Convergence Study Suggests Papers, TV Stations Not Working Together Enough

By: Jennifer Saba Synergy and convergence -- those vague terms that insinuate cross-media cooperation -- are tossed around newsrooms a lot these days. But how many newspapers actually live up to ideas that so many corporate parents love to promote?

A study released Saturday from Ball State University finds that almost 30% of daily newspapers in the United States have partnerships with a local TV station. The surprise finding is that of that only 13% of newspapers have sister TV stations owned by the same company.

The research is trying to capture convergence at newspapers, TV stations, and Web sites. This first part of a three-part study takes a peek under the hood at newspaper-and-TV partnerships by surveying 1,452 editors at all U.S. dailies. The results are based on 372 responses, or roughly 25% of the sample.

Of course, the definition of convergence is widely debated, but professors at Ball State wanted to at least measure some of the hard facts, like how papers and stations work together and what that entails.

For example, the study found that 27.1% of newspapers say they share a complete lineup of stories with their partners more than once a week, while 42.4% say they share a partial lineup more than once a week. What stories are shared in the lineup is never revealed, said Larry Dailey, assistant professor of journalism at Ball State University.

Newsrooms are likely to share video and photographs if one of the partner's misses or chooses not to cover a story, the study said. Twenty-one percent of newspapers say they do this at least once weekly.

Also 51.4% never share the cost of special projects or investigations with their partners, 3.8% do so once a month, and 16.2% do so at least four times a year.

Mostly, though, newspapers are not taking full advantage of their partnerships with TV stations, the study found. In terms of promotion, newspapers rely on running partner's logos in news columns. Twenty-three percent of papers say they run their partner's logo more than once a week.

Also newsrooms aren't terribly concerned about pushing their partner's content: 70.1% do not spend any tine during news meetings to discuss how to promote their partner's content.

Does it matter if newsrooms cooperate with TV stations? Dailey seems to think that it does. "Research has shown that two companies that do things differently and get together to accomplish a strategic task will grow faster than on its own," he said, noting that newspapers and local TV have tapped out as a growth industry. "They need to redefine themselves and design a third product that incorporates skills from both backgrounds."