Translating the tower of babel? Issues of definition, Language, and culture in converged newsrooms

This study sought to determine how convergence is defined by the journalists involved and to identify areas where news operations that adopt convergence encounter language- and culture-based challenges. It draws on the developing literature of convergence and interviews with journalists and managers working at two convergence partnerships: the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, and the Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV in Phoenix, Arizona. The research, based in the Shoemaker and Reese theory of a hierarchy of influences on media content, showed that convergence was redefined in Phoenix, creating a less-integrated “co-(re)-recreating” model not previously described in the literature. In addition, it demonstrated that though language differences do not hamper convergence cooperation, different broadcast and print newsroom cultures can prove detrimental.