The partnership between WBIR Knoxville, Tenn. and The News-Sentinel is a prime example of one such successful collaboration.  Reporters collaborate on four annual projects, and the station’s newscasts frequently feature the paper’s editors.  When chasing top stories, the station and newspaper staff can work together, rather than compete, to provide full and innovative coverage.

According to a Ball State University study, over 100 US stations have newspaper partners, though not all as developed and cooperative as that of WBIR and The News-Sentinel.  “Some relationships are cross-promotion and not a whole lot more, but others have genuine journalistic cross-pollination.  Those seem to have more value,” explained Bruce Northcott of TV-consulting firm Crawford, Johnson & Northcott.

In addition to more input on stories, collaboration allows the stations and newspapers to mutually benefit from new projects and ideas.  WPEC West Palm Beach, Fla. and The Palm Beach Post, for example, recently co-produced a hurricane guide, followed by a WPEC special on hurricane preparedness.  Thanks to their combined efforts, the two split the ad revenue.

According to Rob Krier, VP/general manager for KWTV Oklahoma City, both parties must be invested in the project for cross-pollination to work.  Oftentimes, stations and papers have different owners, which makes finding suitable partners difficult. Differences in newsroom culture can also make staff members wary to share resources or facilities.  When Krier’s station launched a joint website with The Oklahoman, staff members were initially reluctant because the station and paper had different owners. 

The management, however, pushed forward with the alliance and now, the joint site NewsOK.com receives over 20 million page views each month. “They have 300 reporters, and it opens up a new realm for us,” says Krier of the collaboration.

Despite these challenges, papers and stations, particularly those that share a corporate parent, can even go so far as to share a facility in addition to content and advertising.  This opens up newspaper ads, online banners, and TV spots to advertisers in one transaction, rather than three.  With both broadcasters and newspapers moving to the Web, a joint site can even stimulate ad sales and increase audience share among younger demographics.  Both parties also benefit from such alliances with online and on-air marketing and increased exposure. 

Source: Broadcasting & Cable through Google