The Convergence Newsletter
From Newsplex at the University of South Carolina
Vol. II No. 10 (May 4, 2005)
Commenting on Convergence
By Holly Fisher, editor
of The Convergence Newsletter
When I took over this
newsletter as editor 15 issues ago, we had about 230 subscribers and the
content was heavily academic. I had two goals: to grow the number of
subscribers and to make the newsletter more balanced between academic
research/teachings on convergence and the practical application of convergence
in newsrooms around the world. As I complete my last issue as editor, I feel I
have succeeded on both accounts—and I hope you agree.
The Convergence Newsletter now has 600 on its subscription list, and the content
is a blend of theory, research, practice and debate. While researching
convergence and discussing the best way to teach it in the classroom are
critical elements, hearing about what is happening in newsrooms is also
relevant.
This issue is an example of
that mix. Dr. Augie Grant at the University of South Carolina writes about the
need for theory in the study of convergence. Anyone working on convergence
research is asked to submit a paper or presentation to the annual convergence
conference—this year in Provo, Utah, USA.
George Daniels from the
University of Alabama brings convergence into the classroom as he discusses
converged coverage of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. The University of
IndianaÕs School of Journalism is launching an online Convergence Forum where
educators can chime in with their best practices for teaching convergence.
And on a purely practical
front, youÕll read about a Òcommunity of convergenceÓ just launched in
Bluffton, South Carolina, USA. BlufftonToday.com is a Web site for the Bluffton
community. It is focused on local news and encourages residents to chime in
with their own news tidbits and information.
Thanks to those of you have
contributed to the newsletter or who have e-mailed me with comments and
suggestions. I appreciate your input. I have enjoyed learning about convergence
and will look forward to watching this model of journalism develop. Please
welcome warmly the next editor, Jordan Storm. She is working on a Master of
Arts at the University of South Carolina, and she is eagerly awaiting your
submissions.
Holly Fisher is working on
a Master of Mass Communication at the University of South Carolina. Contact her
at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
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Feature Articles
Convergence Research Needs
Larger Focus on Theory
Freshening Up the Convergence
Lesson: Papal Coverage Normalizes Multimedia?
A Community in Convergence
Indiana University Launches
Convergence Forum
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Conference Information
Newsplex
2005 Summer Seminars Announced
Call for Papers and Showcase
Presentations: Conference on Media Convergence
National Association of
Hispanic Journalists Annual Convention
Cross-Platform Media Teams
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication Convention
Society of Professional
Journalists Convention & National Journalism Conference
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---------------Feature
Articles
Convergence Research Needs Larger Focus on Theory
By Dr. Augie Grant, executive editor of The
Convergence Newsletter and associate professor in the College of Mass
Communications and Information Studies, University of South Carolina
The most exciting thing about
doing research on media convergence is that the field is relatively new, with
most research projects introducing new dimensions to our understanding of the
field. As valuable as the novel aspects of these descriptive studies are, the
findings of most of these studies could provide lessons that can be applied
across media and media-related processes if they also included an element that
is less novel namely, theory.
As we are preparing for our
October Media Convergence Conference in Provo, Utah, USA, weÕve been looking at
submissions from past conferences to see what we could add to this yearÕs
conference to make it even better. The conclusion is that the conference, as a
whole, needs to do a better job of contextualizing media processes,
journalistic values, and consumer behavior relating to convergence through the
wider use of theory in the presentations. Accordingly, in our Call for Papers,
we have expressed a special interest in papers and abstracts that apply theory
to help us understand convergence or to help draw lessons from our study of
convergence that will have a more general application.
Among the questions I would
personally like to see considered are:
One sign that the study of a
phenomenon is maturing is the increasing presence of theoretically-based
research. Our expectation of more theory at this yearÕs conference is directly
related to the idea that the study of media convergence is also maturing.
Of course, incentives donÕt
hurt—and we have added two interesting incentives to this yearÕs Call for
Papers in order to increase the number and quality of submissions. First, with
author approval, selected submissions will be considered for publication in an
edited book that will be published in 2006 or 2007. My goal is to balance
theoretical and descriptive research to provide a true Òstate of the field.Ó
Second, we are offering cash prizes of $300, $200, and $100 to the top three
graduate student complete papers accepted for the conference.
The brief form of the Call
for Papers appears later in this newsletter; the complete version is available
at Newsplex.sc.edu. The deadline for
submissions is June 15, and submissions can be complete papers, research in
progress or abstracts. For any questions or comments about the conference,
contact me directly at augie@sc.edu.
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Freshening Up the Convergence Lesson: Papal Coverage
Normalizes Multimedia?
By George L. Daniels,
assistant professor of journalism at the University of Alabama
ItÕs the end of the spring
semester and a colleague has asked me to come to his class and do the
semi-annual mini-lecture on convergence in our basic reporting course.
The recent coverage of the
surprise early announcement of the election of Pope Benedict XVI was the
perfect fresh case study.
I quickly put together a set
of screen captures showing the multimedia ways reporters at newspaper,
television and stand-alone news Web sites went beyond just text and a few
images to tell this story. (See handout at http://bama.ua.edu/~gdaniels/papalelex.pdf)
As I did this, I thought,
ÒAre we reaching the point where the audience EXPECTS us as media to
converge—working across platforms to feed them information on the
Web? In other words, has the
novelty of the multimedia photo galleries, flash animations, video and audio
clips worn off?
If this is the case, we as
educators have new reason to be concerned about how weÕre doing that
semi-annual convergence lecture or lesson. Perhaps itÕs not a topic at the end
of the semester during that last ÒLook Into the FutureÓ unit right before final
exams.
Rather than being fixated on
whether to re-structure or re-organize our departments, schools or sequences or
change course requirements, perhaps we are better served to freshen up our
lessons and lectures.
For years, some of us have
been mired in the debate over what convergence is or isnÕt, who is converged or
who isnÕt converged.
Fortunately, here at my
school, weÕve decided to infuse convergence as a unit in most of our required
courses. In fact, IÕm teaching convergence to our freshmen in ÒIntroduction to
JournalismÓ this semester.
Before entering our
upper-level courses in the journalism major, they are required to know what
convergence is and what it might look like in a media product and in a media
workplace.
ItÕs a new day and perhaps time for a way to convey
convergence.
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A Community in Convergence
By Ken Rickard, manager of product strategy for
Morris DigitalWorks
First, a little background.
When news industry folks
discuss convergence, they focus on instances where technology has been used to
unite different organizations. Case in point: The Tampa Tribune/TBO.com/WFLA converged newsroom—a three-story
tabernacle of technology and reporting resources. The value behind convergence
is usually expressed as leveraging assets to capture market share or as
increased return on investment. Bean-counter stuff.
In Bluffton, South Carolina,
USA, there is a different type of convergence under way.
Bluffton sits across the
Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head Island, one of the Atlantic SoutheastÕs
premier coastal destinations. The town itself, once a small hamlet, has boomed
to over 10,000 households in recent years. And that figure is expected to increase
dramatically over the next 10 years.
Bluffton just happens to have
some of the best available coastal property from the Carolina coast down to
Florida, so people are attracted to its climate and amenities. As a result,
most of the residents of Bluffton are new transplants with little connection to
the town itself.
For over 10 years, the Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Georgia, USA) published a daily wrap called the Carolina Morning News and delivered it to their South Carolina subscribers. With the phenomenal
growth of the region, there came an opportunity to launch a new kind of
newspaper.
The Carolina Morning News was folded and its staff reassigned to Bluffton
Today, a free daily home-delivered
newspaper printed in tabloid format. The focus is relentlessly local: news is
about Bluffton and its residents. As an example, the day after the election of
Pope Benedict XVI (which ran on the front page of my hometown paper), the cover
of Bluffton Today featured the
previous nightÕs school board meeting, and a feature story about how a local
orchid grower made her business succeed.
So what does all that have to
do with convergence?
It is against this backdrop
that the plan for BlufftonToday.com emerged. The goals of Bluffton Today are quite simple: to become a part of the daily
conversation in Bluffton. The
paper needs to build trust, solicit feedback and help develop a sense of shared
community. The motto of the Web site, then, is ÒItÕs what people are talking
about.Ó
And thatÕs where the
convergence comes from. The Web site is entirely created by the residents of
Bluffton; those who work for the newspaper and those who do not. Anyone can
register with the site and post photos, add comments, start topical
discussions, and, yes, create their own blog.
There is traditional
convergence at work as well, as editors, reporters, photographers and the
online staff all contributes work to the site. But that work is fresh and never
ÒrepurposedÓ from print. Editors discuss the weekly news budget, solicit story ideas
and ask for feedback about the daily paper. Reporters ask questions, document
sources and post notes directly to their readers. The online staff ties it all
together by highlighting the best posts, encouraging interaction, and posting
their own notes and photos.
The purpose of the Web site
is to create an open forum and (to steal from the Greensboro News and RecordÕs Lex Alexander in North Carolina, USA) to create an interactive
Òpublic square.Ó From a technology point-of-view, BlufftonToday.com enables
convergence among the staff, the readership, and the broader community.
BlufftonToday.com is still in
a very early beta release, which means that it is still being tested and
tweaked as we go. But the early results have been very promising. The most notable
result has been largely unintended:
There exists a level of transparency and dialogue about the creation of
the newspaper that engenders a real sense of trust in the community.
Since everyone can write for
everyone to see, there are natural discussions occurring on the site. And these
discussions work their way into the printed newspaper, giving the readership a
voice that it never had before. With that voice comes a sense of ownership and
a sense of belonging.
A sense of a community in
convergence.
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Indiana University Launches Convergence Forum
By Gena Asher, editor of the Convergence Forum,
Indiana University School of Journalism
Just as professional news
organizations are wrestling with multimedia, journalism educators are
rethinking course offerings to teach convergence in the classroom. And, like
their professional counterparts, schools are struggling with issues of
technology, funding and facilities in response to these changes.
A new Web site from Indiana
UniversityÕs School of Journalism (http://www.journalism.indiana.edu)
is designed to offer a place for educators to share ideas about convergence,
from revamping entire curricula to tweaking an individual course. The
Convergence Forum (http://convergence.journalism.indiana.edu)
includes articles detailing other schoolÕs models and news from other campusÕ
programs; a detailed accounting of IUÕs own 10-year odyssey toward redesigning
the curriculum to meet these changes; and lesson plans, syllabi and project
files from IUÕs School of Journalism.
Though ÒIU-centricÓ right
now, the site aims to include news and views from journalism educators
everywhere.
ÒWe hope the Web site will be
a clearinghouse for educators to share their experiences, including what has
worked and what hasnÕt,Ó said David Boeyink, IU School of Journalism associate
professor who directed the convergence project. ÒMany schools have Web sites
that include information about their own programs. And many professional news
Web sites deal with their experiences with multimedia journalism. But no Web
site we know of is specifically for educators to discuss how convergence or
multimedia issues play out at the classroom or curricular level.Ó
Educators may submit problems
or questions. They can also download lesson plans, assignments and
projects—or upload their own. They may also read about other schoolsÕ curriculum
models, as well as share their own. The site is viewable by anyone and doesnÕt
require registration or membership.
An editor oversees submitted
material and announces additions on the siteÕs home page, which also includes
articles about other schoolsÕ programs and projects. To date, these range from
reports on one-time projects, such as an election night multimedia project at
Arizona State, to articles about the status of major revisions, such the University
of Southern CaliforniaÕs Annenberg School for Communication four years after it
made big changes.
The site is part of a Knight
Foundation grant awarded in 1995 to help Indiana develop a model for a
curriculum responsive to changes in the field of mass communication. Though it
went live last fall, the site officially launches in May with a mass mailing of
CD-ROMs to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication members
to explain the impetus for the project and IndianaÕs challenges in the new
media arena.
Anyone can view the site now,
however. A free CD-ROM introducing the Web site can be requested by e-mailing
Boeyink at boeyink@indiana.edu. Those
with news to report about projects or views to share about their schoolsÕ
convergence ideas may contact site editor Gena Asher at eulasher@indiana.edu.
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---------------Conferences
Call for Papers and
Showcase Presentations
Conference on Media
Convergence: Cooperation, Collisions and Change
Co-sponsored by Brigham Young
University and University of South Carolina
October 13-15, 2005, Provo,
Utah, USA
Now in its fourth year, the
purpose of this annual conference is to provide a scholarly forum for the
presentation of theory, research and practice related to media convergence.
Projects addressing virtually any area of media convergence may be submitted,
with special consideration offered for theoretically-based submissions and case
studies of organizational issues related to media convergence. A showcase of
convergent media practices will run concurrent with the academic conference.
With author approval, selected submissions will be considered for publication
in a future book to be edited by the conference co-chairs.
For the paper competition,
faculty and graduate students are invited to submit in one or more of three
categories:
* Completed papers
* Proposals or abstracts of
papers in progress
* Proposals for panels
The top three complete papers
by graduate students will be recognized with cash awards of $300, $200, and
$100.
For the Showcase of
Convergent Media Process and Practices, faculty and graduate students are
invited to submit in one or more of four categories:
* Hands-on demonstrations of
digital media and information projects or practices
* PowerPoint, video, or other
multimedia presentations of digital media projects or practices
* Software demonstrations
* Case studies (poster format
with demonstration)
Submissions may address
practical, theoretical, phenomenological, critical and/or empirical approaches
to digital media and information technologies. All submissions will be reviewed
by a jury that will consider: 1) relevance to the conference theme, 2) the
quality of the contribution and 3) overall contribution to the field.
Papers, proposals,
abstracts, and panel proposals should be addressed to:
Augie Grant, Conference
Co-Chair
Media Convergence Conference
School of Journalism and Mass
Communications
Carolina Coliseum
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
e-mail: augie@sc.edu
Submission guidelines:
* Electronic submissions
(Word or RTF attachments) are encouraged (send to augie@sc.edu).
* Paper copies may be
submitted: three paper copies of the submission should be mailed.
* A detachable cover page
should be included with the title of the paper or panel and authorsÕ names,
addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses.
* Showcase proposals must
include a brief description of the project or demonstration, a list of
equipment needed to conduct the demonstration, names of the presenter(s), and
contact information (e-mail, telephone number, and address).
* Submission deadline
(postmark) is June 15, 2005. All submissions will be jury-reviewed
with notification to authors and panel organizers on or before July 31, 2005.
For registration and further
information about this academic conference or the showcase, visit the
conference Web site at http://convergence.byu.edu.
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National Association of Hispanic Journalists Annual
Convention
June 15-18
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
http://www.nahj.org/home/home.shtml
Several interactive media workshops are included in
the convention, such as ÒWhat the Blog?Ó, ÒReaching the Hispanic Online
Audience,Ó ÒOnlineÕs Place in the Traditional Establishment,Ó Intro to Final
Cut Pro,Ó and ÒHispanic Online Publishing: Past, Present & Future.Ó
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Cross-Platform Media Teams
Strategic Thinking for a Multi-Platform World
June 21-24
Reston, Virginia, USA
http://www.mediacenter.org/content/5103.cfm
Sponsored by the American Press Institute, this
workshop focuses on strategic thinking for a multi-platform world. Covers
content, revenue and convergence for online-offline teams, departments and
companies.
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Association for Education
in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention
Aug. 10-13
San Antonio, Texas, USA
http://www.aejmc.org/convention/
The AEJMC keynote
session will feature Alejandro Junco de la Vega, who heads the
newspaper group Reforma in Mexico. It
publishes three papers: Reforma in
Mexico City, Mural in Guadalajara and
El Norte in Monterrey. The AEJMC plenary
will focus on media literacy, and whether it has a place in
journalism/mass communication education. Special speaker will be Dr. James
Potter of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Several pre-convention
workshops will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
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Society of Professional
Journalists Convention & National Journalism Conference
Oct. 16-18
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The Society of Professional
Journalists' National Convention offers our members and the journalism
community an opportunity to reflect on the industry and to engage in
thought-provoking, stimulating and hands-on training. Reporters, editors,
educators and students from across the U.S. and several foreign nations will
make this event a top priority.
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---------------Announcements/News
New Books on Convergence: Publishing a book about
convergence? The Convergence Newsletter regularly publishes information
about new and upcoming books on convergent journalism. Send your submissions to
convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
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---------------Copyright and Redistribution
The Convergence Newsletter is Copyright © 2005 by the University of South Carolina, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. All rights reserved.
The Convergence Newsletter is free and published by The Center for Mass Communications Research at the University of South Carolina, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. It may be redistributed in any form – print or electronic – without edits or deletion of any content.
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---------------Submission Guidelines/Deadline Schedule
The Convergence Newsletter provides an editorially neutral forum for discussion of the theoretical and professional meaning of media convergence. We welcome articles of all sorts addressing the subject of convergence in journalism and media. We also accept news briefs, calls for papers and conference announcements. Our audience is both academics and professionals, and the publication style is APA 7th edition. Feature articles should be 750 to 1,500 words; other articles should be 250 to 750 words; announcements and conference submissions should be 200 words. All articles should be submitted to The Convergence Newsletter Editor at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu. Please include your name, affiliation and contact information with your submission.
The Convergence Newsletter is published the first week of each month (except January). Articles should be submitted at least 10 days prior to the publication date. Any questions should be sent to convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
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---------------Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
To subscribe, unsubscribe or edit your information, please send a message to
convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu or write to The Convergence Newsletter c/o School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.