Results Both media organizations and journalism educators appear to see convergence as important to the future of the profession. The vast majority of both newspapers and TV stations surveyed have forged convergence partnerships, defined as the sharing of content and/or staff with another media platform – around nine in 10 newspapers and eight in 10 TV stations. Likewise, university journalism programs have also moved toward convergence. Just under nine in 10 of the college administrators surveyed said they had incorporated, or begun to incorporate, cross-platform training into their coursework. Survey data suggest these divisions have acted wisely. There appears to be a significant need for convergence training, since despite the growing demand for convergence skills, this training is generally not taking place on the job. Of the two mediums, TV executives are more likely to prepare their journalists for convergence work. Nearly one-tenth (7.5 percent) of TV staff involved in convergence projects have received substantial training, defined as 20 hours or more. Exactly half have been trained for 20 hours or less. But four in 10 (42.5 percent) of the TV respondents said their staff has received little or no convergence training. In contrast, among newspaper respondents with convergence relationships in place, more than half (53.13 percent) said their staff has received no cross-platform training. Another 43.75 percent said staff has received some convergence training. Only 3.12 percent of these editors said their staff has received substantial convergence training of 20 hours or more. Most of the convergence relationships identified in the survey involve a Web partner, nearly all the newspapers and 83 percent for TV. After Web partners, newspapers were most likely to be in arrangements with TV stations. Seven in 10 newspapers had a TV partner, versus four in 10 TV stations that reported a newspaper partnership. This disparity may reflect the greater number of TV stations in most markets. In contrast, TV stations more frequently reported radio partnerships – close to seven in 10 versus just under a third of newspapers. Most convergence activity involves breaking news. Around 67 percent of newspaper editors and 65 percent of TV executives said they frequently worked with partners to cover breaking news events. In contrast, half of editors and one-fourth of TV executives said they frequently worked with their partners on long-term projects or investigations. And around 44 percent of newspaper managers and 40 percent of TV managers said they frequently collaborated on or shared daily features. Newspaper and television executives cite somewhat different reasons for pursuing convergence. Editors, for instance, say their organizations are most interested in competing in a digital age. However, they also value the cross-promotional opportunities convergence partnerships provide. Interest in improving coverage and reaching a younger audience were also cited as important reasons for entering convergence partnerships. TV executives, in contrast, cited cross-promotional opportunities as the most important impetus for entering a convergence partnership. They also said the desire to improve coverage and the need to be competitive in a digital age were important reasons for getting involved. However, they are not as likely as newspaper editors to see convergence partnerships as a means of reaching a younger audience. Both groups cited the need to cut costs as the least important factor affecting their decision. Attitudes Toward Convergence Skills As suggested above, one important question journalism educators face today is to what extent their graduates should be trained in convergence skills. To determine this, a section of the survey for both television and newspaper managers attempted to gauge the value these managers place on convergence skills compared with other more traditional journalism skills and training when hiring staff. We also asked journalism educators about the value they believe media managers place on these skills when considering new journalism hires. The majority of respondents representing both television stations and newspapers consider convergence skills important for a new hire. Around a quarter (23.53 percent) of TV managers said this would be very important, while nearly half (49.02 percent) said it would be somewhat important. Newspaper managers were nearly as likely to say they consider convergence skills important when hiring. Just under two in 10 (16.18 percent) said this was very important, while just over half (52.94 percent) called it moderately important. Journalism educators likewise anticipate a stronger demand for these skills. For instance, 31.1 percent said they believed that being trained in more than more medium would be very important for their students when applying for journalism jobs. Another 62.2 percent said these skills would be moderately important to media managers. We also asked respondents how important they considered specific skills – from writing and reporting to Web language and design – to be for a new journalism hire, or in the case of journalism educators, how much they thought media managers valued these skills. Not surprisingly, all three groups agreed that such fundamentals as reporting and writing are critical. In comparison, convergence-related skills were viewed as valuable, but secondary. For instance, nearly 100 percent of all three groups said news writing and reporting skills are important for new journalism hire, and nearly 100 percent across groups agreed that news judgment is important. Knowledge of media law and ethics is also viewed as desirable in new hires – around 98 percent of TV and university respondents and 93 percent of newspaper respondents agree this is important. Likewise, just over nine in 10 in all three groups agreed that a broad liberal arts background is important. There was less agreement over the importance of other “non-convergence” skills and knowledge areas. Not surprisingly, nearly all the TV executives said visual literacy would be a very important hiring criterion, compared with around 90 percent of newspaper managers and 82 percent of journalism educators. These numbers suggest that in today’s digital environment, journalism educators shouldn’t underestimate the value of a young journalist’s ability to think in pictures. Data also suggest that newspaper editors and university educators place more value on specialized knowledge – such as expertise in business or science – than do TV executives. But TV managers are somewhat more likely to expect new journalism recruits to have some understanding of the economic issues of concern to media industries. The new media skill that is valued most highly by all three groups is the ability to research on the Internet. Some 99 percent of newspaper managers, 98 percent of journalism educators and 96 percent of TV executives said this would be important when making hiring decisions. As for the ability to write across mediums, TV and university respondents both placed significant value on this skill, with about eight in 10 saying it was important versus around six in 10 newspaper respondents. Only about a third of industry respondents – both TV and newspaper executives – said they expect new hires to be proficient in Web language and design. This contrasts fairly significantly with the two-thirds of journalism educators who believe this is important. TV Stations The TV stations surveyed represent a range of sizes, from small market to large. Just over a third of stations in the sample are in large markets (1-50 based on Nielsen ratings), just under a third represent mid-sized markets (51-100) and the remaining third are in small markets (101 or higher). As noted above, just over eight in 10 (82.35 percent) of the television stations surveyed are involved in some sort of convergence partnership, defined as the sharing of content and/or staff with another media platform. Most of these involve a Web partner. Around 83 percent of the TV stations involved in a convergence partnership have a Web partner. Almost seven in 10 (67 percent) have partnered with a radio station. And just over four in 10 (41 percent) have formed a partnership with a newspaper. Most TV-Web partnerships (57.14 percent) involve a relationship with the station’s own Website. Another 20.41 percent are in a partnership with a Website associated with the TV station’s parent company, 16.33 percent are in a partnership with a Website associated with an unaffiliated media company, 2.04 percent are associated with a news portal and 4.08 are in some other Web-related partnership. The nature of these partnerships varies from station to station, with most following a semi-converged model, where content originally developed for broadcast is simply recast for the Website. For instance, most stations provide at least some content to their Website partner. Usually this consists of having reporters provide versions of stories they’ve written for a newscast to the Website. Nearly 75 percent of station managers surveyed said their staff members frequently contribute to Web content in this way. Station staff are also fairly likely to provide briefs or updates on breaking stories they may be covering. Some 40 percent of station managers said their staff frequently provides this type of content. Station staff members are much less likely to write exclusive Web stories. In fact, only 14.28 percent of station managers said their staff frequently contributes original Web content. After Websites, TV stations are most likely to have a convergence partnership with a radio station. Of the eight in 10 stations surveyed that are involved in convergence partnerships, 67 percent have a radio partner. Most of these partnerships (72.41 percent) involve a local commercial station that doesn’t share the TV station’s parent company. Another 20.69 percent involve a local commercial station that is owned by the TV station’s parent company. And 6.9 percent are partnered with a public radio station. Perhaps because of their similar broadcast base, these partnerships seems to involve a somewhat wider range of cooperative behaviors than the TV-Web partnerships. For instance, 42.85 percent of TV managers say their staff frequently write for radio broadcasts, while 40.74 percent say staff are frequently interviewed on the radio, and 21.43 percent say their reporters, anchors or other staff frequently host radio shows or segments. TV-newspaper partnerships are not as common as TV partnerships with a Website or radio station. But still, of the eight in 10 TV stations involved in convergence partnerships, over 40 percent have partnered with a newspaper. Nearly all of these partnerships (94.74 percent) are with local newspapers that are not owned by the TV station’s parent company. Given the difference between the two mediums, TV-newspaper relationships are more limited in scope than those with radio partners. Only 16.67 percent of the TV managers say their reporters frequently write for the newspaper. A quarter say their reporters, anchors or other staff frequently write a newspaper column. And just under a third, 29.41 percent, say their reporters, anchors or other staff are frequently quoted in the paper. Newspapers The newspaper sample followed a fairly normal curve. Mid-sized papers represented most of the sample. Just under half have circulations from 25,000 to 74,999. About the same number have circulations between 75,000 and 149,999. Around 6 percent of the sample is newspapers in the 10,000 to 24,999 circulation category, and another 4 percent or so are in the 150,000+ category. As noted above, nearly all the newspapers surveyed (93 percent)are involved in some form of convergence partnership, most often with a Website. Around 95 percent of newspapers that are involved in convergence partnerships have a Web partner. Newspaper-Web partnerships are most common, but around seven in 10 newspapers in this group have paired up with a TV station, and around a third with a radio station. Most of the Web relationships (62.35 percent) are with a site directly associated with the newspaper. Another 22.35 percent are with a Website associated with the paper’s parent company. Nearly a tenth (9.41 percent) are associated with a news portal, 2.35 percent with a Website operated by an unaffiliated media company, and 3.53 percent with some other type of site. There is some variation in the form these partnerships take, but again, like the TV-Web partnerships, most follow a semi-converged model, with newspaper content simply being recast on the Web. For instance, 60.66 percent of newspaper managers say their reporters frequently provide versions of stories they’ve written for the newspaper to the Web. 55.74 percent say their reporters frequently provide briefs or updates on breaking stories they may be covering. In contrast, only 26.22 percent say their reporters write exclusive Web stories. Newspaper-Web partnerships are most common, but newspapers are also likely to be involved in a convergence partnership with a TV station. Nearly three-quarters (69.84 percent) of the newspapers in convergence partnerships are associated with a TV station. Most of these relationships (65.31 percent), as the TV survey suggests, are with local commercial stations that are not owned by the newspaper’s parent company. Another quarter or so (26.53 percent) are with local commercial stations that are owned by the newspaper’s parent company. The remainder are partnered with a regional or national cable station, usually owned by the newspaper’s parent company. Again, many of these relationships are fairly limited. The most common form of cooperation usually involves paper reporters and editors being interviewed on air. This frequently takes place at around 40 percent of the newspapers involved in a TV partnership. Newspaper staff occasionally appear on air, hosting a TV show or segment. Some 13.33 percent of newspaper managers say their reporters or editors frequently contribute to the partnership in this way. Newspaper staff members generally are not asked to write for their TV partners. Only 11.11 percent of newspaper managers say their reporters frequently write for broadcasts. Compared with TV stations, newspapers are much less likely to be involved in a radio partnership. But some newspapers, 31 percent of those in convergence partnerships, are associated with a radio station. More than half of the time (54.55 percent), as with the TV-radio partnerships, a newspaper is teamed with a radio station that is not owned by its parent company. In just under a third of the cases (31.82 percent), the newspaper is associated with a station that is owned by the same company. Another 4.55 percent of the papers partnered with radio stations are affiliated with a local public radio station, and 9.09 percent are in some other situation. The most frequent way newspaper staff contribute to radio broadcasts is to be interviewed on air. Some 30 percent of newspaper managers say their reporters and editors do this frequently. Just 10.53 percent say their reporters frequently write for radio broadcasts, while 10 percent say their reporters or editors frequently host radio shows or segments. College Journalism Programs As noted earlier in the study, nearly nine in 10 (85 percent) of the university programs included in the survey – both large and small, with many majors or few – have adapted their curriculum, or begun to adapt it, in response to the industry trend toward convergence. Most of these changes have been fairly minor. Some 76.92 percent of university respondents with convergence curricula said the said the changes represent a minor shift, that their curriculum has been altered some to accommodate the industry emphasis on convergence. Another quarter (23.08 percent) said the changes they have made represent a major shift, that their curriculum has been completely revamped to reflect the industry emphasis on convergence. In many cases, the curriculum changes have been in place for a number of years – 28.95 percent of convergence programs have been in place for three years or longer, 36.84 percent for one to two years, 18.42 percent for less than a year, and 15.79 percent have been developed but not implemented. Since most of these programs represent fairly minor curriculum changes, few reflect a truly converged model. Most respondents (51.28 percent) described their programs as ones in which print, broadcast and other majors remain separate tracks of study, with no overlap. Nearly as many (46.15 percent) described a somewhat more converged model, saying that all journalism majors in their program are required to take classes in a range of mediums – such as writing for print, broadcast and online – but then specialize in one sequence. Only one respondent described his/her cnvergence program as “truly converged,” where students work across platforms throughout their studies. All the programs described appear to train students in a range of media, although the emphasis remains on print, with 89.74 percent of convergence programs training most or all of their students to write for print media. Nearly half (46.15 percent), however, also train most or all of their students to write for the Internet. And just under four in 10 (38.46 percent) train most or all students to write content for broadcast. Fewer programs expose a majority of students to the technical skills associated with online or broadcast media – learning Web language and design, for instance, or handling a camera for TV. Survey data suggest, however, that the most important role for the Internet in journalism programs may be as a research tool. Some 95 percent of the convergence programs included in the survey train most or all of their students to use the Internet in this way. In many cases, students in converged journalism programs are exposed to cross-platform training fairly early in their coursework. For instance, students encounter convergence training, or training in more than one medium, in both lower-and-upper level courses in about 46.15 percent of converged programs, and in lower-level courses, when they take their first journalism classes, in about 7.69 percent of programs. Another 46.15 percent of programs wait until students are in upper-level courses to introduce them to training in convergence skills. About 53.85 percent of these programs include at least one course in their curriculum where students are expected to write for or produce content for all three primary media – print, broadcast and the Internet. And 35.71 percent of those programs require all students to take that course.