Opportunities and Limitations of Newsroom Convergence

Abstract

Like many news media organisations, European public service broadcasters are adapting their corporate strategies to the specific demands of the evolving communicative environment. Digitisation and convergence have been usually presented as an opportunity to reinvent Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) into Public Service Media, by producing and delivering (news) content across traditional radio, television and new online platforms. While investment in digital facilities has set the basis for a more integrated operation amongst the different news media outlets, finding a workable template to implement professional cross-media practices has been more complex than expected. With the aim of exploring key challenges of convergence affecting PSB newsrooms, this article presents a multiple-case study that investigates current convergence processes of five European mid-sized public broadcasting corporationsthe UK's BBC Scotland, Spain's CCMA and EITB, Norway's NRK and Flemish-Belgian' VRT. Combining an array of qualitative methods, the study focuses on specific convergence parameters, including newsrooms' physical structure and management, cross-media production routines and workflows, degree of multi-skilling in journalists, professional identities, and attitudes towards convergence. Findings show that public broadcasters tend to follow a similar pattern in basic aspects, like grouping radio, television and online newsrooms together in the same physical space, even if this model has different outcomes in terms of cooperation across media and journalists' involvement.

Translating PSM Policy into Production Practices

“…30 Issues such as the bureaucratic structures of PSM, deeply rooted routines and identities, too little internal communication and the lack of trust between managers and producers caused difficulties in many production PSM newsrooms. 31 At VRT as well, a convergence project in 2007 resulted in few actual changes in the production processes. 32 As such, social, cultural and contextual factors seem to be more decisive for the success of convergent strategies than the technological opportunities.…”

Innovación y adaptación estratégica en el escenario convergente: la respuesta de las empresas informativas de la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca

“…Azterketa horien artean nabarmentzekoak dira nazioarteko kasuak aztertu dituztenak (Salaverría & Negredo, 2008;García Avilés et al, 2009;Larrondo et al, 2016); Espainiako komunikazio-talde pribatuak landu dituztenak -Vocento, Prisa, Unidad Editorial eta Godó- (López & Pereira, 2010;Legorburu, 2013); autonomia erkidegokoak, EITB kasu (Agirreazkuenaga, 2012et al, Larrondo et al, 2012 eta, hein txikiagoan, tokiko eta eskualdeko hedabideak aztertu dituztenak, Goiena kasu (Larrañaga, 2008;Arana & Zuberogoitia, 2012) eta, bereziki, Galizian (López et al, 2011 eta Katalunian (Masip et al, 2011) egin direnak.…”

“…Orain arte, erredakzioak integratzeko joera nabariagoa izan dute prentsa-enpresek, prentsa salbatzeko aukera modura hartu baitute konbergentzia. Ikus-entzunezko enpresetan, salbuespenak salbuespen, erredakzioek zentralizazioa saihestu ohi dute, eta autonomia editorialari eusten saiatu dira (Salaverría & Negredo, 2008;Larrondo et al, 2016,).…”

“…Era berean, kontuan hartu behar da orain arte, elkarrizketa irekia teknika nagusia izan dela, kazetaritza-konbergentziak eta audientziaren partaidetzak mota guztietako hedabideen erredakzioetan izandako eragina aztertzeko (Singer, 2004;Erdal, 2012;Meier, 2007;Salaverría & Negredo, 2008;López et al, 2011;Masip et al, 2011;López & Pereira, 2010;Larrondo et al, 2016;etab.). Egindako galdetegiek honako ardatz nagusiak jorratu zituzten: a) Konbergentziaren ikuspuntu estrategikoa eta praktikoa (konbergentziaren definizioak, alde onak eta txarrak, epe laburreko erronkak, etab.)…”

Technological innovation and convergent journalism Case study on the transformation process of Bavaria’s public broadcasting service

“…In other countries also and in an international comparison, only a small number of research reports 35 is available (see e.g. studies in Belgium and Spain: Van Bulck, 2014). Something that all these studies have in common is that, although technological innovations are always considered as a convergence factor, they are never the focal point of the analysis and therefore can only be examined superficially.…”