BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE Article Strategic Management of Crossmedia Production at Estonian Public Broadcasting

INDREK IBRUS, Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School; email: [email protected] ASTRA MERIVEE, Estonian Public Broadcasting; email: [email protected] 96 DOI: 10.1515/bsmr-2015-0017 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE ABSTRACT This article investigates the strategies behind the produc- tion of crossmedia content at Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), Estonia’s public broadcaster. The empirical work that supports its analytic objectives consists of multiple methodologically varying sub-studies: a textual analysis of ERR’s existing online presence and crossmedia content; 32 semi-structured interviews with its various top- and mid-level managers; and a documentary analysis of its associated strategies, guidelines, and communications. The paper suggests that, despite ERR’s advanced pres- ence on digital platforms, it notably lacks a more compre- hensive strategy for crossmedia content production and for achieving better inter-organisational cooperation that would enable new production processes. Although a few more advanced crossmedia productions have taken place, these have tended to emerge ad hoc – out of initiatives from individual employees. The article, however, suggests that, despite the current lack of an organisational strategy, the experiences acquired by its employees are creating a timely momentum for using interpretative and adaptive approaches to developing its new crossmedia production strategies.

INTRODUCTION interdependent, mutually conditioning, and This article is about how the Estonian Pub- co-evolving, however, in complex and non- lic Service Broadcaster (Eesti Rahvusring- linear ways. Therefore, Fagerjord and Stor- hääling, ERR) is transforming itself in the sul (2007) suggested that the term should era of media convergence. However, as has be understood as a useful rhetorical device been successfully demonstrated by Anders that denotes the complexities of modern Fagerjord and Tanja Storsul (2007), con- media evolution. For a media institution to vergence is a concept with many impli- manage its continuance in such an envi- cations. They have been distinguishing ronment it must manage complexity, both between “network convergence”, “terminal outside as well as inside the organisation. convergence”, “service convergence”, “rhe- Institutions normally respond to complexi- torical convergence”, “market convergence”, ties by developing various kinds of strate- and “regulatory convergence”. Also “indus- gies, either top-down or bottom-up, in more try convergence” is often referred to in the or less formal ways. One strategic response dedicated academic discourse. All these rather commonplace in Europe and else- dimensions of the convergence processes where in recent years is multiplatform pub- could be understood as being autonomous, lishing, or, as it is also known, crossmedia but only to a certain extent. They are also production. In this article we will take a

97 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE closer look at how ERR is implementing its iour and preferences across platforms and crossmedia strategies and what the related formats, provides a potential competitive objectives, rationales, challenges, and reali- advantage. Related to this is the elicitation ties are. of “product spillovers”, which occur when goods and services “increase demand for PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA complementary goods in other sectors, AND CROSSMEDIA PRACTICES which is an established merchandising and Firstly, what do we mean by “crossmedia”? branding strategy in the cultural economy” Crossmedia (also written as cross-media or (Chapain et al. 2010: 25). cross media) is a term that surfaced in the In the internet economy a similar diver- fi rst decade of the 21st century to denote sifi cation strategy fi rst became known as the evolving strategies and practices used the COPE strategy: Create Once, Publish/ by global media industries to develop con- Play Everywhere (for instance, Huntsberger tent across multiple channels, especially 2008). The idea behind COPE was that, by including the new digital media platforms circulating the same items of content, users that enable new forms of interaction and could choose how, when and where they audience participation. The technical con- consumed the content. The approach has vergence of communications networks and also been criticised for being a cause of staff protocols has made it increasingly easy to downsizing by “doing more with less people” repurpose or modify intellectual property for (Deuze 2004: 143) and for “cloning” (Dailey multiple media and, in this way, create new et al. 2005), or so-called “shovelware” (Bocz- meaningful connections between distinct kowski 2004: 55), rather than producing new media platforms or associated “experiences”. outputs offering unique medium-specifi c It is the experiments with such connection- experiences or insights. However, such criti- making, motivated by both poetic potential cism on its own illustrates what these strat- (new storytelling techniques or other content egies have meant in economic terms – to presentation possibilities) as well as eco- build on the synergies of the economics of nomic benefi ts that have been termed cross- scope and cut the marginal cost relative to media strategies in contemporary culture. output. As Gillian Doyle (2010: 445) demon- When it comes to economic rationales, strates, private media fi rms, especially com- crossmedia strategies can be understood mercial broadcasters, will continue to look as one of the practical applications of what for ways to improve returns from online dis- in media economics are known as ““diversi- tribution, complex windowing techniques fi cation” strategies” (Chan-Olmsted, Chang – that is, the careful planning and sequenc- 2003, 2006; Kolo, Vogt 2003; Küng 2008; ing of the release of content across multi- Ibrus, Scolari 2012) that in turn are based ple outlets to maximise audience value and/ on the “economies of scope and scale” logic or commercial returns. But she also sug- of media economics. By building on the gests (ibid.) that the transition from a sin- economies of scope logic, diversifying the gle-media to a multi-platform organisation forms and expressions of the existing intel- involves notable additional costs. Audiences lectual properties, and spreading these have come to expect ever more dedicated across horizontal media markets, fi rms can and sophisticated transmedia tie-ins, but generate additional revenue streams and meeting these demands can be costly (Soun cross fi nance product lines, thus providing Chung 2007: 55). The production of interac- themselves with an important instrument tive content is labour- intensive and pre- to manage market risk – i.e., spreading the sumes signifi cant investments in specialist risk across the media (Aarseth 2006; Küng skills. As a result, fi rms end up hiring ever 2008: 133; Ludwig 2000). As demonstrated growing numbers of dedicated staff for pro- by Sylvia M. Chan-Olmsted (2005), “con- ducing and reproducing content for increas- sumer media scope”, or the ability to knowl- ing numbers of platforms, while only some edgeably cater to media consumers’ behav- of these will be successful in generating

98 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE incremental revenues to a level that enables across popular, as well as high, culture gen- marginal costs to be covered (Erdal 2009). res. The implementation of “quality” as diver- Still, when it comes to motives that condi- sity and innovation is given an advantage by tion change, then, as suggested by Doyle the intrinsic traits of digital media – person- (2010: 440), moving to multi-platform distri- alisable, interactive, searchable, shareable, bution is usually traceable to expectations mobile, and available on-demand (Debrett of long-term profi t maximisation. 2009: 812). Debrett also stresses that mul- However, it should be noted that for tiplatform projects tend to extend the shelf- public service media (PSM) institutions the life and reach of publicly funded produc- primary concern is public value and audi- tions, building on virally evolving publicities ence welfare rather than profi ts and so on social networking sites, and thereby help strategic motives are more wide-ranging. to maximise the value of public investment. Historically, it is universal coverage, the Furthermore, due to convergence and digi- provision of a free service accessible to all tisation, television itself is changing in ways that has been considered to be one of the that make it increasingly diffi cult to consider most important PSM principles because linear broadcasting in isolation from other of the social value of mass audience reach modes of distribution to audiences, such as – understood to condition the emergence the internet and mobile (Trappel 2008; Cree- of a shared public space for public dis- ber, Hills 2007; Caldwell 2006). course. In the digital era a new consen- Consequently, many public service sus has emerged that on-demand, cross- broadcasters are motivated to follow their platform access is the new universality. As audiences wherever they are, or whatever explained by Mary Debrett (2009: 810), in platforms or media technologies they may the digital era, when media services and be using. This is even truer as the interac- the media habits of the fragmented audi- tive and participatory affordances of digital ence are increasingly diverse, access is no media enable the PSBs to establish ever longer about scarcity, therefore universal- more engaged and intensive relationships ity needs to be addressed across the full with audiences. For this reason, online range of media platforms in order to aggre- audiences are increasingly viewed not as gate suffi cient fragments to reach a gen- a marginal or secondary, but rather a cru- eral public. In a crossmedia context, “serv- cial, asset (Suárez Candel 2012: 43). That is, ing” no longer means “always”, “at the same crossmedia strategies enable the fostering time”, or “in the same way”, but using the of audience interaction, participation and affordances of each platform to address a social integration and, by pursuing these certain type of audience and to fulfi l spe- goals, PSBs can renew their legitimacy by cifi c goals (Suárez Candel 2012: 57). As also engaging and connecting communities in emphasised by Johannes Bardoel and Leen new ways (Debrett 2009: 813). Network d’Haenens (2008: 353), new media tech- technologies enable more direct dialogues nologies supplement rather than replace with audiences, and this has created an the old ones, and therefore, public content opportunity to recreate the “ultimate” public production will remain important in a con- service as an institutional platform for soci- text of abundant technology but relative etal dialogues. As Petros Iosifi dis (2010: 1) scarcity of professionally produced con- also observes: “[C]ross-platform strategies tent. Georgina Born (2004: 79) stresses that help public service media retain audience quality is a key challenge for public service share, reach new audiences and develop systems in a pluralist society where access on-demand services, while enabling them itself is no longer scarce. “Quality”, in turn, to create a stronger partnership with civil is most often interpreted in terms of non- society and serve an extended form of citi- commercial production values that also zenship.” include creative risk-taking and is applied In the European broadcasting domain, both in factual and narrative programming all these rationales and realisations have

99 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE created a situation where public broad- of crossmedia productions can result in casters tend to be the driving forces and uncertainty and journalistic resistance innovators in the area of convergent media as new working processes and norms are and online distribution (Moe 2008; Ibrus, introduced (García-Avilés 2012: 271). The Ojamaa 2014). Compared to private broad- current organisational structure of ERR is casters, they are generally more inclined such that the teams for different platforms to fi nance more experimental multiplat- work separately in different buildings and form projects due to their structural objec- most of the editors and reporters produce tives and therefore function as innovation content for only one medium. Therefore, the engines for the whole media services eco- strategic challenge is how to achieve coop- system – a function often ascribed to PSBs eration and collaboration between formerly across Europe (Bechmann 2012: 903). For distinct media newsrooms and other edi- instance, as reported by James Bennett et torial offi ces of the media institution (see al. (2012: 6), in the UK there is evidence that Deuze 2004: 140). In such situations, man- such a function has been carried out with agers play an important role in helping jour- positive results. The two large British PSBs nalists to recognise the best ways for devel- – the BBC and Channel 4 – being committed oping better cooperation across platforms. to multiplatform commissioning have effec- As it has been recognised, this may often tively “incubated” a number of new compa- be challenging and presumes a wide knowl- nies dedicated to digital content and have edge base: more broadly generated economic value and growth in the independent sector, even- Managers need a broader, deeper tually helping to make the UK a world leader and more up-to-date knowledge in multiplatform content production. There- about technical innovation, mar- fore, Bennett et al. (ibid.) propose that there ket trends, content production is a “compact” between the PSBs and the possibilities and viewing/con- independent sector that has contributed to sumption patterns. Overall, as making UK content unique and exportable. workfl ows become more complex, a multimedia and multiplatform CHALLENGES TO CROSSMEDIA vision is required not only to take MANAGEMENT AT LARGE MEDIA the right decisions but also to be ORGANISATIONS able to motivate and empower In most countries, public service media the staff so the goals pursued are institutions are relatively large organisa- achieved. (Suárez Candel 2012: tions, often well positioned and popular 71) among audiences. They have their brands and relationships with citizens well estab- Motivating the staff is perhaps one of the lished and deeply embedded in the every- core challenges as the evidence from sev- day cultures of these societies. Yet, these eral countries indicates. For instance, Tam- same legacy relationships may turn into ara Witschge and Gunnar Nygren (2009) challenges when such large organisations have demonstrated how Swedish and Brit- need to be innovated and new strategies ish journalists tend to be sensitive about or objectives need to be developed and convergence resulting in journalism mainly implemented. Many management stud- becoming a desk job. Also Mark Deuze ies have revealed the diffi culties that are (2004) has demonstrated how journal- encountered within organisations related ists and media producers tend to criticise to the mobilisation of people with regard the COPE strategy (described above) for to innovations (Bulck, Tambuyzer 2013: being a matter of staff downsizing by “doing 57). If management does not have a good more with less people” and for compromis- understanding of how to lead the conver- ing journalistic integrity by failing to take gence process, the practical development specifi c media characteristics into consid-

100 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE eration (Singer 2004; see also Huang et al. described inter-organisational challenges 2004). may indeed emerge as thresholds for con- Another common managerial chal- vergence and for implementing crossme- lenge that has become evident in complex dia strategies. Therefore, they require a and converging media organisations is the strategic response from the organisation’s “cultural clashes” between the profession- management. But what kind? Academic als that used to work for different media, research into strategic management as but are now fi nding themselves cooperat- well as into media management has a ing in various ways. Members of an organi- history of more than half a century and, sation can belong to several different sub- during this time, several schools and systems: professional cultures (groups of approaches have been developed. Below, practitioners who share a common base we will review some of these and consider of knowledge, a common jargon and simi- their relevance for analysing the ongoing lar background and training), industry cul- challenges with regard to crossmedia tures (value orientations common to those strategies and convergence related trans- working in a certain industry), and inter- formations. organisational subcultures (based around One group among the most estab- cultural groupings such as hierarchical lev- lished approaches to innovation strate- els, function departments, gender, and sub- gies is known as the rationalist strategies. groups). According to Ivar John Erdal (2007), The focus of such strategies is on ana- inter-organisational subcultures in media lysing external factors; for instance, how organisations can be based on different the general media system is evolving, and production environments (radio, TV, online) thereafter, developing strategic responses or hierarchical levels (management, news to these changes in the environment and workers). While studying the convergence eventually implementing this strategy sys- of radio and television newsrooms B. Wil- tematically (Tidd, Bessant 2009: 165–170). liam Silcock and Susan Keith (2006: 612) Due to the analytic focus on external fac- detected that there is a danger of cultural tors, the approach is also sometimes called clashes if different inter-organisational externalist. In conceptual terms such cultures are forced to unite because jour- approaches often build on Michael E. Por- nalists’ identities are strongly connected to ter’s Five-Forces Model (Porter 1998), which their primary medium. in turn focuses on factors such as the bar- Another challenge to convergence and gaining power of buyers, the threat of new crossmedia cooperation within organisa- entrants, the bargaining power of suppli- tions is the hierarchies of journalistic pro- ers, the threat of substitute products, and fessions and different statuses that the the existing rivalry between fi rms, in order different media may have. In the course of to make assessments on the general situ- convergence processes and the emergence ation that a company is in and to develop of online journalism, a new polarisation has an appropriate strategy. The weaknesses often formed in which multimedia journal- of this approach include the following: ism is generally seen as less prestigious fi rstly, especially at the time of convergence, than working for one and more of the estab- the environment is changing too dynami- lished media (Deuze 2004: 145). Yet, study- cally and appears too complex for devel- ing a regional offi ce of the BBC, Simon Cot- oping strategies that could be used by the tle and Mark Ashton (1999: 33), found that company to achieve their long-term goals; convergence may also lead to fl attened secondly, such strategies often tend to be hierarchies. developed by small managerial teams, and may not be fully accepted by the entire STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT organisation, therefore making them diffi - OF CROSSMEDIA INNOVATIONS cult to implement (especially at times that As suggested above, many of the above require fl exible operations).

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The second group of approaches are tion, of the dialogic practices among them, called either incrementalist (Tidd, Bessant and, eventually, of the resulting collectively 2009: 170) or adaptive (Küng 2008: 119). The (dialogically) constructed new meanings underlying idea is still the same – change on the goals, identities, and other values of is endemic, it is both externally as well as the particular organisation and how these internally conditioned and an organisa- could be applied within the existing envi- tion’s future is dependent on its ability to ronment. It should be emphasised that such transform itself from inside out on a daily processing should be understood as contin- basis – that is, to adapt incrementally. Such uous and complex, since there are multiple approaches are effectively based on the actors or social systems within the organi- evolutionary economics view that equilib- sations whose perceptions and discourses rium is rare and all changes are effected by may vary and whose dialogic practices both entrepreneurs/institutions endogenously within the organisation as well as across its (and eventually all broader changes are boundaries also take place in great num- effected by interactions between innovating bers. Therefore, one of us has suggested institutions; see Mansell 2014). The focus previously (Ibrus 2013, 2014a, 2014b) that of this approach to strategy development the emergence of institutional strategies is is on the interactions between the internal dependent on all such dialogic processes dynamics within organisations and their being eventually turned into auto-commu- general environment. This means that strat- nicative processes that confi rm and codify egy developments are understood as evolu- the joint understandings and (at least tem- tionary processes – they emerge via every- porary) objectives. day “actions upon actions” (to make a link to In the light of these varying Michel Foucault’s (2002) concept of govern- approaches to strategic innovation man- mentality), in the implementation process agement, what can we learn from and how and are not planned very much in advance. do we interpret the experiences of other The third group, as it is explained European PSBs and other media institu- by Lucy Küng, are the interpretative tions related to the implementation of inno- approaches to strategic innovation man- vative crossmedia production strategies? agement. As she puts it, the interpretative In this regard, an important study has been approach seeks to understand organisa- conducted by Jose A. García-Avilés (2012) tions from the perspective of those work- in which he analysed and compared the ing in them with a focus on how meaning relevant process innovations and strategy is constructed out of events and phenom- implementations at BBC News (the Brit- ena and how the constructed meanings ish PSB), The Guardian (UK newspaper), infl uence the behaviour of fi rms (Küng El Mundo (Spanish newspaper) and RTVE 2008: 122). The adaptive and interpre- (Spanish PSB). All of these were good exam- tive approaches are similar because they ples in terms of the management imple- emphasise the dynamics within organi- menting special measures to systematically sations. Yet, while adaptive approaches communicate the rationales and methods focus more on changes that need to be car- of change to the employees. Yet, quite often ried out in regard to structures, work rou- the strategies were constructed from a sin- tines or technologies, the interpretative gle point of view by the management (out of approaches focus on cultural changes and their perceptions of the environment), and how these can be conditioned by modifying therefore, the communications were also various kinds of cultural and social systems unidirectional – i.e., how and why to change (including systems and patterns of com- the work routines or organisational struc- munication) within the organisation. That tures as perceived by the management. is, a fi rm’s behaviour is seen as an outcome Only The Guardian and RTVE were more sys- of the complex processing of meanings by tematic in terms of listening to the employ- various professionals within the organisa- ees and thereupon modifying their strate-

102 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE gies. All four of the analysed cases could what has been the role of organisation’s be categorised as adaptive approaches to management in this process. strategy development with The Guardian and RTVE having elements of an interpre- METHODOLOGY tative approach as defi ned by Küng. How- AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ever, based on these four case studies, The purpose of this study was to under- García-Avilés suggests his own “model of stand how the cooperation across media crossmedia innovation management” that platforms and between different editorial is, in effect, similar to the interpretative teams within ERR is organised at this point; approaches. To quote him: is there any signifi cant transformation tak- ing place in the organisation and, if so, how The planning and execution of any is the change being led and driven? We will crossmedia project must focus look at how people working for different on communication, both inter- platforms approach crossmedia production, nally to all professionals involved what kind of related challenges they meet and externally to the audience, in their everyday tasks and how they con- so that they will be aware of the tribute to the development of the new work changes ahead. Managers must routines, structures, rationales, and, all in consider gradually organizing all, the associated institutional strategy? the process of crossmedia imple- These are our research questions: mentation, in different stages, RQ1: How is crossmedia production at also recognizing and reward- ERR organised? ing the additional skills acquired RQ2: How is the strategy for crossme- by journalists. Newsroom layout dia production emerging at ERR? leads to developing enterprise To answer these questions we used architecture which could bring two sets of qualitative methods: an analy- many advantages: improved deci- sis was conducted of the content of ERR’s sion making, elimination of inef- online platforms, together with its major fi cient and redundant processes, crossmedia projects and a series of semi- optimization of the use of organi- structured in-depth interviews were carried zational assets and minimiza- out. tion of employee turnover. Thus, The analysis of ERR’s online and the workfl ow process might be crossmedia content focused on a carefully renovated, from assignment and selected corpus that consisted of most of production to content packaging the sub-pages of its offi cial website as well and distribution. [---] Developing as the YouTube or Facebook pages associ- a crossmedia culture means that ated with ERR or its various TV programmes. journalists must be open to shar- The analysis focused on the semantic con- ing ideas and tips, bringing down nections between the content on the Web traditional platform divisions, and on ERR’s other media platforms and as well as increasing feedback, channels. We sought to map the similari- transparency and collaboration ties, continuities, discontinuities, and dis- with users. Finally, management tinctions between the different platforms leadership is a pre-condition and to interpret how the various crossme- for any crossmedia project to be dia continuities had been created by ERR successful. (García-Avilés 2012: employees as of spring 2014. 272–273) The interview-based sub-study was preceded by a pilot study conducted in In this article we will examine the strategic spring 2013 (the interviews were conducted management that has been used at ERR to by MA students in Crossmedia Produc- carry out crossmedia-related reforms and tion at Tallinn University’s Baltic Film and

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Media School). This pilot study included 18 we decided to exclude the radio channels interviewees with different professional from the analysis in this paper. backgrounds at ERR. This study helped us ETV is ERR’s fl agship TV channel. It is to design our new study in terms of back- a general interest TV channel broadcast in ground knowledge and designing the sam- the Estonian language. The channel’s main ple. For the new study, the respondents objective is to cover events that are impor- were selected based on their roles in the tant and signifi cant both to the Estonian organisation and with regard to their degree public and the state, and to be the cen- of involvement in ERR’s various crossmedia tre and initiator of discussions relevant to productions. The chosen set of respondents society. The main distinctive feature of the included representatives at all managerial programme is the high proportion of origi- levels and from all editorial offi ces. Face- nal programming in Estonian (6,000 hours to-face interviews were conducted in March a year) and the informative and social ori- 2014 and lasted 45 minutes on average. On entation of these programmes. ERR’s sec- three occasions the interviews were com- ond TV channel ETV2 is mainly designed pleted either by e-mail or phone. In total, for viewers with broader cultural interests. 14 face-to-face semi-structured interviews In addition, a few other target groups are were conducted with the executive produc- served – children, sports fans, the Russian- ers of the crossmedia-related projects and speaking minority, etc. The aim of ETV2 is managers at ERR. All the interviews were to provide cultural experiences, to offer audio recorded, transcribed, and, where the audience the possibility to enrich their relevant, translated from Estonian into worldview, to educate, and to inspire. English. Together with the pilot study our ERR’s online media include the web analyses included a total of 32 interviews. portal ERR.ee and applications designed These were analysed using a basic form of for use on mobile phones and tablets. The discourse analysis that puts an emphasis central portal ERR.ee consolidates vari- on examining the relationships within the ous news websites (uudised.err.ee, rus.err. organisation. Recurrent themes and pat- ee, news.err.ee, sport.err.ee, kultuur.err.ee, terns across all the interviews were identi- teadus.err.ee, menu.err.ee), as well as spe- fi ed and analysed in respect to the research cialised services (including the weather, questions. As an outcome of the study, the elections, and archives websites) and patterns refl ecting the strategic challenges homepages for individual channels (etv.err. and tensions related to cross-platform ee, vikerraadio.err.ee, etc.). cooperation and crossmedia production Targeting a broad audience, the gen- were defi ned. eral interest portal ERR.ee consolidates the In addition to content analysis and latest news and content from ERR’s vari- interview-based study, a basic documen- ous websites and programmes. The cen- tary analysis was also conducted of the rel- tral portal serves as a gateway to all the evant documents produced within ERR. The ERR’s programme homepages and web- documentary analysis contributed to the sites. The websites are integrated, adding research design (i.e., interview schedules) content extensions and extra info. All ERR as well as to the eventual analysis. programmes can be watched live online at otse.err.ee; all programmes can also be ERR’S MULTIPLATFORM streamed for later viewing as a catch-up PRESENCE service. ERR’s live broadcasts, archival ERR has two television channels, four radio materials, and news content can be viewed channels, several web portals, and mobile via mobile devices through a mobile-opti- apps adapted for different mobile plat- mised website m.err.ee or via special appli- forms. Although we also interviewed ERR’s cations adapted for major mobile platforms. radio professionals and analysed crossme- Every TV and radio programme has its own dia projects that also included radio output, homepage, with links to archived video and

104 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE audio content (available for at least 30 days 2014 are related to crossmedia content or after the initial broadcast). to developing crossplatform cooperation at ERR. Examples include plans for developing THE CROSSMEDIA-RELATED new programme formats to enable partici- OBJECTIVES OF ERR pation and debates between different inter- The ERR development plan is the offi cial est groups; plans to develop programme expression of its objectives and strategies. formats for different screen sizes; plans to Pursuant to the Estonian Public Broad- make the TV programming related to 2015 casting Act, the development plan is pre- parliamentary elections truly interactive by pared annually by ERR’s management and cooperating with the main radio channel covers the next fi nancial year and three (Vikerraadio) and online portals; and plans years thereafter. The current development for new interactive children’s programme plan presents ERR’s general strategy for on Vikerraadio in cooperation with the chil- 2015–2018. The contents of the plan are, dren’s portal meieoma.ee. to an extent, discussed among most of the Aside from the offi cially expressed managers within the organisation. Yet, the objectives of the organisation, we also plan is fi nalised by the executive board asked our respondents to tell us what new and voted (and therefore instituted) by its objectives they perceived for the organisa- council whose members are external to tion. Two perceptions emerged repeatedly. the organisation (members of parliament Firstly, many justifi ed the need for change and recognised media experts). This proc- with the changes in the environment. For ess effectively turns these documents into instance, according to the editor-in-chief of dialogues between the authorities and the portals: PSB. Therefore it also reveals a very formal, top-down view of the organisation’s strate- It must be recognised where the gic objectives. most fervent competition in the According to the development plan media fi eld is. It is on the Internet for the years 2015–2018, greater emphasis and it is not just the traditional will be placed on the cooperation between portals, but specifi cally online the television channels and the Internet videos, mobile services, etc. It portals and relevant investments pro- is increasingly moving towards vided. According to the plans described in crossmedia. the document, the television programmes will have to spend some of their budget (at Secondly, the need to attract younger audi- least 3% for each programme) on produc- ences was a regularly expressed reason. ing content for online portals, websites, The background is that, despite recent and social media. Another example is that efforts, the audiences for both ERR’s TV and ETV2 will have to continue its existing prac- radio programming are dominated by older tice and organise theme weeks that are target groups. Therefore, they also plan to played out in much bigger ways in the soci- extend their portfolio of platforms to meet ety than simply putting out content for a TV the needs of the younger generation. The programme. This includes organising semi- TV producers feel that the younger view- nars, releasing fi lms in cinemas, organising ers demand a greater variety of content for other events, and producing experimental viewing on different screens. As articulated participatory media solutions online. How- by the head of ETV: ever, all in all, the development plan for the next four years is somewhat vague when It is logical that the younger the it comes to positioning the organisation in viewer, the more he or she actu- relation to convergence-related challenges ally comes into contact with a and objectives. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, variety of media devices. They 15 out of the 36 objectives set by ERR for watch big screens less and are

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more inclined to watch smaller different TV programmes, these usually ones. It is likely that, based on include information about the upcoming target group, the more entertain- shows and video fi les of already broad- ing and youthful the show the casted programmes. The programmes more it should relate to cross- do not produce original content solely for media; to either get the viewer in these webpages, except on unique occa- front of the big screen or to watch sions when high priority programmes have re-runs or some Internet portals invested in the production of web content. discussing the show; or to involve Yet, even in these instances, these new the public in generating the forms of content tend not to be aimed at added value for the show. “transmedia storytelling” – i.e. at extend- ing the stories using the platform-specifi c Here it should be noted that, be it the affordances to reveal other angles of the competitive environment, technological stories. It should be emphasised that the advancements, or younger audiences’ per- webpages are not administered by the pro- ceived interests, all these justifi cations for grammes themselves but by the web man- potential new strategies are external. The agers of ETV and ETV2 who upload the con- potentials for new synergies, new services tent received from the programmes. or actions that would emerge from unprec- When it comes to the spreading prac- edented crossmedia cooperation were not tices of the thematic portals, then a notable mentioned by our interviewees. This may example is the entertainment portal called be because of the lack of the relevant dis- Menu. Menu has created unique content courses or discussions within the organisa- for the ETV programmes Perepidu, Klas- tion. sikatähed, and Eesti Laul. The entertain- ment portal regularly publishes articles and HOW THE SPREADING also reuses video material from other ETV OF VIDEO CONTENT ACROSS programmes. Therefore, it can be suggested PLATFORMS IS ORGANISED that the thematic portals are most active IN ERR in looking for new ways to create platform- The video content produced by ETV and specifi c extensions to content produced for ETV2 is currently distributed across sev- other channels, and in general, to generate eral online platforms with occasional value connections between the institution’s dif- added by creating extra content specifi cally ferent outlets. for online audiences. Mostly, the purpose of such spreading is just to reuse the existing CONVERGENCE content and not so much to invest in pro- IN THE NEWSROOMS viding additional platform-specifi c content. In terms of organisational structure and The video materials are presented on the work routines, the radio and television news ETV website (etv.ee) and on YouTube (ERR’s reporters and the portal editors still “live in has own channel) and in the thematic por- separate worlds” as they are situated in dif- tals (for instance, news or entertainment ferent buildings. Radio and TV news are in portals use some of the video material orig- fact headed by the same person (although inally produced for TV programmes. But how the deputy of the head is mostly responsi- does this spreading take place? It provides ble for radio). Portals have an autonomous work for the ETV webpage editor, for the management. There are some crossmedia ERR social media manager, and for editors practices evident in the ERR newsroom, working at the portals. The producers of the but these are rather limited. Journalists TV programmes are also responsible for the do not usually work for multiple platforms content in social media. and having to work in different buildings When it comes to small sub-pages slows down the communication between on the ERR website that are dedicated to radio news, television news, and news por-

106 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE tals. Usually one web editor attends the TV aspects should be rapid cooperation across news meeting every morning to discuss the media and delivering high-quality news topics of the day. Sometimes they agree content that strengthens the ERR news on the material that they will both use, or brand. Yet, currently, the portals are making sometimes, if an interview is long and can- an effort and using resources to broadcast not be shown in full on TV, a longer version live video streams from different events will be posted online. However this coop- and establishing new theme portals, while eration is not systematic. As of spring 2014 complaining that they do not have suffi - technical cooperation exists for the shar- cient resources to develop better coopera- ing of fi les produced by all parties as well as tion and pay more attention on daily news the transcriptions of the news stories. The production. However, despite the current application called iNews works as a data- differences, all the parties expressed hope base where all the upcoming and current that most of the problems will be resolved news is posted and where everybody can when all the news offi ces are united in the also access the history of the daily news integrated newsroom in the same building stories. This software makes it easy to take in 2016 (the new building is currently under a story, adapt it, and publish it in different construction). media. The content in the system is visible When it comes to the possibility of to all parties in real time. Stories that are individual journalists working for different not exclusive might be published on por- channels or platforms then, at the moment, tals during the day. Still, the respondents journalists at ERR are not expected to work stressed that daily cooperation is mainly for multiple platforms nor to have the skills related to meetings and fi le sharing. needed to produce modally different con- The respondents also reported that, tent (reporters in rural areas and abroad are although crossmedia as a subject is occa- exceptions). Yet, on special occasions when sionally discussed by the top managers, it journalists have been interested in experi- has not materialised on a practical level in menting with working for other media, they terms of clear changes in work routines. have been supported by the management. Our respondents in the news department The reasons why journalists choose to work argued that there is no vision in the organi- for other or multiple platforms are usually sation on how the cooperation between dif- related to fi nancial considerations or moti- ferent news producers could be improved. vated by the potential for personal develop- Although the Head of News Service and his ment. The main reasons why people, who deputy expressed confi dence that online are working mainly for television, decide portals are very important for ERR, they to sometimes work for other media were do not see an effective strategy that would summarised as follows by the Head of Pro- support the development of portals. For grammes of ETV: instance, the Head of News Service and Head of Online Service share the view that Sometimes people are looking for the portals could take advantage of the an extra or part-time job in radio high-quality video production that is avail- if their salary is not high enough, able at ERR. This would give the portals a and managers also try to fi nd strong position and an advantage. But at extra work for their staff in other the moment, there is no clear strategy for media just to keep them in the how the portals could maximise this advan- system when they cannot offer tage. There are also differences between the workers suffi cient workloads. the Head of Online Services and Head of They do so in order to ensure the News Services regarding what the focus staff’s income during low periods. point and strategy for the portals should be And that is normal, this is done in the future. According to the head of tel- everywhere. evision and radio news, the most important

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In conceptual terms it is argued (Quinn COOPERATION OF PORTALS 2005) that it is specifi cally multi-skilled WITH OTHER CHANNELS journalists that play an important role in As described above, currently the portals crossmedia news production. Therefore, are trying to develop cooperation with radio it has also been argued that “increased and television through meetings and the investment in multiplatform training should sharing of content fi les. However, the daily be made, particularly to provide greater communication between the different edi- understanding between television and dig- torial offi ces can be too diffi cult to manage ital media production cultures” (Bennett and this can also harm the cooperation. For et al. 2012: 37). ERR’s Head of Online Serv- instance, both sides may receive the infor- ices is convinced that, if the journalists who mation too late. On many occasions the por- are currently working on distinct platforms tals do not have the time or opportunity to were given a chance to try out working in look for information or to arrange meetings another medium, then this kind of exchange to talk with radio and television editors or would increase the understanding about producers. At these times they ask for sup- other media and the new social relation- port from the marketing and communica- ships would be good for better communi- tion department to fi nd partners inside the cation. Yet, he said that he does not believe organisation who can cooperate with them. that every journalist at ERR should neces- As refl ected by the Head of Online Services: sarily contribute to multiple platforms as it may have a negative effect on the jour- Currently marketing is trying to be the nalists’ strengths (a good TV journalist may go-between. They have their own con- be a poor radio journalist and her/his TV tact people, but it doesn’t really func- stories will suffer if s/he is forced to pro- tion effectively, so we have to pay more duce for radio, as well). On the other hand, attention to this in-house. he explained that it is a case-by-case situ- ation: some people may be successful and Again, testing different ways to establish currently there are three people in the TV contacts and secure communication chan- news offi ce who are skilled and experienced nels in the organisation indicates that a in working for both television and radio. universally accepted crossmedia strategy is Although the managers of the newsrooms missing within the organisation. are not asking journalists to change their When it comes to organising larger practices or forcing them to learn new skills, media events such as the Olympic Games they still agree that, in the future, there will or, for instance, song contests, the por- be a greater need for multi-skilled journal- tals have so far aimed at acting operatively ists. Recently, when new journalists have in order to achieve close cooperation. Yet, been hired for the television and radio news- in most cases, the preparation period has rooms, candidates who are skilled at work- been very short and this has left little time ing in at least two media have been chosen. for organising the cooperation needed to As seen at ERR, the understanding develop unique and innovative crossme- about crossmedia is less about multi-func- dia forms. Additionally, executing innova- tional journalists and more about under- tive ideas can present technical challenges standing one another and increasing col- that may, in some cases, prove fatal to the laboration between distinct newsrooms. good initiatives – especially when an idea Therefore, crossmedia production in the that requires a unique technical solution ERR newsrooms is not discussed as a tech- is needed at the last minute and there is nology-driven process, but as a process insuffi cient time to tackle the problem. that is primarily empowered by the commu- In other words, the TV and online produc- nication and cooperation of journalists and tion cultures are in confl ict due to their dif- secondly by the utilisation of technological ferent production timelines. The TV pro- innovation to achieve specifi c goals. duction schedule is organised around the

108 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE broadcast transmission dates leading to a and TV. During the year that Menu culture that is at odds with digital produc- has existed, we have cooperated tion’s iterative systems that synchronise as much as possible and now we project specifi cations, build site architec- have our own partners and inter- ture, version, design, user-test, and re- nal connections with both radio version systems (Bennett et al. 2012: 36). and TV. (Editor in Chief, Menu) In digital content production, long-term and detailed planning is normally required, Menu has developed good relationships which involves longer production time- with the editorial teams of ETV’s entertain- lines that add greater value the longer ment and lifestyle programmes. Many pro- before and after the programme airdate ducers working in those editorial teams they extend. The television production cul- already know how web portals can be use- ture leads to an expectation that changes ful for TV shows and vice versa. Menu also can be made constantly until late in the has good cooperation with Raadio 2 (the production cycle, but in digital content pro- radio channel dedicated to new popular duction such changes would be very costly. music and other pop-culture forms), which The current understanding at ERR is that, keeps a blog on the Menu portal. There has in order to overcome the confl ict and make been a close partnership with Vikerraadio the more innovative crossmedia forms pos- and Klassikaraadio as well. (Figure 1) sible, the organisation needs to adapt to the Most of the articles about television longer production cycles required by digital programmes are shorter versions of the tel- content production. The portals know that evision features, containing a short written they need to start planning early and have text and embedded video footage from the a more systematic approach to developing television feature. Besides writing reviews, collaboration. producing additional video material has been the principal way in which Menu has SPECIALISED PORTALS: published additional content, while talk- MENU AND KULTUUR.ERR ing about various programmes. For exam- Below, we will take a look at the operations ple, Menu has video-recorded Vikerraadio’s of two different thematic portals – Menu, programme Luulelahing (Poetry Battle) and the entertainment portal, and Kultuur.err, published it on its portal, giving readers a the culture and arts portal. For both, one chance to see how radio broadcasts are of their set objectives is to extend the con- made. A similar solution was also used in tent of ERR’s TV and radio programmes in cooperation with Klassikatähed (Stars of the web. The year-old (at the time of the Classical Music), when the portal installed interviews) Menu has found good partners a camera, which live-streamed what was in radio and TV and created diverse online happening behind stage during the show. extensions for many programmes. The cul- That is, Menu is trying to present different ture portal was founded half a year later angles to existing content on other plat- and therefore, creating the potential coop- forms and in this way turn TV and radio pro- eration opportunities and expanding them grammes into multiplatform events. Simi- in collaboration with TV and radio broad- larly to the above, the Editor-in-Chief of casts are still in the development phase. Menu argued that the lack of more strate- Menu’s editorial team feels a strong gic cooperation and planning is one of the need for crossmedia. Their work culture has main obstacles to making more crossmedia developed in close connection to this con- projects happen at ERR: cept. Very often the problem is that Our job is largely to be a so-called we are such a large organisation “safe haven” and offer support and really huge and fascinating to our other programmes: radio projects are being carried out

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here – TV does its own projects, this stage, the culture portal makes a mini- radio its own, and we deal with mal effort to create value-adding exten- our own projects here. But to sions to radio or TV programmes. get everyone together and cre- We suggest that the differences ate something really colossal – between these two thematically related somehow nobody has such an portals demonstrate not only the differ- idea or if somebody has, then it ences in experiences (one was more estab- is too late – by that time we are lished, the other rather new at the time already in the middle of technical of the interviews), but how the crossme- or fi nancial diffi culties, and can- dia operations and developments in ERR not manage to get it done quickly. depend more on the ideas and actions of At the start they do not think individual employees and less on large- enough about how to involve oth- scale and shared strategies. Our analysis ers in order to make a big project suggests that the crossmedia added value even bigger. The original plan was more signifi cant in case of Menu than is always very self-centred and Kultuur.ee, but in the organisation this was only then do they start thinking not generally recognised, which may again about other possible directions indicate the lack of relevant discussions. to move in. They need to change such thinking. So that everybody FUTURE PERSPECTIVES understands that the greater FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN their plan is at the very beginning, PORTALS AND CHANNELS the even greater it can be in the When we were conducting interviews, the end. editors of the web portals invited other edi- torial teams to the meetings to fi nd new Kultuur.err, the arts and culture portal, is opportunities for developing cooperation. the newest in the portfolio of ERR thematic The driving idea was that, despite the lack portals. It was established on 11 November of additional resources necessary for cross- 2013 and so far the cooperation with televi- media production, fi nding shared perspec- sion and radio has been limited. The portal tives on the purposes of crossmedia could has been mainly disseminating information result in new cooperation opportunities on the content of television and radio pro- without incurring any large supplemen- grammes with written articles, audio and tary costs. The following is how the Head of video clips. The editors of the portal rarely Online Service envisioned the ideal way for add any extra information to the content crossmedia cooperation in the immediate they get from TV or radio. They are just pub- future. lishing the trailers to promote upcoming television and radio programmes and, after In my opinion, we have reached the programme has been aired, the clip the point at ERR where we should with the written article is published. In this say that we have three equiva- way the portal is advertising television pro- lent outputs: TV, radio, and Inter- grammes like OP!, MI, Jüri Üdi Klubi, Kapi- net. The development plan says tal, and Kirjandusministeerium (various arts so and this is constantly repeated and culture programming). The written text, by Margus Allikmaa [CEO of next to the promotional trailers, is usually ERR], but in fact, we should take very minimal and does not differ from the it a step further and realise that information published on the ERR televi- there is also crossmedia, which sion webpages (etv.ee; etv2.err.ee) – that is, is not just TV, radio or Internet, they are recycling various marketing texts but something different. This on programmes. Also the interview with the means that 1+1+1 does not equal editor-in-chief of the portal showed that, at to 3 but 4. The understanding of

110 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE videos articles articles galleries from events from from events from "Luulelahing" live video stream video stream live live video stream video stream live video clips about program video clips about program articles articles RAADIO 2 both unique both VIKERRAADIO and not unique and not KLASSIKARAADIO EESTI LAUL EESTI MENU.err.ee ETV 2 portal with other ERR outlets and programmes. other ERR outlets and programmes. portal with EUROOPASSE SAADA SÕBER SAADA promotional articles promotional ETV AJUJAHT interviews PEREPIDU RINGVAADE TEREVISIOON unique content unique content TÕUSE JA JA SÄRA TÕUSE KLASSIKATÄHED mostly mostly videos not unique not not unique not FIGURE 1. The extent of cooperation of the MENU of cooperation 1. The extent FIGURE both unique both and not unique and not unique content unique content videos articles articles articles galleries galleries galleries live stream from backstage from stream live

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crossmedia is that it is not simply resources to spread content across multi- the Internet. At the moment, we ple platforms, regularly broadcasted pro- do not organise meetings with the grammes, which have smaller budgets and aim of discussing crossmedia, but smaller teams, have fewer possibilities for we would like to suggest some- cooperating with other platforms and ben- thing as the “topic of the day”. For efi ting from the new crossmedia-related example, different articles on the opportunities. topic of the day would be pub- Yet, it can be argued that there is no lished on our news portal several clear strategy prioritising only larger events times during the day. The same for crossmedia coverage at ERR. Currently topic would be mentioned on TV there are no regulations established by the and radio as well. For example, management that would specify that spe- on Ringvaade, they would simi- cifi c departments have to work together on larly set things in motion, making collaborative crossmedia projects. There- reference to the topic on our por- fore it is entirely up to the content creators tal. The topic would be summa- themselves whether, for instance, they cre- rised on the morning programmes ate their content exclusively for TV or out- like Vikerhommik or Uudis+ or put additional content to other platforms. on the evening broadcasts like Therefore, the initiative for crossmedia Ringvaade or TV news. So the idea projects, if it emerges at all, comes from is that the organisation will have the project management level and usu- its common topics of the day. We ally those occasions are related to nation- have already discussed this idea ally important events or projects like the with different parties. Eesti Laul song contest. That is, the “obvi- ous events” that take place and since all the “FEWER, BIGGER, BETTER” individual platforms realise these should AT ERR be covered, they eventually end up collabo- As already indicated above, ERR similarly rating in various ways. Below, we look more to other broadcasters in Europe tends to closely at one of the relevant case studies. invest relatively more into the crossmedia coverage of various larger events. In con- EESTI LAUL ceptual terms, this has generally been jus- Eesti Laul is a national competition dedi- tifi ed by the confl ict between two closely cated to popular music and organised related challenges: the need for high lev- annually by ERR. Although the winning song els of creative and fi nancial investment in will represent Estonia at the international new media and cross-platform projects Eurovision Song Contest, the main goal of and the generally limited returns from new the competition is to promote local inno- platforms and the diffi culties of evaluating vative pop music and to give musicians a value generated by cross-platform strate- chance to present themselves to a national gies. Doyle (2010: 444) argues that a com- audience. mon strategic response to these challenges The crossmedia production is organ- has been to focus on fewer, high-impact ised so that there is one appointed indi- ideas. For instance, the major UK broad- vidual, the “information manager”, who is casters, generally seen as drivers of mul- responsible for distributing the informa- tiplatform strategising, have adopted the tion to different platforms. She manages “fewer, bigger, better” formula and acknowl- the information fl ow across platforms and edge that output diversity must suffer in promotes the broadcasting of the semi- order to support the selected projects with fi nals and the fi nal concert. She is in close high-impact potential (Bennett et al. 2012: communication with the ERR’s marketing 51). At ERR, this means that, while the department, providing them with informa- small number of bigger projects have more tion for producing promotional videos and

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FIGURE 2. The webpage of Eesti Laul in May 2014.

113 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE audio clips for TV and radio. In addition, this the photos of the fi nalists. Although this year, the information manager was also call to the audience came relatively late responsible for updating the Eesti Laul web- and without much preparation, the pub- page. (Figure 2) The Eurovision Song Con- lic reacted quickly, adopted the idea, and test and Eesti Laul are two separate con- almost 2,000 people tried their hand at cepts, which is why the team of Eesti Laul doodling on the photos. As a result, it could does not think about what will happen after be said that Eesti Laul became more par- the competition. The person currently serv- ticipatory accidentally at the initiative of the ing as information manager post was just content producers. At the same time, the hired for this year from outside the organi- content offered on different channels was sation. She developed her action plan based diverse and specifi c because each medium on the experiences and actions of her pred- tried to take advantage of this topic by fi nd- ecessor and later on adjusted it according ing its own approach and adjusting it as it to the circumstances. The information man- saw fi t. The organiser of Eesti Laul did not ager does not have a lot of control over how coordinate the collaboration between the the content regarding Eesti Laul will reach different platforms within ERR. According the different channels or how the songs to the information manager there were also might change before the semi-fi nals or the no meetings where the representatives of fi nal concert. Everything is determined by radio, TV, and Internet came together to dis- public interest and according to how each cuss how to achieve greater synergy and channel approaches the topic. The daily present Eesti Laul in a more coordinated broadcasts on ETV, such as the breakfast and meaningful manner. The key duties of programme Terevisioon or the afternoon the information manager of Eesti Laul were infotainment programme Ringvaade, usu- limited mostly to issuing press releases ally contribute to providing the audience and managing the Facebook page. Yet, with introductory “pre-stories” before the according to the producer of Eesti Laul, the semi-fi nals. These two programmes are information manager is supposed to be an the main TV partners for most other large important middleman between the different projects – they introduce, extend, and pro- media. The information manager admitted vide close-ups of different topics. The rea- that next year she will aim at developing a son why these programmes tend to be more comprehensive crossmedia strategy. included into more carefully coordinated crossmedia projects is that they effectively THE MISSING STRATEGY utilise a magazine-type format that enables All the above analyses on crossmedia coop- them to be fl exible and ready to cooperate eration practices within ERR – how news- on many occasions. While Terevisioon pre- rooms are cooperating; how the portals sented one new song every morning over cooperate with other channels and plat- several weeks, Ringvaade talked less about forms; how the crossmedia coverage of Eesti Laul, but they invited performers to be special events takes place – indicate that, guests on the show, introduced the songs, in terms of its planning and management, and had their own unique way of present- crossmedia production happens rather ing information regarding the contest. Nei- spontaneously with very little detailed ther the information manager nor any team strategising. Despite the occasional state- member of Eesti Laul directly arranged the ments from members of the executive man- competition-related content on TV or radio. agement of ERR and convergence-related One of the unique solutions for involv- objectives in the offi cial development plan ing the members of the audience in the of the organisation, most of our respond- process was spontaneously developed at ents acknowledged that there is no actual the initiative of an artist who was included strategy. The middle managers at ERR did in the project and had the idea of giving not see any clear strategy. The producers people a chance to decorate and draw on or project managers of the specifi c televi-

114 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE sion programmes that were in some ways but, when it comes to carrying out involved in crossmedia production were the plans in practice, it means also not aware of any guidelines or frame- that some other things will be left works for crossmedia production that could undone or not done as well. help them organise their work. For instance, in the words of the head of ETV: It was demonstrated above that, in the future, at least 3% of the budgets of all pro- Actually, this movement in the grammes will need to be dedicated to pro- direction of crossmedia … is more ducing crossmedia extensions. However, in intuitive and spontaneous and is the spring of 2014 when the interviews were taking place independently in dif- conducted, there were no targeted fi nancial ferent areas. measures or incentives in place that would have supported the systematic cooperation The explanation by an ETV executive between the editorial offi ces of the differ- producer was similar: ent channels and platforms or the creation of crossmedia innovations and provided It comes from the needs of the added value to ERR’s audiences. programme. We do not have extra The second factor that sets limits on people who can work only with crossmedia production at ERR is related information that needs to be to the fi rst one. This is the lack of people directed through the most suit- and knowledge. Television producers tend able channels to the most appro- to have too many responsibilities related priate audience. Deciding where to television production that keeps them to place different information is from thinking about other platforms. A TV more of a subconscious or intui- producer’s fi rst priority is the television tive process. programme and other platforms are con- sidered only if extra time is available. As These statements evidence what we described by an executive producer of ETV: have demonstrated in the analyses above – although many crossmedia-like pro- Crossmedia is an option and the ductions do take place (cross-platform will exists in this regard, but it is extensions are produced or participatory quite often set aside because our affordances are utilised) – it all results from clear priority is to produce the the actions or ideas of individual people and show. In many ways, ERR works is not conditioned by systematic coordina- like a conveyer belt and every day, tion framed by a generally accepted cross- I am putting out fi res or dealing media strategy for the organisation. Below, with programmes that are con- we will review a set of factors that were stantly on the air. So I am already evidenced in the interviews to serve both expecting to be busy all the time. as indicators as well as causes for the lack And when I realise that Klas- of a strategy. First is the lack of dedicated sikatähed [the programme that resources. Expressed below from the per- the interviewee also produces] is spective of the Head of Online Services: actually starting, I simply do not have time any more to think about If the budget is not increased, it all sorts of crossmedia outputs. In means that the money for cross- fact, if the person who is produc- media has to come at the expense ing the show does not provide the of other things, and this, in its necessary push, nobody will do turn, creates in-house opposi- much of anything. And the tion and stress. Theoretically peo- producer just does not have the ple are in favour of certain things time to provide any encourage-

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ment because s/he is making From the management perspective, the sure that the cameramen show changes in the structure would resolve up, the studio set is ready, and the problems of poor communication. In solving other practical prob- the interviews, one vision of how struc- lems related to the production. tural changes could make a difference was I think there really is a wish to expressed by the Head of Online Services: make more use of crossmedia, but, in reality, it is employed only Changing the structure could as much as the main tasks leave be one way to do these things. time for. We even have a plan that by the year 2016 we have an integrated At the same time the managers cannot ask newsroom, so that we have TV, the producers to also work as multi-plat- radio, and web news all together form producers because this would require in one place. This already creates pay raises associated with these additional some opportunities. The next step duties. Although there are signs that people would be to have all the editorial understand the importance of crossmedia offi ces together in a similar way. television, this has not been translated into For example, the team of Kapi- concrete investments. If management sees tal [a programme on economic value in crossmedia it should be refl ected in affairs] could work together with the budget, which in turn would contribute the economy news editors in the to the evolution of the institutional cross- web, radio, and TV. So that we media strategy from the ground up. would develop competence cen- The third main obstacle that hin- tres. We do have great in-house ders cooperation across platforms and potential. This applies not only to the development of functional crossme- crossmedia, but to everything in dia strategies is the existing organisational general. But I think that chang- structure, and the spatial organisation of ing the in-house structure would the editorial offi ces. Below, the related chal- also help the crossmedia function lenges are outlined by the ETV2 Head of at ERR. Programme:

I think there is potential for some- There were also other middle managers thing much greater than what is that shared the vision of such “creative cen- being done at the moment. But, tres” as the future editorial offi ces – com- yes, apparently the situation is petence centres where different kinds of infl uenced by the fact that our media content are created for target audi- editorial offi ces are located in ences. The sharing and recurrence of the completely different places. It vision in the interviews indicated that the seems that communicating with dialogues on the future of the organisa- one another requires an extra tion and its related crossmedia strategising effort. And secondly, we have have already started. entirely different work schedules or we seem to think in completely CONCLUSION different timeframes so that it In the theory section of this article we can be half a year in advance or demonstrated the richness of the chal- three months in advance at mini- lenges that larger media organisations may mum. [---] This makes it a bit encounter when some sort of new crossme- complicated. dia strategies are introduced. It was sug- gested that the management bears the core responsibility for carrying out such reforms

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– if the managers do not have a good under- mobile apps. All the radio and TV channels standing of how to lead the convergence are available for live viewing online, with process and what the rationales for cross- unprecedentedly rich options for catch-up media production are the whole process is viewing, and almost all of its digitised destined to result in uncertainty and cause archive content is available for viewing too. resistance. Our article demonstrated that As mentioned above, there are specifi c offi - although there is no signifi cant resistance cial objectives for further integration and to working across platforms at ERR there cooperation across platforms and a joint is defi nitely a lot of uncertainty about the newsroom will be built and completed in organisation’s relevant goals and related 2016. In terms of training, ERR has been practical steps. In this context, it would be developing cooperation with the Baltic Film easy to conclude that this article is about and Media School in Tallinn that runs Cross- a failure. The lack of crossmedia-related media Production BA and MA programmes strategising at ERR, if not apparent at fi rst and this cooperation continues. ERR is glance, was systematically demonstrated. providing scholarships for the students in Furthermore, as was also demonstrated these programmes. In this context, it should in the theory section, there are plenty of be recognised that, although there is a lack examples in European media organisations of a comprehensive strategy or articulated that could be used for benchmarking the rationales for convergence and crossmedia best practices. And there are signifi cant at ERR, the general direction is still clear for potential benefi ts for PSBs in developing both the organisation’s employees as well comprehensive institutional crossmedia as outside analysts and observers. Consid- strategies in terms of recycling content, and ering ERR’s relatively limited funding, its IPR, overcoming the technological fragmen- achievements regarding the gained benefi ts tation and divergence of media platforms, from convergence are notable. utilising the new affordances of digital In terms of further managerial chal- media technologies, enabling participatory lenges and the next steps with regard to media experiences, furthering social dia- working towards developing more compre- logues, and empowering contemporary cit- hensive crossmedia strategies, we propose izen-consumers. Against this background, that the initial experiences of the employ- the activities at ERR could be interpreted ees in the different editorial offi ces to inno- as somewhat disoriented – the rationales vate without much restriction could be for the actions were generally unclear to the turned into a strength. In the theory section, members of the organisation and the gen- we introduced the interpretative approach eral institutional strategy was untraceable. to strategy development (as outlined by Yet, we suggest that the situation should Küng 2008). In this context and to answer not be taken as a clear-cut managerial fail- our initial research question: it can be sug- ure, but rather as a typical illustration of gested that this approach to strategy devel- the challenges that an innovation-oriented opment related to crossmedia production organisation is undergoing in times of dis- has started to evolve at ERR organically, via ruptive change in the form of media conver- everyday practices and incremental inno- gence. vations within the organisation. Therefore Let us remember that ERR has been we suggest that momentum already exists innovating comparatively aggressively. As at ERR for further dialogic refl ection on the was highlighted in the theory section, it is existing experiences and learned lessons, the public broadcasters that tend to drive for opening up new possibilities for inter- innovation and experimentation with cross- organisational communication and refl ec- media strategies in Europe. In the Esto- tion, and eventually for developing a con- nian context, this also applies to ERR – its sensus on new objectives and evolutionary online content offering is rich with dedi- trajectories for the organisation. After all, as cated thematic portals and award-winning explained above, all innovation is endogene-

117 BALTIC SCREEN MEDIA REVIEW 2014 / VOLUME 2 / ARTICLE ously conditioned – via dialogues between subjects with different experiences, per- spectives, and interpretations (Stark 2011). This article demonstrates the heterogeneity of experiences, perspectives, and interpre- tations at ERR. The momentum exists for the management of Estonia’s public broad- caster to put these to good use.

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