When the media wants to know where the media is going it asks Steve Safran, the expert on local media convergence.

A national speaker, presenter and writer, Steve brings his vision of an online news community to AR&D's Media 2.0 division. Steve is no stranger to production - he has been a web journalist since 2000, and started as a broadcast journalist in 1992. He began covering convergence media as it pertained to local newsrooms at the website LostRemote.com in 2000. It was from this platform that Steve's writings, often witty and prescient, gained him a national and then international reputation. Steve will always say he's a "capital J journalist first." And his association with the award-winning 24-hour local news channel NECN (New England Cable News) in Boston helped cement that reputation.

Experience in Local News and Online Expertise

With more than 15 years experience as a TV producer, web news executive, and on-air "news from the web" personality, Steve understands the pressure of local news production.

The media constantly wants to know "what's next" - so they ask Steve. He has been interviewed by national and international media outlets including MSNBC, NBC News, ABC News, BBC Radio 4, Irish Times and MediaWeek. In 2006 Lost Remote was cited on blogs in more than 15 countries. Steve thrives most talking with local media about local media. Just some of the local media outlets that have featured him: The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Herald, The Boston Globe and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers; WNYC, WRKO, KMOX and WINA radio stations; and countless local blogs and media websites.

Authors come to Steve looking for help (and a good quote or two) while writing about the media. Steve is quoted or thanked in four books and several academic papers.

Steve's own writings and musings on digital media have been featured in Nieman Reports from The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, USC Annenberg's Online Journalism Review, The American Journalism Review, CBSNews.com, Broadcasting & Cable, TV Week, Poynter Online, The RTNDA Communicator and several other publications and websites. In July 2007, he taught a seminar at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, to media executives from around Europe.

Steve's mantra? "The good news for local news stations is that they get to cover local news again!" Steve is a strong believer that local news stations need to recapture what they do best - coverage of their own community - by taking advantage of the astonishing new technologies and possibilities of the online universe. "Local news is what matters most to people. Local stations often lose sight of that, especially with their websites. But with so many options for national and international news now available, it's urgent that local news outlets provide what they can better than anyone: deep choices for local news."

Another of Steve's favorite points: "Local media outlets aren't in the television business anymore - they are in the information business." Steve helps those media outlets expand their business way beyond television. "Stations are always looking for a leg up on the competition - and the web is the place to do it," says Steve. "The goal is no longer the ‘local newscast as the center of attention and production resources.' The goal is the best use of newsroom resources as a 24/7 news and production operation across all platforms. The massive shift in resources that has begun at the national level now has to start locally."

As the expert on local news media convergence, Steve offers local stations new ideas on how to revamp their workflow for the new realities of the media marketplace. "This is the time for local media outlets to re-establish themselves in their communities as the center of local dialogue and information. The financial opportunities are remarkable for local media outlets, but they do require a willingness to adapt," says Steve. "We can do this. If we don't, there are plenty of people with far less experience who will."

Steve devotes time to non-profits that help improve the state of journalism. He is a founding board member of the Media Bloggers Association and a member of the RTNDA/F Website & Digital Strategy Task Force. He has also judged local and national journalism awards.

He gives his time to serve on panels and host talks about new media. You may have seen Steve at events including RTNDA@NAB, Streaming Media East and Streaming Media West, CTAM (Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing), Fair Media Council, Broadcast Cable Financial Managers Association, The Citizens Media Summit at J-Lab, and the New England Press Association.

Steve has a master's degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University College of Communications and a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Trinity College in Hartford. He lives outside Boston with his wife, three children and a dog named "Fenway."