By JULIE HOWARD
Julie@newsroom.byu.edu
In one university newsroom bold messages taped to computers remind reporters to 'integrate it!' -- to make sure every news story makes it to newspaper, television, radio and Internet news outlets.
Recent media mergers are leading some to predict that this integrated newsroom -- where print, broadcast and web news are produced by the same reporting staff -- is the wave of the future.
Allison J. Davis, vice president of CBS/Eyemark Entertainment, said that in the future, reporters will develop stories across all the media. However, in the short run, technology is waiting for the reporters to catch up.
'In the short term ... I believe these 'integrated' newsrooms will remain somewhat segregated with writers, producers, and reporters manipulating stories in the medium they feel most comfortable,' Davis said.
Davis believes the integration will benefit news audiences.
'Up until now, a print reporter hasn't had to think about pictures or sound, so his or her text has had to be more visual. Under a new model, a traditional print reporter has other tools to work with, offering a breadth and depth not achieved in a newspaper,' Davis said.
Others believe integration is unlikely to take over the news business.
James E. Shelledy, editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, said integration is not inevitable, in spite of media convergence in the digital age.
'The big debate in the business now is whether print and online should share the same staff,' Shelledy said.
Don Woodward, managing editor of planning at Deseret News, said even with cross ownership of newspaper and television news companies, integration only works when news outlets are physically merged.
'We're affiliated with Channel 5 News on a broad, corporate level, but we're not writing stories for Channel 5 News, and they aren't writing stories for us,' Woodward added.
BYU's NewsNet was the first newsroom in the country to physically merge all its media outlets in the fall of 1997. The joint newsroom produces news for the Daily Universe, KBYU-TV and radio news and the NewsNet Web site.
Dean Paynter, co-managing director of BYU NewsNet, said the original goal of the integrated newsroom was to have every news story produced for the Internet, and adapted to fit other media.
BYU's newsroom continues to be a work in progress, according to John Gholdston, co-managing director of BYU NewsNet. Currently, more stories are produced originally for print or broadcast media, and then adapted for a web audience.
'No one's done this before. is an absolutely cutting-edge, pioneering concept, so we have to create a new model as we go along,' Gholston said.
Gholston added that the newsroom is intended to prepare students for digital convergence by giving them experience working with different media.
'The traditional walls that separated broadcast and print media are tumbling down. If you go out to get a job as a 'broadcast journalist' you limit yourself. But if you go out as a journalist with a forte in broadcast, you are in high demand,' Gholston said.
Stephanie Huang, who graduated from BYU in broadcast journalism in December of 1998, said the experience of working in the integrated newsroom improves a graduate's chances of reaching career goals in today's market.
'I started out as a broadcast major, but I was able to dabble in print, learn AP style, and work on the web. The more talents and skills that you have, the more marketable you are, the better you are able to get what you want.'