Digital Convergence in the Newsroom

DIGITAL CONVERGENCE IN THE NEWSROOM: EXAMINING CROSS -MEDIA NEWS PRODUCTION AND QUALITY JOURNALISM By SAKULSRI SRISARACAM SUPERVISOR: STUART ALLAN SECOND SUPERVISOR: JOANNA REDDEN A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Culture June 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my great appreciation, first and foremost, for my supervisor, Professor Stuart Allan. I am greatly honored to work with you because you always give me encouragement, support, advice and patience in helping me finishing this piece of academic work. You were never too busy to give advice and every discussion always broadens my understanding and knowledge. You have shown me by example what a true te acher should be: supportive and inspiring, which help me balancing my workload and academic research goals. I also wish to thank my second supervisor, Dr Joanna Redden , for your advice to sharpen my thesis and helpful encouragement. I thank my family , esp ecially my husband , who have supported me through everything, constantly proving your love and commitment. I owe my successful completion of this research to my husband’s selfless contribution to take care of our son and give me time to concentrate on my s tudy with understanding and encouragement. I have felt many emotions, through happy and difficult times but because of you, I have never felt alone. Thank s to my parents for constant support and giv ing me courage to fulfil my goal. I thank to my universit y for part ial financial support and the opportunity to take months off from teaching to be able to complete this research. I thank my Dean and my colleagues at Panyapiwat Institute of Management in Thailand , who always support and believe in my passion and ability to complete the research. This project would not have been possible without the great help from editors and journalists that I have been working with. They gave me contacts to insightful informants. My heartfelt thank s should go to all of my inte rviewees involved in this research for sharing their experience of convergence and cross - media knowledge. Above all, I thank all the staff of the School of Journalism, Media and Culture . You’ve been very supportive and helpful as I have sought to achieve my academic goal. ABSTRACT This study analyses varied types of cross -media production with the aim of furthering a critical understanding of the factors behind organizational strategies for creating journalistic content, recognizing both opportunities a nd constraints for journalistic practice across different platforms in Thailand . In methodological terms, the study draws on in -depth interviews with 30 editors and journalists from three different media outlets, specifically: Thairath, Nation Multimedia G roup and PPTV HD36 . Further, primarily for contextual purposes, the study also provides a textual analysis of news content as well as observations of newsroom dynamics to explore how cross -media journalism aims to achieve its intended quality standards. Fi ndings suggest that the quality of cross -media journalism corresponds to the synergy of cross -media work practices and multiplatform content distribution strategies to create “a long -tailed journalism,” one that extends the scope and depth of breaking news stories . Pertinent dimensions of this process include giving news adequate context, creating multiple stories from different angles , and eventually achieving well -rounded, in -depth coverage. In the course of adapting to changes in newsroom practices brou ght about by digital convergence, it will be shown journalists and editors have faced significant tensions and challenges . In coping with the pressures of time management and associated risk s concerning the degrading quality of news outputs, a cross -media production strategy was found to be beneficial under certain circumstances. It is based on co -operation, using a new -media team as a ‘bridging ’ group between production teams serving ‘new ’ and ‘old ’ media platforms . It can foster the expansion of news prod uction while enhancing the quality needed for well -rounded news coverage. On this basis, t his study contributes to existing knowledge of cross -media production by providing a content -focused strategy of four types of functioning strategies – repurposing, c ross -promotional, exclusive/extended and engaging reportage – which together expand stories across social -media platforms, websites and different traditional -media outlets . Each, in varying ways, helps to provid e and extend diverse aspects of reportage tha t, taken together, have the potential to complement one another to provide higher quality news coverage . The thesis’s conclusions pinpoint the important argument that it is through the further integration of cross -media work practice and cross -media conte nt strategies to improve synergies between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media that journalists and editors will secure better opportunit ies to achieve their goal of quality journalism . Four challenges are discovered to be particularly signi fi cant : (1) overcoming ethic al tensions with due social responsibility; (2) providing reliable, accurate facts with meaningful context; (3) generating significant interest and relevant information in order to reach, engage and inform people; and (4) performing the role of a watchdog in the public interest (making issues known , and using professional power effectively , to raise awareness and stimulate action on social issues ). Of critical importance is the need to shed light on practical framework s to analyse cross -media strateg ies, en suring journalism fulfils its responsibilities to the public interest by providing accurate, reliable knowledge and information . It is in this way , this thesis argues, that dialogue and debate about possible solutions to improv e the quality of cross -media journalism will be advanced . TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii Chapter One : Introduction 1 1.1 Cross -media journalism: Constraints and opportunities 4 1.2 Overview of pertinent aspects of Thai journalism: how it 10 contri butes to global convergence debates 1.3 Research questions 25 1.4 Structure of thesis 26 Chapter Two: Literature Review 28 2.1 Mapping newsroom changes and adapting to convergence: 30 structure, work practices, professional adaptation and new models f or journalistic production 2.2 Cross -media content type and distribution flow 44 2.3 Debates on the consequences of cross -media news production and 56 challenges to the professional values and quality of journalism Chapter Three: Methodology 69 3.1 Background and research design 70 3.2 Research methodology and procedures 79 Chapter Four: Discussion of cross -media news production 111 and quality of journalism 4.1 Journalists’ reflections on problems, constraints and obstacles 113 arising from the proc ess of convergence, and how these affect the achievement of quality journalism 4.2 Journalists’ goals of journalistic practices quality 12 3 Chapter Five: Cross -media models and strategies 130 5.1 Cooperation strategy installed in day -to -day work pra ctice: Hybrid 14 5 or Isolated? 5.2 Day -to -day cross -media workflow to produce multiple stories 168 across platforms 5.3 Multi -skilled journalists or having ‘a bridge team to produce 176 quality of cross -media content 5.4 Conclusion 188 Chapter Six: Cro ss -media storytelling in journalism 192 6.1 Four types of content functioning to expand the quality of multiple 19 3 stories 6.2 New media as a ‘bridge team’ to strategically produce cross -media 219 content 6.3 Hybrid -storytelling to achieve quality of c ross -media journalism 230 6.4 Conclusion 243 Chapter Seven : Conclusion 247 7.1 Co -operation to create long -tailed news reporting and having a 249 bridge team to integrate workflow of cross -media production 7.2 Planned distribution of four functional t ypes of cross -media 260 content in order to add context and provide well -rounded reporting 7.3 Limitations and considerations for further research 267 Reference 269 Lists of Figures FIGURE 1.1: Model of journalistic practice integrating social medi a. 16 FIGURE 2.1: Literature review three phrase of convergence 28 FIGURE 2.2: Convergence and cross -media conceptual framework 33 FIGURE 2.3: Cross -media content types and flows in multiplatform 48 news production FIGURE 2.4: Conceptual framework 68 FIGURE 3.1: Components of the case study design and method 76 FIGURE 3.2: Process of data analysis 104 FIGURE 4.1: Examples of news narratives about distressed Thai 129 fishermen on Thairath’s website FIGURE 4.2: An example of TV content posted on Faceb ook to create 130 audience engagement on a social issue – in this case, the Thai fishermen deceived into working in Indonesia FIGURE 4.3: An example of Facebook posts about alleged tiger 134 trafficking in one of Thailand’s well -known temples FIGURE 4.4: PPTV HD36’s website news story about alleged tiger 135 trafficking at a well -known Thai temple FIGURE 4.5: A news talk show on PPTV HD36 analyses the issues 13 6 and context of a news story FIGURE 4.6: A news assignment editor’s Facebook post following a 137 real -time situation in which a woman was threatening to broadcast her suicide on Facebook Live (17 May 2017) FIGURE 5.1: Internal factors affecting different models of cross - 143 media journalism FIGURE 5.2: The structure of PPTV HD36’s cross -media t eam 146 FIGURE 5.3: Thairath’s cross -media model 153 FIGURE 5.4: “Thairath’s

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