Webvergence in Practice: Comparing U.S. TV Stations’ and Newspapers’ Online Strategies at a Crucial Moment

Susan Keith,Leslie-Jean Thornton

doi:10.29333/ojcmt/2442

Abstract

This article compares how U.S. news managers reported that television stations and newspapers approached online journalism during a crucial moment in the 21st century. Reports of how the two types of sites used online tools were largely similar, but newspaper respondents were more likely than those from TV stations to say their organizations prioritized online news production. Although both types of sites likely were affected by extramedia pressures—from a global recession and declining audiences—newspapers‘ perceived competitive need to reach news consumers instantly (something native to TV) may have helped newspapers overcome legacy routines and move more deeply into change.

Highlights

This article compares how U.S news managers reported that television stations and newspapers approached online journalism during a crucial moment in the 21st century
This article uses survey data gathered at a key moment in the history of online journalism, the economic recession that began in the United States in 2008 (Borbely, 2009), to make that comparison
All respondents indicated that their organization‘s Website posted material from the legacy medium at least daily, television news directors were significantly more likely than newspaper respondents to say that their sites posted such material at least ―several times a day‖ (x2 = 16.482, df = 1, p < .001, when categories were collapsed to at least several times per day vs. less frequently to avoid expected cell counts that were too low)

Summary

Introduction

This article compares how U.S news managers reported that television stations and newspapers approached online journalism during a crucial moment in the 21st century. Newspapers and local television news operations—once competitors for the attention of news consumers—formed partnerships to share content and promote each others‘ products (Criado & Kraeplin, 2003; Duhé, Mortimer, & Chow, 2004) These arrangements— spawned by technological advances and print and broadcast managers‘ desire to attract each other‘s declining audiences—were hailed as the future of journalism (Convergence: The power of multimedia, 2012; Media mergers, 2000; Rolland, 2002). This article uses survey data gathered at a key moment in the history of online journalism, the economic recession that began in the United States in 2008 (Borbely, 2009), to make that comparison It draws, for a theoretical basis, on change theory from organizational communication (Lewin, 1951) and the Shoemaker and Reese (1996) framework of a hierarchy of influences on media content

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion