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Everything That Rises
Media convergence is an opportunity, not a curse
The fear of Big Media has overpowered much of the debate on cross-ownership of newspapers and television in local markets. But the issue isn't who owns the media; it's what those owners do with it. Journalists tend to believe in competition, but when we stop to consider, competition hasn't always brought diversity and quality in news. Convergence can — if done right.
Convergence means cooperative relationships between television, online, and print media. In places where this already exists, good journalism still flourishes. In some cities, local or regional cable news networks have developed relationships with newspapers, and diversity of opinion hasn't suffered.
Yet some critics equate convergence with a loss of jobs, heavier workloads for journalists, and monolithic news and opinion. They see it as the manifestation of the dark side of media consolidation. Convergence can indeed be all those things, if journalists let it.
But convergence can also harness the benefits of online, broadcast, and print to provide news to people when and where they want it. Few people get their news from one source anymore. Just look at all the ways people got news about the war in Iraq. They used TV for immediacy, online for diversity, and print for context. Journalism's adaptation to that fragmentation has been sluggish. Convergence is one way to keep up.
So far, television and the Internet have reaped the biggest benefits of convergence. Hundreds of print reporters operate in major cities with only handfuls of television reporters and few, if any, online reporters. With convergence, TV and the Internet get the depth of reporting and expertise that newspapers offer. In exchange, newspapers reach people who would never buy a newspaper, let alone subscribe to one.
Example: The Hartford Courant collaborates with a Fox affiliate. The Tribune Company, which owns the Courant and WTIC Fox 61, has placed its own stamp on convergence. Instead of trying to turn its print reporters into TV journalists, the Courant hired a television producer, Ellen Burns, to turn newspaper stories into TV stories. One example: reports on how New York's Cardinal Edward Egan handled priest sex-abuse cases when he was the bishop in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While the Courant wrote its reports, Burns packaged them for Fox 61. Instead of a weak, hurriedly produced and day-late TV story, WTIC viewers saw a well-researched, quality report. The TV version also was aired in New York, and the Courant piece made it into Newsday, both Tribune properties. More people learned of the story in different ways. The winner: the public.
Meanwhile, local and regional cable news networks have succeeded by using the depth of newspaper reporting to bring more government watchdogging and analysis to television. Newspaper reporters realize the reach of television when they go on the regional cable news networks to talk about their stories or to provide analysis.
Convergence's unfulfilled potential is in redistributing reporting resources. Watching dozens of media organizations descend on West Warwick, Rhode Island, after the recent deadly nightclub fire left me wondering about all the other wasted reporting opportunities. After the first day, all those reporters kept repeating the same two basic stories: who was to blame, and how the survivors and victims' families were faring. Convergence could have freed up some of those reporters to pursue investigative or other angles, providing some diversity and depth.
The key is to play to the strengths of each medium, and to respect those strengths. We saw some of that in the war with Iraq. New York Times reporters provided updates on CNN and PBS, adding depth and nuance. We heard the Los Angeles Times on NPR or someone from MSNBC on Imus in the Morning. NBC and Fox News reporters were filing Weblogs. The war tested the ingenuity of news organizations to manage resources to get the most diverse coverage.
But convergence, clearly, can be mismanaged. As one Tampa reporter put it, "We need managers who know the value of all media so that this new tactic can be harnessed properly." A carbon copy of a story in print, online, and on television doesn't cut it. Nor does a single perspective.
Journalists can devote their energy to debate the red herring of cross-ownership or they can channel it to make convergence work.
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