The Multimedia Journalist: Chapter 2

     Collaboration between print, broadcast and online organizations is extremely important in the communication industry. Convergence has been a concept tugging at traditional media outlets for the past decade. Convergence occurs in five stages. Cross-promotion, cloning, coopetition, content sharing and full convergence.
     Knowing your craft and being able to collaborate with others is key in being a successful journalist, but being able to also create content in different platforms is also very important now. You must be able to speak a common language that will allow you to come with a story with all forms of storytelling in mind. Good communication is needed to create a team that will be able to report a story successfully. Good communication means you can asses someone else's personality and adapt communication styles accordingly.
     Some rules for effective collaboration are listed in this chapter. Rule number one is disagreeing is not a bad thing. Rule number two is to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to express opinions. Rule number three is to understand that everyone is not going to be happy all of the time. It is also important to clearly define the story, appoint a project manager, engage in an initial planning meeting, define responsibilities and establish deadlines.
     Developing a workflow differs according to the story you are reporting. You need to decide how often you will meet, when you will provide feedback, how you will store and manage digital files and more at the beginning. This will naturally lead to a workflow plan.