Advancing journalistic excellence: elevating news quality standards across media platforms for multimedia journalists

As newsrooms converge and adopt cross-media approaches, maintaining journalistic standards is paramount. Broadcast media organizations must embrace this model to ensure quality news across platforms and enhance journalistic practices among Multimedia Journalists (MJs). Adapting to evolving determinants of news value, including immediacy and multimedia integration, signifies a fundamental shift in news conception, production, and dissemination. Failure to adapt risks losing relevance and audience, thereby diminishing the organization's impact in the public sphere. Five research objectives were pursued: i) Identifying elements crucial for developing news quality standards on cross-media platforms as perceived by MJs ii) Understanding challenges in maintaining news quality on cross-media platforms from the perspective of MJs iii) Investigating transformations in MJs' practices affecting cross-media platforms iv) Exploring collaboration between news management and MJs on cross-media platforms to enhance journalistic practices v) Proposing strategies for newsroom management to overcome obstacles faced by MJs on cross-media platforms in delivering high-quality journalism. Insights from interviews with 30 MJs and news editors highlight the fusion of ethical journalism with engaging digital storytelling. MJs balance speed with rigorous fact- checking, viewing their work as a social responsibility. Emphasized are collaboration, strategic newsroom changes, and supportive HR practices. Media organizations must evolve to stay relevant, while MJs require skills to navigate digital news. This model aims to assist MJs and media organizations in producing high-quality, newsworthy content, potentially integrating into journalism school curricula.