Researching Media Convergence and Crossmedia News Production: Mapping the Field

Digitization of production has facilitated changes in the organization and practices of journalism. Technological convergence, media convergence and organizational convergence have helped change the way in which news is made. A substantial amount of research has been done on news production in general, and television news in particular. However, little research has been done specifically on the production context in a digital, integrated broadcasting environment, taking into account new technology and its relationship to changes in institutional context, production processes and the resulting texts. The present article discusses some challenges that face research into media organization, challenges that are a result of these developments. The discussion is structured around two main developments: changing professional practices and genre development. The article will also look at where this line of research fits into the larger picture of media studies, and discuss the relationship to existing research in the field.