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- Chapter 1- Integrate your newsroom step by stepIntroduction The days when newspaper journalists had only to worry about their print column are long gone: multimedia is now an integral part of any serious publication. Many newspapers have thus begun combining their print and online operations into one newsroom. In the few years that papers have undertaken the transition to an integrated newsroom, it has become clear that the steps followed are crucial to its ultimate success. Although each paper differs in its integration methods, several common principles have emerged. ARTICLESThe New York Times and The Guardian square off on instant Web publishing The integration of print and online newsrooms proved to be one of 2006’s hottest newspaper industry trends and will surely continue to be so as more papers embrace the advantages of the Internet. The manner in which they integrate, however, may vary. Two preliminary strategies that act as steppingstones to a fully integrated newsroom are the Continuous News Desk (CND) and a Web-first policy. Neil Chase, editor of the CND at the New York Times, and Harriet Sherwood, foreign editor for The Guardian, which began a Web-first policy in June 2006, speak here about their respective approaches to Internet publishing. ‘Scooping yourself’: to publish first in print or online? News has always traveled quickly, but the age of online news has accelerated its speed even further, breeding competition among both print and online news outlets. This competition has raised the question of when and where to publish breaking stories. Online? Or in the print edition the next morning? Chances are, if you don’t publish the story first, someone else will beat you to it. CONCLUSIONIs the integrated newsroom really the future of newspapers? Integrated newsrooms may have been one of 2006’s hottest newspaper industry trends, but not all newspaper insiders agree on the extent to which integration should take place - if it should take place at all. Ivan Fallon, CEO of the UK’s Independent News & Media and admitted integration opponent, joined the pro-integration Editor-in-Chief of The Financial Times, Lionel Barber, to debate the future of the newspaper newsroom in the digital age.
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