JESSICA DaSILVA

Wow.

That was all I could say after I left The Tampa Tribune today. The first words out of my mouth (to myself) were, “I think I just died and went to internship heaven.”

The day started with a tour of the converged newsroom. Now, I had seen it before, and I had read about it in my online journalism textbook… but going on the tour and hearing all of the benefits of the converged newsroom explained… my God… it was a news junkie’s wet dream!

Dennis Joyce, senior editor for the continuous news desk (CND), also explained how the Trib recently shifted its focus to being a web-oriented news organization. This means that as a story is being reported, information is sent the CND to be put up on the Web site as soon as humanly possible. Everything that goes up on the Web is read over at least once before it hits the Internet’s tubes, with the exception of blogs.

Yes, it slows down the immediacy of the Web a little, but Joyce said it’s worth it. He said when he worked in newspapers, he used to tell his writers they needed to be accurate, clear and compelling. For the Web, it should still be accurate and clear, but immediate instead of compelling.

Blogs are a little more inconsistent. Sometimes they’re edited, but writers usually just post them straight to the Web site. Joyce said bloggers seem to take on more responsibility with their writing to prevent against any mistakes. I was glad to hear that… I like to think legit bloggers have a lot of integrity and passion for information.

Joyce also told us that the online staff uses the statistics from the Web site to provide feedback to the newspaper and TV station folk to give everyone a good idea of what the demographic is reading and watching. It helps them help the readers by getting them (some of) the news they want.

Comments on the Web site are also used to read the demographic. I think this is brilliant because it’s so direct. In using comments, it’s as if the news organization is communicating directly with the readers. That’s so baller!!!

“Why convergence?” you ask. Well, it just so happens that Joyce gave us several good reasons:

1. The news must follow its readers. Where are the readers getting their news? Online.
2. Ensures the newspaper stays a “total community” source, meaning it ensures the newspaper doesn’t become too niche and only appeals to those 65+.
3. Fulfill the First Amendment right to a free press. You can’t do that without an audience…
4. Ensures the right content is on the right platform.
5. About 80 percent of the people online are looking for information on local news.
6. Overall decline in newspaper circulation was 2.5 percent in 2007.
7. TV news is experiencing declines, too!
8. The boss said so.

The results of convergence? Increases in Web site readership by like, 100 percent.

More personally, the metro editors who will be supervising me are kick ass. They already gave me an assignment for tomorrow and told me I’ll be able to spend a week downstairs on the CND in July. I think they might also let me do some pieces on city/county government!

Overall, I feel like The Tampa Tribune is mainly concerned with ensuring I learn as much as I can from my internship. I know I’m going to come away from this experience being totally ready for any curve ball the journalism industry might throw my way.

You know, throughout the day, the most advice I received was, “Change your major while you still can. It’s a bad time for journalism.” Personally, I think that comes from people who are more dedicated to their medium than the news.

Sometimes people forget that the reason they got into this business was to get information out all over the world as soon as humanly possible. It wasn’t for a large paycheck or to see our names in print, but to spread the news to two infinity and beyond!