Regardless of market size, half of all news operations at U.S. television stations have formed a partnership with a newspaper, according to research from Ball State University’s Center for Media Design.
The research is the first national study of television news directors related to media convergence. It follows last year’s research from Ball State on the attitudes and practices of newspaper editors regarding convergence.
Among the study’s findings:
- At least 28 percent of news directors are likely to share video or photographs with their news partner if that partner misses of chooses not to cover a story;
- At least once a month, 28.7 percent of news directors said they share a physical resource with their partner.
- At least 64.3 percent never share physical resources with their partner.
- At least once a month, 6.3 percent share the cost of special projects or investigations with their partner.
- About 25.1 percent share the cost of special projects or investigations with their partner at least four times a year
- About 44.6 percent never share the cost of special projects or investigations with their partner.
The study also revealed that about a third share story lineups. Specifically:
- At least 29.5 percent of news directors said they share a complete lineup with their partner once a week, with 65.2 percent never sharing a complete lineup.
- At least 34.6 percent share a partial lineup once a week, with 50.9 percent never sharing a partial lineup.
According to the Ball State researchers, a small percentage of stations are committed to convergence. Others continue to define the efforts or have news partnerships in name only, they said.
