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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
Convergence at Dutch regional Newspapers: An Explorative
Study
Marco van Kerkhoven, Piet Bakker
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract
Regional news media are facing tough times, as they lose readers and advertisers
rapidly. In The Netherlands, circulation decreased from 2.7 million in 1990 to 1.8
million in 2010, household penetration declined from 47 percent to 25 percent, and
the number of titles went down from 35 to 18 in the same period. We interviewed
managers and executives (2009 - 2010) of nine of the eighteen regional newspapers
in The Netherlands, to analyse if and how they consider convergence (the transition
to an integrated newsroom) a significant option to regain readers and advertisers.
This study is part of a research project on the potential (long-term) consequences of
convergence for the organizational structure, the work procedures, journalistic quality,
and business models of regional news media. Our first results show that convergence
is, indeed, embraced as a solution. However, views on how to approach the new
market for online news through an integrated newsroom differ significantly.
Management tends to operate safely, experimenting with small projects that can be
discontinued easily, while editors and journalists on the work floor wish to invest
heavily in both the education of employees and technical convergence on a more
structural basis. In its examination of how convergence is strategically and
operationally changing regional media in The Netherlands this study is the first of its
kind.
Introduction
News media are preparing for a future that will be highly digital. Readers, viewers and
listeners are predominantly online, print sales are decreasing, and the broadcasting
audience is declining. Regional newspaper media have been hit the hardest. Their
business model seems to be the least prepared for the times to come and needs to
be reviewed fundamentally (Mensing & Rejfek, 2005; SCP, 2006; Thurman & Herbert,
2008; Currah, 2009; Bakker, 2010).
In the Netherlands, six different publishers publish eighteen regional daily
newspapers. Fourteen of them have their own editor-in-chief.
Table 1. Publishers in the Netherlands and the regional newspapers they produce.
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