The step to the digitalization of the News in the Torrespaña’s Newsroom during 2006-2007

The arrival of digitization to the RTVE Newsroom was an unavoidable fact as a facilitating tool in the news production process. Basically, the move to digitization in the News meant that editors began to edit their news on their own in a basic way and without the need for the support of a video editor or operator. This applies, even today, to most of the information, since only a small group of pieces require a more detailed video editing and, therefore, remain in the hands of professional operators (RTVE, memory 2007).

Although this change did not have any impact on the number of staff, it did present a significant rejection by the majority of the editors, who were reluctant to assume the new roles. It was a staff with a high average age and little experience with digital environments. This rejection was manifested through union action, two strikes, and several partial stoppages taking place, and the Director of News, at the time Fran Llorente, was forced to carry out a long negotiation process with the unions until the change was implanted.

On the contrary, the private channels that were born at that time, such as La Sexta, currently of the Atresmedia group, which was inaugurated on November 25^th, 2005, or Cuatro, currently a member of the Mediaset group and born on November 7^th, 2005, already used the digitization of News from their inception, and, therefore, did not have to face resistance to change in this regard. Furthermore, their staff, made up of younger personnel and, therefore, more familiar with digital environments, took on this new way of working without conflict.

1.2. The process of implantation of the Centralized Digital Newsroom (RDC by its acronym in Spanish ) in the network of Territorial Centers (CCTT by its acronym in Spanish) of RTVE throughout 2014- 2019.

The implementation of the RDC entailed the digitization of the News in the RTVE CCTT network, which, at that time, were for the most part still working analogically. This process affected professionals from 76 units, between CCTT and Information Units, and a significant number of workers in an approximate number of around a thousand people. A self-made study (Cuesta, 2018) analyzed in detail the development of this implementation process and evaluated the resistance to change among the affected workers. The data was obtained through an online survey with 35 questions, that was sent to all workers and answered by approximately a quarter of the professionals to whom the survey was sent. Part of the data for this study was also obtained from individualized interviews with the managers of these centers.

The aforementioned study analyzed, in turn, the RDC implementation process with objective data, detecting a series of events during its implementation that could also influence the resistance to change observed, both positively and negatively, and that will be presented in the analysis part of this work.

From the results of the online survey, it can be deduced that, in general, the use of the new digital publishing tools, by facilitating the autonomy of the professional in their tasks, was well accepted by the editors. Although these same editors reported that they feared that the new way of working could at first take away, due to lack of experience, enough time to dedicate themselves to tasks more directly related to their journalistic activity such as writing the news and contrasting sources. The editors were fully aware of their new multifunctional role acquired with the RDC and this multipurpose role generated, as mentioned, a variable degree of satisfaction and uncertainty about its influence on the traditional role of the editor. The degree of satisfaction with the implementation of the RDC in the CCTT was higher among the interviewed managers than among the surveyed professionals. Regarding this fact, a concept that will be presented later can already be advanced, that the involvement of the professional in the organization of change seems to facilitate adaptation to it. With objective data obtained in the aforementioned study (Cuesta, 2018), the volume of audiovisual document production by the CRTVE’s CCTT increased after the implementation of the RDC, both in the production for national and regional broadcasting, which demonstrates greater operability linked to said change.

1.3. The move to teleworking in the entire corporation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

On March 14^th, 2020, the State of Alarm was decreed in Spain as a measure to try to stop the advance of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in our country. Teleworking was promoted in all public and private institutions in our country, which also involved RTVE workers, as established by Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of March 17^th.

The move to teleworking at RTVE implied a technological adaptation, fundamentally the adaptation of the connections via Virtual Private Network (VPN) to the RTVE servers. VPN is a computer network technology that allows you to securely connect to a local area. This allowed each worker, from his home, to connect remotely to be able to work as if he were physically in the RTVE spaces. Given the number of workers affected, there was not a sufficient supply of corporate laptops and a security program, FortiClient antivirus and spyware, had to be installed through the VPN to allow the use of RTVE's stationary computers. These computers were transferred to the private homes of the workers. The connection through private computers was not allowed to avoid security breaches, although its use was authorized for other tasks (videoconferencing, news writing, etc.). A limited number of workers continued to carry out their work in person. The professionals were grouped into defined teams and separated into different locations to reduce the possibility of contagion. This meant adapting spaces within the corporation, traditionally dedicated to other tasks, such as the RTVE Institute dedicated to training, which acted as the headquarters of the radio newscasts. Most workers adapted to these measures easily, probably taking into account the tension of the moment and the spirit of population solidarity established at the most critical moments of the pandemic, although this adaptation was not without criticism. Most of which focused on having to use their private technological devices (computer, telephone, ADSL lines, electricity consumption) to carry out different tasks.

General foundations of resistance to organizational change

It is important, before analyzing the resistance to change in organizations, to try to establish, based on different studies carried out in this regard, what is that workers are looking for in their jobs. According to Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson (Hersey & Blanchard, 2012), these elements from greatest to least importance would be:

• Recognition for the work performed.

• Involvement and feeling of participation in the processes.

• Receiving empathy towards their personal problems.

• Job stability.

• Adequate economic remuneration.

• Interest in the tasks performed.

• Job promotion.

• Loyalty on the part of the managers.

• Optimal working conditions.

• Discipline.

There is documented bibliography on the impact that organizational changes produce on the worker and how this effect has an impact on the operation of the company and the success or failure of the established change. These effects have been specially studied in the digital age, in business environments and institutions of a diverse nature, including audiovisual media such as the one at hand. Usually, the impact on the professional of organizational changes translates into a phenomenon of rejection that has been described under the heading of "resistance to change".

Based on the aforementioned objectives or wishes of the worker, it has been established that, in a work environment, the most radical changes, and that usually entail inherent rejection of them or greater resistance, would be those related to the physical environment, working conditions, and procedures.

In the scenarios described above, we see how this is so. In the digitalization of RTVE News, the main rejection was the change in the work procedures of the editors. In the RDC process in the CCTT, the changes also affected said work processes and, in certain cases, also the physical environment from the establishment of new radio and television synergies with the unification of physical newsrooms. Finally, during the pandemic, the changes to which resistance was generated were mainly in the work environment.

As various authors have pointed out, resistance to change occurs at the level of individuals and organizations. Therefore, it is conditioned very directly by the personality of the involved subjects, the society, and how the change that is rejected is made (Robbins, 2004) (Chiavenato, 2004). In our examples, we have presented how the age or familiarity with the digital technology of the professionals who undergo the change, plays an important role, and in the last example, how the social moment experienced, a global pandemic situation could facilitate the assimilation of the changes.

Resistance to change can manifest itself on the part of workers through different forms, in an overt way such as strikes, the performance of work of less intensity or quality, or even with open sabotage (Young, 2000). Or in turn, in a covert way, through increased absenteeism, increased professional errors due to lack of involvement and/or motivation, delays in carrying out activities, etc. In the first example, open forms of rejection were shown, such as strikes or partial stoppages, and the importance that union negotiation and the ability of the leaders to resolve the conflict play in adapting to change. Regarding other more covert forms of rejection, it should be noted that they constitute one of the most negative expressions of resistance to change, as they are derived from a lack of motivation and, therefore, commitment on the part of workers with the new tasks (Hellriegel, Slocum, & Woodman, 1999) (Martínez, 2013). In the described scenarios, these forms of rejection were the minority, given the professionalism of RTVE workers, but they have specifically existed. None of the manifest forms of opposition succeeded in any of the scenarios to stop the implementation of the change.

Resistance to change is based, at times, on a relative ignorance about the process that is going to be implemented by the subjects who reject it. This ignorance derives, on the one hand, from the lack of communication about the change project, if it is not adequately explained by the implementers of the change and/or management teams what it consists of and what will be its impact on the subjects, its acceptance will be more difficult. On the other hand, the subject involved may have an exclusively partial view of the change, that is, develop a negative view of it by exclusively assessing what the change will imply in their spheres of influence, such as their workgroup or their specific activity, without assessing the global benefits of the change for the company or institution.

The feelings generated in the individuals who undergo the change are usually:

• Disagreement, based, as already mentioned, sometimes on closed mental schemes or deeply ingrained habits (Marshak, 2007).

• Uncertainty about the effects of the new system.

• Loss of identity or the frame of reference that individuals had before the change. The changes that generate the most resistance, are those that most significantly alter the previously existing dynamics (Trader-Leigh, 2002). This is even more manifest if the change implies a loss of power or status quota for the professional (Gross, 2013).

• The fear of having to work harder with new activities that arise.

Several of these aspects have been presented in the described scenarios, fundamentally fear, not so much of working more, but in a different way that could divert the professional from their frame of reference or identity. In the presented examples related to digital change, the professionals had a long trajectory and were comfortable with a working system in which they presented an adequate performance, and with the change they feared losing their references.

The feelings generated by change, by analogy with a grieving process, have traditionally been represented graphically, as can be seen in image 1, in various stages that are as follows (Kübler-Ross, 1971):

• Denial: change is rejected as a temporary defense mechanism; it is assumed that it is not occurring.

• Anger: in this second stage, the denial cannot continue to be assumed, that is when the subject becomes angry with the change that is happening and expresses a certain feeling of injustice, why does this happen to me?

• Negotiation: in this third stage, the subject expresses his complaints, privately or publicly, to the process, referring to possible mitigating factors, if at least the change had been consulted, if I had been compensated in some way, etc.

• Depression: the reality of change is undeniable, it is a stage of discouragement, where the worker questions his own competence and self-esteem. At this stage, the process is usually reflected upon and is a step before its acceptance.

• Acceptance of the change. After the process of reflection and maturation, acceptance of the change is reached. In it, the subject establishes new challenges and objectives within his professional activity following the new situation.

Source : http://activaconocimiento.es/curva-de-cambio/

Despite the potentially negative impact that organizational change can have on the professionals involved, the change itself is essential for the development of the organization to avoid becoming obsolete (Sánchez-Galán, 2011). There is empirical evidence that shows that one of the main power strategies existing in organizations is being in a situation of knowledge and information updated to the times (Koslowsky & Stashevsky, 2005). In the case of RTVE as a benchmark public audiovisual medium, its adaptation to the digital age through systems is required to continue being a top-level company. Objective data on the operation achieved with the change are shown in the cited examples, such as the increase in the volume of news associated with digitization or the ability to continue operating normally in a national health emergency.

Preventive strategies for resistance to organizational change

Since change is usually necessary, the faster and less traumatic the adaptation by professionals is, the more effective it will be. Therefore, it is important to know certain prevention strategies. A fundamental aspect within prevention consists in guessing the reactions of professionals to changes such as those mentioned to try to reduce their negative effects (Dauphinais & Pederson, 1995) since "... ignorance about the intimate nature of our resistance to change, is what kills change, and not resistance itself..." (Smith, 1997).

When establishing preventive strategies to try to avoid the negative effects of resistance to change that affects professionals, both in terms of their professional satisfaction and their performance, the following key points are raised:

• Adequately communicate from the Management, the need and importance of the change. Change leaders must adequately show the set of opportunities that change generates, both on a personal and organizational level (Beslin & Reddin, 2004) (Vota & M, 2008).

• Achieve a shared vision, taking into account the opinions of the workers towards it.

• Engage the leaders of change with it.

• Create work teams that stimulate change, the so-called action teams.

• Define realistic objectives and goals with well-defined points and control mechanisms for them.

• Avoid letting urgency distract from the most important aspects of the change.

• Facilitate the participation of workers in its development and review the system of positive and negative reinforcements to mitigate the risk of errors (Chiavenato, 2005).

• Be lenient with possible initial mistakes, especially from those workers most involved and motivated with the change.

• Establish control systems that allow continuous monitoring of the development of the process and its effects on the professional satisfaction of workers.

In the aforementioned scenarios, the professional was little informed about the decision to change and little involved in the elaboration of the schedule and its implementation. The workers of the CCTTs declared in the survey carried out after the establishment of the RDC in the CCTTs (Cuesta, 2018) that they were hardly taken into account in the design of its execution, including the training programs they should receive. Professionals from less technical fields expressed a lower degree of conformity with the contents and times of the training program than technicians who expressed ideas for improvement in training, such as increasing practical activities or the idea of reinforcing training after implementation. The managers surveyed in the work of Díaz Cuesta or the Director of News in the first example, showed a greater commitment and agreement with the process of change experienced than their workers, probably in relation to a greater implication in the design and execution of the process and, therefore, more direct knowledge of the pursued aims and objectives. The urgency of decision-making in a pandemic is a clear example of an unforeseen change on which preventive mechanisms cannot be established in advance, except for the creation of effective management groups or promoters of change. All changes require control mechanisms and strategies, such as worker satisfaction surveys should be routinely implemented.

In the second presented example, we have objective data that illustrates how the process went and somehow justifies some elements of resistance to change presented by professionals (Cuesta, 2018). Thus, certain delays were detected regarding the planned schedule related to the delay in the works of the infrastructure necessary to unify the Radio and TV headquarters. And although the implementation of the RDC did not cause changes in the number of workers, it did give rise to the appearance of new occupational areas such as the Content Manager, Media manager... and led to an increase in the number of tasks for certain occupational areas, as in the first case, new professional profiles and occupational fields were established, directly innovative from the implementation of digitization. These professional changes implied training needs for workers and a period of adaptation for them. The four occupational areas where the implementation of the RDC and the digitization of the News writing meant a major change in the work dynamics were the editors, the audiovisual equipment technicians, and the members of the production and documentation teams. The main changes detected in the work dynamics of the editor, as already mentioned, are related to the tasks of editing and assembling news. A few editors did not substantially increase or change the number and type of assignments. The main reasons for dissatisfaction detected among professionals were potentially solvable problems through longer filming time, which could help solve certain operational difficulties or with technical solutions such as expanding the capacity of the servers, saturated when connecting several centers. As positive aspects or facilitators, the objective fact of a better operation of the system, reduction of the time of preparing news despite associating new tasks due to the agility of the new system, or the aforementioned results of increased news volume.

As we are commenting, for the organizational change to be established successfully, the worker must be committed to it. The motivation of professionals is key for their adequate job performance as stated by the Campbell Model (Campbell, Mccloy, Oppler, & Sager, 1993) and that of other authors, for whom performance and work attitude turn out to be synonymous (López Duque, Restrepo de Ocampo, and López Velásquez, 2013). There are specific studies, focused on the audiovisual world, that reflect on different strategies to be managed by leaders who manage change processes in this regard. An example of this type of study is the one carried out in the United Kingdom among Media executives (Oliver, 2013). This study, based on a survey of British audiovisual media executives, assesses the different strategies these leaders are taking to cope with change, at a time that was especially unstable and turbulent for companies in the audiovisual world. It inquires about the tools used and their satisfaction with their use. Many of the tools described by these professionals are common to those used by other leadership groups, in any type of institution or business environment, such as the design of strategic plans, Core competencies or differential skills that a person or company possesses and that give them an advantage over competitors, or Benchmarking or comparative analysis between institutions or companies. But British audiovisual executives used more frequently, and with a reasonable satisfaction rate, other tools, such as strategic alliances, scenario planning, and especially the use of social networks. The profile of the respondent in this study was that of a dynamic and motivated executive with the needs of change in the audiovisual world, acceptably convinced (56% of respondents) of the usefulness of social networks as a tool to manage change. The survey was addressed to 60 senior executives responsible for strategic areas, such as heads and Directors of Strategic Plans, Programming Directors, Managers of marketing areas, etc., and even though it is not quantitatively very significant, given that the response rate barely exceeded a third of those surveyed, this work is of interest, in the context that concerns us, given the specific profile of the respondents about which there are few publications (Oliver, 2013).

The previous idea is linked to that of highlighting the importance of ICTs in general as useful tools in managing resistance to change. Adequate communication between the professionals involved, and not exclusively between leaders and professionals, is a strategic pillar to overcome resistance to change in any company or organization. In the field of change processes, new technologies can be established as essential elements to achieving an effective communication process. The presented cases are based on certain technological advances that have given rise to new workflows, but also to new forms of communication between professionals. In turn, other technological advances, and in general the development of information technologies (ICT), become elements for improving interprofessional communication and can help manage change. Recent studies have been published on the usefulness of ICTs in organizational change in companies. ICTs turn out to be the backbone of communication during this type of change process. Their speed and agility help to achieve more fluid communication and a greater degree of interaction between all the parties involved in the change. The dynamism with which the current reality develops imposes the need for continuous adaptation that implies the use of intervention strategies (Escudero, 2014).

As already mentioned, one of the fundamental strategies to overcome resistance to change is to attend to the demands that the involved subjects make on it. The agility of new technologies undoubtedly favors this two-way information flow (Cano-Pita, 2018). According to the above, the main priority identified by some business leaders in change management is to properly use collaborative work tools that allow information to be shared in an agile and efficient way. These are, for example, software solutions that allow open and organized participation of team members in the development of the change proposal, as well as quick access to information of interest (Hoyos and Valencia, 2012). Examples of this type of solution would be:

• Document management tools. In the cloud such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Office 365, or solutions for private company servers.

• Project and task management tools. They make planning, tracking, and troubleshooting easy. Trello, Teams, Redbooth, Asana, Podio are some examples.

• Communication tools. Instant messaging, social networks, or videoconferencing, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype have become key elements for effective internal communication and, undoubtedly, in the third scenario of the pandemic situation, they became fundamental tools to be able to develop the tasks of professionals.

Strategists of communication in organizational change, such as R. Torben, have presented results that demonstrate the usefulness of social networks in change processes, making networks dynamic elements of communication flows between involved professionals "networks contribute to pave the way for change and facilitate transparent dialogue across different levels, areas of professional activity, and geographical locations” (Torben, 2018).

The achievements of social networks in business management for change have been collected in a decalogue that includes, among others, the following points:

• Increase employee involvement and commitment.

• Build a collaborative culture.

• Generate and exchange ideas.

• Establish more effective two-way communication.

• Transmit storytelling, the famous Storytelling that some brands, like the Coca-Cola company, also know how to use.

• Create more engaging learning activities.

• Exchange knowledge about new practices through an interactive online environment (Twitter, Facebook).

Undoubtedly, in the two most current scenarios presented, and especially in the period of confinement in the pandemic, ICTs have played a more-than-fundamental role in the dissemination and acceptance of change by professionals. The use of ICTs has facilitated two-way communication between the leaders who lead the change process and the professionals and between the professionals among themselves.

Another important point to take into account is to be strategic in the sequence of organizational changes, if these are going to be several consecutive or involve several groups, since there is a summative effect of resistance towards a constant or repeated modification. With more changes, there will be greater resistance, and resistance to a certain change could block the successive steps and, therefore, the process of change as a whole (Castillo, 2009). Thus, in the example of digitalization of the CCTT, those professionals who had experienced a recent change of digitization of News, established only in some centers, showed a greater rejection of the second change that was proposed, the extension of digitization to the entire network of centers. The centers that were previously digitized reported a lower degree of satisfaction that can be explained by three reasons: having previously enjoyed the advantages of digitization, the overload in the server network as the number of centers that share them increased, but it should also be highlighted a possible greater resistance after two successive processes of change.