Media companies are still cautious when it comes to combining newsrooms across different forms of media, according to a new report by the World Association of Newspapers.

'Convergence: Fact or Fiction?' examines how executives are approaching one of the decade's business quandaries: whether to invest in a multimedia convergence strategy, and if so, to what degree.

It cites a survey of 200 newspaper publishers worldwide from early last year. One of the biggest obstacles to convergence was quoted as 'the individualistic nature of journalists'. Others were lack of financial resources and lack of the necessary technology.

"Many media company executives are opting for a piecemeal implementation of multimedia convergence, over three to five years, to compete in the changing business environment," says report author Martha Stone.

The new publication is also based on presentations and discussions from the most recent WAN/Ifra World Forum on Newspaper Strategy, and provides an overview of convergence worldwide.

Source: www.wan-press.org