Setting the StageState of Convergence
Elizabeth A. OsderVisiting Professor USC Annenberg
Deputy Editor, Online Journalism [email protected]
Introductions
• Janice Castro, Medill School of Journalism– Time Magazine– Time.com– Britannica Online
• Elizabeth Osder, USC Annenberg– Deputy Editor Online Journalism Review– Editor NYTimes.com– Executive Producer Advance.net
My Charge• Examine convergence• Look to the future and envision the copy desk• Imagine the opportunity
– Preserve critical role in preserving quality (credibility)– Present multiple media
• Explore opportunities, advantages and ask:– What will new copy desks need to be successful?– What is the opportunity in the inevitability of this
change?
The Future 2003
2013
2048
It’s happening
Convergence relationshipsTotal number: 60
News: 60 Advertising: 40
Outreach: 37
API Tracker
You’ve heard the hype“When futurists ponder the outlook for news
media in the 21st century, they don't need a crystal ball. They need only to look at Tampa, where the newsrooms of The Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV and TBO.com have joined together in The News Center.
Media General's Tampa News Center represents a giant step toward convergence, where the depth of newspapers, the drama of television and the power of the Internet come together.”
Media General Annual Report
Convergence defined
• API Tracker – Relationships
• News• Advertising• Outreach
• Gordon– Ownership– Tactics
• Info tips, spot news, photography, promos, public service, events
– Structure– Info. gathering (reporting)– Presentation (storytelling)
A multitude of definitions that examine content, T\technology, business and organizations
Newsplex• Newsroom of the future, training facility
located at University of South Carolina• Multiple Scenarios
– E-papers– Pervasive internet– Media backlash
• Smart newsrooms– Knowledge management
• Great stories– Multiple media display and distribution– Cell phone to broad sheet, what works best for
each
Focus: Convergent content
Media Production
(any)
Media Storage
Media Display
Media Distribution
Write Once, Publish Everywhere
New Technologies FrameworkEnterprise-wide approach
to content production, storage, display, and distribution
Reporting Database Editing Multiplemedia
Content Entry, Workflow,
Design
Content / Format Databases
Web SiteSyndicated
Publications (print, web, etc.)
WirelessDistribution
EmailDistribution
PrintDistribution
ApplicationServer(s)
LegacySystem
User / transaction Databases
CMS
Display Tools Publishing tools:– Quark, CMS, CCI,
In Design, Dreamweaver
All “creators” use same system (print, web, etc.)
XMLXML
XMLXML
XMLXML
Production Display
Storage
Distribution
For Newsrooms• Convergence is the story and
How it is presented across multiple media.
• Today’s convergence newsrooms focus on assigning and reporting.
• Tomorrows convergent newsrooms will place greater emphasis on presentation and for multiple distribution (print, broadcast newsletter, radio, online, cell phone, etc.)
CQ.com
• 50 year old publication covering capitol hill– 100 reports, more than any other news
organization.– Transformed its newsroom from a print centric
media organization to a “media independent” organization.
– Reporters have beats and file for all media (print, newsletter, online and database.
BBC News
• Focused on technology, creating a database content publishing systems (cps) that allows journalists to publish to multiple platforms.– Today a three stage production process writers to
input for a ticker, four-line brief and full length story.
– Vision: Automations allowing journalists to turn out text for multiple platforms by enterung text just once.
The Future 2000
2010
2045
Inevitabilities
• Things will continue to change– Organizational structure and roles– Resources will be challenged– New competitors – New Media and mediums will emerge
Tomorrow's copy desk
• Can be at the center of that newsroom– The critical place of quality control– Deadline independent– The master’s of multiple media presentations
• If– Build smart newsrooms (data driven)– We abandon the linear production process of newspaper
and print. It’s no longer an assembly line.– Adopt a Producer driven collaboration between
functions (Remember the Maestro concept and WED).
Opportunities
• Putting the copy desk at the center of the converged newsroom?– How do we do it? Where is editorial control?– What are the new news cycles?– What are the opportunities?– What are the needs? Staff? Training? Equipment?– How do we deal with new media and mediums?– How do you preserve quality ?
Recent articles
• Meanings and Implications of Convergence
• Moving Online Into the Newsroom
• Media Critics Rave (and Kvetch) About the Internet's Impact
www.ojr.org
What will newspapers do when their multimedia world
changes from words with buttons for video to video with
buttons for words?
6 C’s, Product Focus
Reader
Content
Community
Commerce
Customization
Care
ChannelSynchronization