Convergence between newsroom operations at newspapers and television stations has continued its slow, steady march with separate announcements from Charlotte, NC, and Charleston, IL.
Belo-owned WCNC-TV and The Charlotte Observer have agreed to work together on stories, pool resources and cross promote their news product.
Newspaper editors and reporters will appear on WCNC-TV from a TV studio installed in the newspaper's newsroom. One goal of the convergence agreement is to bring the depth of newspaper reporting and immediacy of television to a broader audience.
The agreement is the first convergence pact for either newsgathering organization.
In Charleston, IL, the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier, a division of Lee Enterprises in Davenport, IA, and WEIU-TV News Watch, a production of the public television station licensed to Eastern Illinois University, have also begun sharing stories.
The collaboration grew out of an effort to augment each other’s Web sites and expand their presence on TV and in print. Some WEIU-TV written stories make it into the newspaper and journalists from the newspaper act as resources for the student-run News Watch.
As part of the agreement, WEIU previews some of the stories that will appear in the next morning’s paper.
