Page 37 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

Covering the News in the Multimedia World

• Online—the best of both worlds? Online journalism offers the
immediacy of TV and radio and the space to bring people the
same amount of detail as in print publications. It’s easy to use,
and it’s interactive. You can choose how much information you
want and how you use it. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of people
to put together the audio, video, photo galleries, polls, and
games needed to attract and retain an audience, so it’s too
expensive for many media outlets to do well.

Covering the News in the Multimedia World

Early ideas of convergence focused on the “super reporter,” a reporter
who could cover a story with a camera, notepad, and tape recorder for
every medium. In some cases, this is possible, but there are only so
many hours in a day. One staff member trying to report for radio, TV,
print, and the Internet is likely to run into problems when trying to
tell his or her stories. The more work reporters have to do, the more
likely they will be to miss deadline. It is also likely that reporters who
are forced to churn out stories for each medium will repeat themselves 27
across the media platforms. This limits the storytelling in all the media
and does not take full advantage of the nuances of each format. Critics
of convergence have often argued that this “jack of all trades, master
of none” approach would make for worse journalism. While there are
examples of individuals who have done well as “backpack” journalists,
the goal of this chapter is to outline the ways in which journalists with
varied backgrounds can produce separate stories that take advantage of
each medium’s strong points.
Most newsrooms have daily editorial meetings to decide which
stories to cover. The assignment editor often runs the meeting, with
input from producers, reporters, photographers, and editors. At the
meeting, the assignment editor decides who is covering what story. In a
converged newsroom, the outcome also has to include questions such
as these: Who will cover the story for which medium, what equipment
is needed, and what deadlines need to be set?
Here’s an example: At the morning meeting, the assignment desk
mentions the 7 p.m. city council meeting. The council will vote on
a controversial superstore to be built in the city. Angry residents will
be there who don’t want it in their backyards. The city council says
that this is a depressed area of the city and that the city is willing to
help pay for the store to spur economic development. This is a planned