s Web site or jointly operated Web portal).
• Coopetition is the point at which partners cooperate by sharing
information on selected stories, but still compete and produce
original content (e.g., when a newspaper reporter appears on
a newscast as an expert to discuss a story or a broadcaster allows
a print photographer to ride on the station helicopter to cover
breaking news).
• Content sharing exists when the partners meet regularly to
exchange ideas and jointly develop special projects (e.g.,
election coverage or investigative work).