Converged journalism: practices and influences in Pakistan

Abstract

Based on the hierarchy of influences model, we explored journalists’ understanding and perceptions about media convergence in Pakistan’s media industry and its influence on journalistic practices and routines. In-depth interviews with Pakistani news practitioners revealed several challenges hindering the successful implementation of media convergence in Pakistan. These challenges included the lack of resources for incorporating digital technologies, the lack of financial incentives, and stringent journalistic work routines, we found that technology-induced routines have severely affected both the personal and the professional lives of media practitioners. The adoption of convergence in Pakistan has been largely based on economic and commercial concerns rather than attempts to improve the quality of media content. Overall, the work contributes to the media convergence literature by providing insights from an emerging non-Western media system.