Convergence has been a key idea in the field of journalism
for the past few years. The rise of Internet accessibility and speed has allowed
consumers of news to develop opinions of what news they want to see and how
they want to see it. Web-based news seems to be the most useful in terms of
meeting the needs of multiple types of audiences, from those who read the text,
to those who skim through the pictures, to those who stream a video on the go. Convergence
has worked for internet-based news sources thus far, but converging multiple
medias within in a television network isn’t as simple as converging online.
But what if convergence isn’t enough?
In today’s fast-paced society, people want access to news on their time schedule – not on a broadcast station’s schedule. People visit news websites in their spare time, or download the New York Times iPhone app to use at least occasionally. In terms of television news, convergence may not be the right answer, or the full answer, to the demand for fast, fun, on-the-go news. This begs the question, what is the right answer? What is fast enough, fun enough and simple enough for the average person to take the time to sit down and watch the news?
“Fun” is a key word here. If the news isn’t interesting or appealing to someone, why should they sit down at 6:30 p.m. to watch it when they could be doing virtually anything else? Every newscast needs to have an element of surprise; a moment where something unexpected happens that still tells the story but that keeps viewers engaged and wondering what will come next. Suppose a new amusement park opened up near Athens. Rather than just shooting some B-Roll of the lines of people waiting for the grand opening, befriend a few people in line and stay with them as they try a few of the new rides. Or better yet, strap yourself and a camera onto a rollercoaster and report from there. Keeping some of the basic B-Roll in the newscast won’t hurt, but putting a reporter on the actual rollercoaster is much more interesting than watching them report from the ground.
Newscasts need to make a two-way connection with the viewers. This is perhaps the most neglected aspect of current television newscasts. Without some way to text/e-mail/etc. in and respond that is continually advertised (without overdoing it), there is a lost relationship with the viewers. In today’s society, the younger generations are more and more used to being able to interact with others online: answering poll questions on Facebook, retweeting what we think is interesting and sharing it with our followers, commenting on YouTube videos and more. Being able to respond as the general public, not just those who were at the amusement park’s grand opening who are probably biased in the sense that they love amusement parks, makes people feel like they personally contribute to the news.
Lastly, though reporters are the trained professionals, anyone can tell the story of what happened. Instead of a strict “question and answer” session with an interviewee, why not just say, “Tell me what you know” and let the interviewee take it from there? There has to be some sort of structure, but the reporter’s reactionary follow up questions can still shape the conversation the way it needs to go. Having an emotional, interesting newscast will get the ratings, but opening up a two-way connection with viewers will keep them.
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