| Communication is the keystone of any organization. Television, in particular, requires a great deal of interdepartmental and interpersonal collaboration in its production. The purpose of this study was to examine the ways technical and editorial workers communicate and interact as they work each day toward the production of a newscast.; The key finding of this study is this: The failure to communicate is a key failure of the professional communicators under examination here. Results indicate that although producers and directors work together every day, they often do not communicate effectively—if at all—about their shows. Although most respondents had primary work areas in different parts of their buildings, the vast majority still did not bother to hold a show meeting to discuss the primary purpose of their work days: that day's newscast.; Despite the presence of many recognizable high performance work organization (HPWO) initiatives designed to involve employees and bolster teamwork, workers cited their counterparts' lack of understanding of their job tasks as a primary weakness. In addition to haphazard implementation of HPWO programs, some key demographic differences between producers and directors emerged as contributing factors. Directors tend to have more years of professional experience than do producers, and as a result, directors were more likely to indicate dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of information relayed from their producers. |
