Convergence in journalism survey results

Brunel University have been conducting a survey into whether media convergence is changing the way news is selected and written and Sarah Niblock, head of journalism at Brunel, who is also a member of the NCTJ’s Quality and Standards Committee, distributed the interim results at the NCTJ Journalism Skills Conference in Cardiff.

More than 100 journalists were contacted and responses were received from editors, features writers, reporters, producers and presenters from all media sectors, including newspapers, TV, online and magazines. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents said their primary product was online.

75 per cent of those contacted said that SEO (search engine optimisation) is used for selecting headline language, and half said it is used to select vocabulary for introductions.

Respondents were also asked to rank the importance of a number of criteria. All ranked the impact of a story as important or vital, while almost all ranked exclusivity and production values as important. Only a third of participants said brand identity was vital or important in story selection.

More information on the findings can be obtained from Sarah Niblock: sarah.niblock@brunel.ac.uk

The survey is still open and editors and journalists can complete it here.