This document discusses the VRT News Project, which aimed to restructure the newsrooms of VRT's radio, television, and online outlets. It provides reasons for the change, outlines the theoretical model of separating input and output roles, and examines tensions that arose and whether the model worked in practice. Key points included maintaining joint newsgathering but separate production, defining input as responsible for ideas and output for bulletins, and determining that while efficiencies were gained, the organization and technology changes still required improvements.

1. VRT News Project
In Theory: Why Change
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Separate Newsrooms?
Wim Willems/13 December 2007

2. VRT News Project. In Theory
1. Reasons to Change
2. Baseline
3. Input and Output
4. Decisions
5. Theoretical Model

3. 1. Reasons to Change
But the VRT just called me!
Ah, e’ e
Ah we’ve got a journalist in Darf r! Wh didn’t you tell us?
jo rnalist Darfur! Why o s?
That’s rubbish. Why do our radio colleagues bring a story
like that?
Could you please print your planning so that we know what
you’re doing?
The Flexicart has broken down once again.
Has anyone seen the tape on our new government?
Could you go and sit somewhere else? We need this place
now.

4. 1. Reasons to Change
But the VRT just called me!
Ah, we ve
Ah we’ve got a journalist in Darfour! Why didn’t you tell us?
didn t
That’s rubbish. Why do our radio colleagues bring a story like that?
Could you please print your planning so that we know what you’re
you re
doing?
The Flexicart has broken down once again.
Has anyone seen the tape on our new government?
Could you go and sit somewhere else? We need this place now.

5. 1. Reasons to Change
But the VRT just called me!
Ah, we ve
Ah we’ve got a journalist in Darfour! Why didn’t you tell us?
didn t
That’s rubbish. Why do our radio colleagues bring a story like that?
Could you please print your planning so that we know what you’re
you re
doing?
The Flexicart has broken down once again.
Has anyone seen the tape on our new government?
Could you go and sit somewhere else? We need this place now.

6. 2. Baseline
Together when possible, separately when necessary.
Joint news gathering. Separate news production.
– Single point of entry: 6666, nieuws@vrt.be
– Internal VRT news wire
– Coordinate double check
– Medium-specific output

7. 3. Input and Output
Input: Responsible for newsgathering, original ideas.
Output: Responsible for bulletins.
Input: interior desk, foreign desk, sports department
Output: radio news, tv news, online

8. 4. Decisions
Who decides? Input or output
What to do? News selection
Who does it? People
How to do it? Angle of news story
How to produce it? Production means
Who communicates with reporter?

9. 5. Theoretical Model
Input suggests, makes offers, research, planning
Output decides, makes choices, has the overview
Output communicates with reporters, short communication
lines
Input implements and facilitates decisions taken by output
 Everyone is responsible for news and ideas.

10. 5. Theoretical Model
OUTPUT INPUT
Radio Interior Desk
TV Foreign Desk
Online Sports Dept.

11. VRT News Project
In Practice: Does it Work?
Wim Willems/14 December 2007

12. Bad timing?
Project delayed several times (originally 01/12/06)
Start: 25 June 2007
National elections : 10 June 2007
July & August : holidays
3 September 2007: Restyling Radio1
7 January 2008: Restyling TV Shows & Website
> 6,000 days of training
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13. Tensions
Why change? Everything goes fine…
Video kills the radio star. Radio journalists will become
desk journalists
I don’t want to do video editing! A journalist should
concentrate on content.

14. Tensions

15. Tensions
New roles for new people
Privileges are lost
Equality in the newsroom
Old habits die hard
A day’s work disappearing in cyberspace
We want our tapes back! The system doesn’t work.
Coincides with more limits to growth
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Coincides with new corporate structure

16. The Model in Practice
Output starts producing much earlier than Input starts
thinking.
thinking Output takes the lead
lead.
Less meetings, more informal, 2x/day coordination meeting
 But does it work?

17. Organisation
- Staffing intake desk, TV reporters, current affairs…
- Planning
- One Man Band (Radio) not possible
- Communication bet ee News a d Cu e t Affairs
Co u cat o between e s and Current a s
- Sometimes training not adequate
+ Central intake desk
+ VRT Newswire
+ Communication on News floor
+ News coordination
+ Multi skilling

18. Technology

19. Technology
- Architecture too complex
- Still under construction
- Reliability
- Radio On Air (Schedplayer)
- Subtitling (Swift Lite)
- Desktop editing (resistance, training EasyCut)
(resistance training,
+ One Newsroom Computer System (iNews)
+ Stability Online system (Polopoly)
+ Simultaneous access video speed (Ardome)
video,
+ Instantaneous access to archives (Ardome)
+ P2 cameras
+ TNG
+ Efficiency

20. 1. Infrastructure

21. Conclusion
We know more. We miss less. We are faster.
Together we are stronger
New developments possible
– Radio: Feyten of Fillet
– TV-News:
TV News:
– Digiplus
– Website: http://www.vrtnieuws.net/cm/de.redactie
But we still have a long way to go (
(organisation, technology)
)

22. Conclusion

23. Conclusion