The Convergence Newsletter
From Newsplex at the University of South Carolina
Vol. 1 No. 8 (March 2, 2004)
Exploring the Meaning of Media Convergence
The purpose of this newsletter is to provide an editorially neutral forum
for discussion of the theoretical and professional meaning of media convergence.
We welcome articles on any topic directly related to media convergence, including
academic research or information about convergence experiences in your newsroom.
We also welcome information about conferences, publications and related links.
Holly Fisher
Editor
convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu
Feature Articles
Newsplex Fellow Explores Convergence
Upcoming
Newsplex Conferences/Events
Newsplex
News
Conference Information
AEJMC Southeast Colloquium
Annual Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference
2004 International Symposium on Online Journalism
Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek's 2004 Interactive Media Conference
& Trade Show
Announcements/News
AEJMC Call for Papers
Convergence Defined
Affiliate
Profile
University of South Carolina
---------------Feature Articles
Newsplex Fellow Explores Convergence
By Holly Fisher, Editor, The Convergence Newsletter, and USC graduate
student
*Editor’s
Note: This interview with Fabiana Zanni was conducted via e-mail and also
incorporates her comments from a video project she did at the completion of
her fellowship.
Brazilian journalist
Fabiana Zanni visited Newsplex for almost three weeks last year. Much to her
surprise, she discovered journalists around the world face the same issues
she and her colleagues in Brazil are dealing with on a daily basis.
“I never had
imagined how two different companies, in different continents, speaking different
languages can have the same kind of problems and challenges about convergence,”
she says.
Zanni was an
Ifra Newsplex Fellow, a program that offers media professionals and academic
faculty members an opportunity to observe and participate in training and
research under way at Newsplex.
Fellows receive
special instruction in multiple media newshandling techniques and are integrated
as trainers into professional training sessions and investigators in research
projects. Participants return to their parent organizations fully versed in
the cutting-edge newsroom techniques being developed at Newsplex and able
to share this information with their peers and students.
Zanni wanted
a chance to see how other media companies were incorporating convergence into
their work, so she traveled to South Carolina and spent time learning convergence
at Newsplex. “Besides knowing that Newsplex would have a lot of information
about convergence, I wanted to get in touch with the practices, experiences
and difficulties faced by other media companies around the world,” she says.
From her time
at Newsplex, Zanni said she was reminded that journalism goes hand in hand
with team work, cooperation, breaking barriers and having fun. She says one
of the great experiences she gleaned from being a Fellow was rediscovering
the pleasure of doing her job.
And her Newsplex
experiences only reinforced her belief that traditional media faces the challenge
of rethinking its format and focus. More and more “traditional” readers are
looking to new media formats for their news and information, Zanni says. “We’re
living in a period of transition, when there are still a lot of readers that
have traditional media as their major font of news. But what kind of news
will be interesting for these readers in the coming years if they have read
it all on the Internet? What kind of information will they look for in the
newspapers every morning? It doesn’t mean that they are putting newspapers
and magazines away, but they are certainly looking for new and relevant content,
not just the same things they saw one day before on other mediums,” Zanni
says.
Zanni has been
thinking about ways to communicate with new media since the mid-1990s when
she began working in Web publishing and development. She created and implemented
one of the largest Web sites for women in Brazil, Paralela. She also participated
in the design, creation, maintenance and improvement of the first sites for
several magazines in Brazil, such as Veja, Playboy, Cosmopolitan and Elle.
Previously she traveled the country as a reporter and editor for a travel
guide. Zanni also has written for various magazines since 1993. She recently
developed a Web site for Abril Publishing Company (www.abril.com)
and now works for the company as an editor.
“My company
produces content in different mediums: print, Web and video,” she says. “In
my area, we try to put these contents together and present them in a new and
different way. We’re also responsible for spreading new mentalities and practices
concerning new media and convergence.” In addition, Zanni recently began teaching
about new technologies for communication at Cásper Líbero University. Lately,
she has been reading about the relationship between children and computers
and intends to develop a research project on the subject.
Contributing
to her desire to learn about convergence in other cultures, Zanni observed
10 journalists from Manchester as they immersed themselves in discussions
about how to do their jobs using convergence. “They knew they had to move
from a media-centric production to an audience-centric perspective,” she says.
Their main goals were determining how to meet audience demands, crafting clever
story production and overcoming a fear of using new technology. “So, besides
a lot of theory and practical activities, we even had to learn a new kind
of mathematics, where adding one plus one plus one plus one can make five,
or how merging print publications with broadcast, Internet and mobile technology
can result in a different product, or a stronger brand.”
A key theme
during her fellowship, Zanni says, was that convergence is more than fancy
gadgets and hi-tech computers. It’s about good journalism and a change in
thinking. “One of the things that caught my attention was that the Newsplex
team always was saying that convergence is not attached to impressive facilities
and hi-tech gadgets,” she says. “All these things are useless if you don’t
do something with them. And that’s when the need for a big cultural change
comes in.”
Fellowships
are one-week to one-month in duration. Full-time employees of the media companies
and full-time university faculty are eligible for the program. Fellows are
selected by the Newsplex staff based on suitability of background, interests
and accomplishments in convergent media, new media and journalism. The nominating organization is responsible
for paying salary and travel expenses of Fellows selected for the program.
Nominations
for 2004 fellowships currently are being accepted. Nominations may be made
by letter or e-mail to Kerry Northrup, Director, Ifra Newsplex at the University
of South Carolina, SCETV Telecommunications Center, 1041 George Rogers Blvd.,
Columbia, SC, 29201 or to director@newsplex.org. For further information on the Newsplex
Fellows program, please contact Julie Nichols, Newsplex Projects Director,
at projectdirector@newsplex.org.
Upcoming
Newsplex Conferences/Events
----------Newsplex
Summer Seminars
Teaching
& Researching in Convergent Media
May 17-21
and May 24-28, 2004
The College
of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South
Carolina is pleased to announce that funding has been obtained to underwrite
the cost of faculty attendance at the 2004 Newsplex Summer Seminars on Teaching
and Research in Convergent Media. The
cost of the five-day sessions has been reduced to $500 per person (compared
to a cost of $1,245 per person for the 2003 Newsplex Summer Seminars). This
fee includes tuition, supplies, and lunches, but does not include hotel.
These
week-long seminars are designed to provide college faculty with advanced training
in converged media operations and journalistic practices that they can adapt
to their individual programs. Through an intensive set of seminars and hands-on
workshops, participants will learn and practice skills essential to working
in a converged media environment, as well as studying the process of teaching
and conducting research in a converged media environment. All enrollees completing
the program will receive a Newsplex training certificate.
Preliminary
Schedule:
Sunday: Introduction to the converged classroom; Introduction
to Newsplex; Overview of emerging technologies; Introduction to wireless journalism;
Theoretical perspectives on convergence
Monday:
Story-building; The news resourcer; Newsflow management; Managing converged
newsrooms; Graphics and Web design
Tuesday:
Cross-training (print for broadcasting & broadcasting for print); Online
journalistic techniques; Digital photography and videography
Wednesday:
Roles training and exercises; Teaching in a converged newsroom; Business issues:
legal and marketing
Thursday:
Research and the converged newsroom; Problems in media convergence; Adapting
your curriculum to convergence; Seminar summary
For
more information, e-mail Augie Grant, Newsplex Academic Liaison, at augie@sc.edu. To register online, visit the Newsplex
academic Web site at http://newsplex.sc.edu.
----------Call
for Papers: A Conference on The Digital Revolution:
The Impact of Digital Media and Information Technologies
College
of Mass Communications and Information Studies
University
of South Carolina
October
14-16, 2004, Columbia, S.C.
Digital technologies have precipitated a revolution in
media and information technologies over the past decade. From digital libraries and archives to
video, music and telephony, virtually all media have been impacted by increased
capabilities in information storage, processing, transmission and retrieval.
Media systems have been similarly impacted, as traditional media processes
including journalism, advertising, public relations and libraries have been
forced to evolve to incorporate the capabilities offered by the Internet and
digital computing and storage technologies. The purpose of this conference
is to provide a scholarly examination of the attributes and implications of
the digital revolution, including discussions of social influences, media
practices, integrated information systems, cultural issues, legal implications,
information needs and effects upon consumers. A showcase of convergent media
practices will run concurrent with the academic conference.
This
forum addressing the digital revolution was specifically created to provide
the opportunity for us to examine commonalties across these media. Paper submissions
may address theoretical or practical examinations of digital photography,
video, information archives, telephony, consumer electronics and information
infrastructure.
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
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.
The conference
is sponsored by the newly merged College of Mass Communications and Information
Studies at the University of South Carolina, and Newsplex, an advanced micro-newsroom
training and research facility dedicated to news presentation techniques emerging
from the convergence of print, broadcast and online media. Newsplex is a joint
project of the College and Ifra.
Papers, proposals,
abstracts, and panel proposals should be addressed to: Augie Grant, Conference
Chair Digital Revolution Conference, College of Mass Communications and Information
Studies, Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC 29208 or via 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: five paper
copies of the submission should be mailed.
A detachable
cover page should be included with the title of the paper or panel and complete
names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of the authors. For
electronic submissions, the cover page should be in a separate file.
Submission
deadline (postmark) is June 15, 2004. All submissions will be jury-reviewed
with notification to authors and
organizers on or before July 31, 2004.
----------Call
for Presentations:
A Showcase
of Digital Media and Information Projects and Practices
College
of Mass Communications and Information Studies
University
of South Carolina
October
14-16, 2004 Columbia, S.C.
The digital
revolution in media and information technologies has created new opportunities
and challenges in the production of all forms of media content, including
news, advertising, entertainment and media archives. The purpose of this showcase
of digital media and information projects and practices is to provide a venue
for scholars and professionals experimenting with digital media and information
technologies to demonstrate their systems, processes, experiments and innovations.
This showcase
is the demonstration component of The Digital Revolution: The Impact of Digital
Media and Information Technologies, an academic conference exploring practical,
theoretical, phenomenological, critical and/or empirical approaches to digital
media and information technologies.
Faculty and
graduate students are invited to submit in one or more of four categories:
*Hands-on demonstrations
of media and information projects and practices
*PowerPoint,
video or other multimedia presentations of digital media projects or practices
*Software demonstrations
*Case studies
(poster format with demonstration)
(Note: If you wish to submit a paper or abstract,
you are encouraged to respond to the Call for Papers for the academic conference.
That Call may be viewed on the conference Web site at http://newsplex.sc.edu)
Submissions
will be reviewed by a jury that will consider: 1) relevance to the theme of
media convergence, 2) the degree of innovation, and 3) the overall contribution
to the field.
The conference
is sponsored by the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies
at the University of South Carolina, and Newsplex, an advanced micro-newsroom
training and research facility dedicated to news presentation techniques emerging
from the convergence of print, broadcast and online media. Newsplex is a joint
project of the College and Ifra.
For registration
and further information about the academic conference or this showcase, visit
the conference Web site at: Newsplex.sc.edu.
Proposals and questions about the showcase should be submitted electronically
to augie@sc.edu or mailed to: Augie Grant,
Conference Chair, Digital Revolution Conference, College of Mass Communications
and Information Studies, Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC
29208
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, 2004. All submissions will be jury-reviewed on
or before July 31, 2004.
---------------Newsplex News
Students
cover South Carolina Primary in new way
By Holly
Fisher, Editor, The Convergence Newsletter, and USC graduate student
Student journalists
at the University of South Carolina traded in notebooks and pens for camera-equipped
cellular phones to cover the state’s Democratic presidential primary Feb.
3. The assignment: cover as much ground as possible, gathering snippets of
news and information to be posted on a Web site. It was the old-school “man
on the street” assignment but with a new technological edge.
A partnership
of Newsplex and Cingular Wireless, this project – called Wireless Election
Connection – was a perfect opportunity for about 40 print and broadcast students
to get a taste of covering a major news story while showing how convergence
can be applied to even the biggest story of the day. Cingular provided second-generation
mobile imaging phones so students could capture photos and then send a paragraph
or two of explanation back to the Newsplex office via e-mail. After quick
editing, the images and text were uploaded instantly to a mobile Web log –
or moblog – at http://scprimary.textamerica.com,
which is still available for viewing.
Because students
were out in the field, professionals from USC and Newsplex were editing the
information and determining placement on the site. Randy Covington, director
of advancement and an instructor for the College of Mass Communications and
Information Studies, was the news flow editor overseeing three rotating story
builders. Also helping with the project was Newsplex staffer Geoff LoCicero,
who had the role of lead newsresourcer. He looked for additional news tips,
information and Web sites that story builders could link to within the text
students provided.
“This is a
new form of journalism. It’s something that sprouted from the bottom up,”
Covington says. “There are blogs all over the place but traditional media
has been slow to come around.” Newsplex Director Kerry Northrup says this
kind of multi-media coverage could greatly enhance newspaper and TV coverage
of events. The moblog is not meant as a replacement but as a way to add value
to more traditional methods of reporting.
In the late
morning of Primary Day, Covington was divvying up assignments among four journalists.
He sends two to downtown Columbia where media outlets from the state and the
nation are covering the story. He sends two others to the small, rural town
of North, about 25 minutes outside the city. “When you’re in North, look for
something visually that captures your attention. If you do your interview
on the street, look at where you shoot (the photograph),” Covington explains.
“Put a little more effort into the shoot if there is something to frame it.
Take an extra five minutes.”
It’s a lesson
in thinking visually while getting the news items and the pieces of color
that can turn a good story into a great one. The other team is dispatched
to Bible Way Church of Atlas Road where the Rev. Darrell Jackson, also a state
senator, endorsed North Carolina Sen. John Edwards two days earlier. “I’m not sure what story you’re going to find there,” Covington
tells the students. “Maybe the people at the church haven’t voted or they
voted for different people.”
Covington says
the newsresourcer will be looking for links and background information on
the effect the church has on politics. They end up linking to a study from
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
One week later
Covington called the Primary Project “extraordinarily successful.” In fact,
300 other Web sites around the world linked to the project’s site. He believes
this concept will only get better and that it is an ideal way for newspapers
or television to supplement and enhance their coverage. Newsplex execs already
are looking are ways to improve this kind of moblog project. One of the challenges
for the students was trying to type their information on the small phone keypad.
So, Covington says a future project could include reporters taking along laptops
for easier typing.
In addition,
the camera phones don’t take as good of quality of photos as a digital camera
would, so that’s a potential technological improvement that would allow reporters
to take photos and dump them into the laptop for transmitting. “It’s essentially
the same process but the quality of the image is enhanced,” Covington says.
Covington was pleased with the depth and breadth of the project’s coverage.
“In some respects, it’s a rudimentary demonstration of how easy it is to use
student journalists to provide coverage you’re not going to get anywhere else.
We were a lot of places the TV stations weren’t. “In terms of thoroughness
and depth, we beat the pants off the TV stations,” Covington says. “For newspapers,
this is a way to compete with television. For TV, it’s a way to add depth
to coverage.”
Newsplex and
Cingular are discussing the possibility of expanding this project on a national
scale to cover the November race for the White House.
-----------------
Newsplex at
the University of South Carolina Web site: http://newsplex.sc.edu
For information
about our Academic Affiliates, visit www.newsplex.org/affiliates.shtml
---------------Conferences
AEJMC Southeast Colloquium
http://www.aejmc.org/region
March 3-6,
2004
University of South Florida
Media convergence will be the theme of the 2004 Southeast Colloquium, hosted
by the University of South Florida School of Mass Communications. Gil Thelen,
executive editor and senior vice president of The Tampa Tribune, a national
leader in multimedia journalism, will give the keynote speech. In addition,
Media General will host an opening reception, giving attendees an opportunity
to tour the NewsCenter, the first and largest converged news operation in
the world. Dr. Marie Flanagan, chair of the host committee, has also arranged
for discounted hotel rates and has compiled a Web site for the colloquium
(http://hometown.aol.com/flanagan960/colloquium/index.html).
Annual Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference
www.ire.org
March 12-14, 2004
Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
Panel topics will include Census, crime, education, local and state government,
freedom of information, transportation and more. Hands-on classes will be
offered featuring spreadsheets, database managers, mapping, statistics and
the latest in cutting-edge technology.
2004 International Symposium on Online Journalism
http://journalism.utexas.edu/onlinejournalism/index.html
April
16-17, 2004
University
of Texas at Austin
This year,
the symposium has been extended over two days. Aside from the panel discussions
and keynote address, research papers will be presented.
Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek's 2004 Interactive Media Conference
& Trade Show
www.interactivemediaconference.com
May 10-12, 2004
Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Peachtree Street.
Also part of the program, the 2004 EPpy Awards Luncheon will be May 12 at
the Hyatt.
---------------Convergence
Notes
The following quote bears repeating:
“Convergence is here.” -- Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of the
Associated Press, at the South Carolina Press Association conference in Myrtle
Beach.
---------------Announcements/News
Call for papers
AEJMC invites submission of original, non-published research papers that
will be considered for presentation at the AEJMC Convention Aug. 4-7, 2004,
in Toronto, Canada. Postmark deadline for submissions is April 1. For details,
visit http://aejmc.org/calls/04papercall.html.
Convergence Defined
Source: Online Journalism Review
It’s a ubiquitous
buzzword, used to describe everything from corporate strategies to technological
developments to job descriptions. But what does convergence really mean? Northwestern
University journalism professor Rich Gordon explores the history of convergence
in his new book “Digital Journalism: Emerging Media and the Changing Horizons
of Journalism” (October 2003, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.).
Read a chapter
from the book at: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/business/1068686368.php
---------------Affiliate
Profile
Newsplex’s
Affiliates program was created in 2001 to engage educational institutions
in the process of sharing information about the training of the next generation
of journalists. The initial goal was to involve recognized institutions from
around the world in the Newsplex mission of teaching and research in convergent
journalism. The Newsplex Affiliates program is now open to any institution
that is engaged in teaching and research in convergent journalism. The Convergence
Newsletter will profile Newsplex Affiliates in the coming issues. Institutions
are strongly encouraged to submit information for a profile and can follow
the outline below. Profiles should be submitted to convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
For information on becoming an affiliate, visit http://newsplex.sc.edu/affiliates.html
University
of South Carolina
School of
Journalism and Mass Communications
By Holly
Fisher, editor, The Convergence Newsletter, and USC graduate student
Program
Overview/Degrees Offered
The
School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South
Carolina is part of the College of Mass Communication and Information
Studies (http://www.sc.edu/cmcis/index.html).
The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees:
--Bachelors
of Arts, a degree in journalism and mass communications
with a choice of four specializations: Advertising, Public Relations, Electronic
Journalism, Print Journalism.
--Master
of Arts for those planning
to pursue a doctorate who will eventually teach in the field.
--Master
of Mass Communications for students with undergraduate degrees in other
academic areas who seek a professional degree in journalism and mass communications.
--Ph.D. for students seeking research and management
careers in media, public relations, advertising, and teaching or research
positions in higher education.
Courses
Descriptions/Curriculum
http://www.sc.edu/bulletin/ugrad/JourCour.html
http://www.sc.edu/bulletin/grad/GJourn.html
--Advertising
majors take introductory courses in advertising and public relations as well
as classes in media planning, creative strategy, research, law and ethics,
graphic design and advertising campaigns.
--Public
Relations majors takes introductory courses in advertising and public
relations, as well as classes in research, law and
ethics, graphic design, public relations writing and an additional writing
course, public relations campaigns and PR management.
--Electronic
Journalism majors gain an understanding
of the theories and practices of radio and television news. Courses concentrate
on news, but also cover announcing, writing, producing and directing. Electronic
journalism seniors are in the newsroom five days a week producing a live,
daily television newscast. The newscast airs on a local cable channel
and on the USC campus channel.
--Print
Journalism majors are prepared for careers with
newspapers or magazines. Required course work includes reporting, copy
editing, information graphics and specialized writing. Senior print journalism
majors produce a weekly newspaper, The Carolina Reporter, as part of their
practicum. Each issue of the newspaper is critiqued by print media professionals.
-Master
of Arts students are part of a traditional academic
program involving 24 semester hours of coursework plus a six-hour thesis.
The thesis, an extensive and well-documented essay, is designed to demonstrate
that the student is capable of independent research, under the supervision
of a faculty committee, on a meaningful topic. The Master of Arts degree is
especially appropriate for those interested in careers in teaching or mass
communications research, and/or those who want to go ahead for a doctorate.
--Master
of Mass Communication students are trained for media management as the
program is designed more for those who wish to become professionals in some aspect of mass
communications. M.M.C. students do not write a thesis, but are required to
complete 36 hours of coursework, including a professional practicum experience
with a newspaper, magazine, television or radio station, advertising or public
relations department or agency, or some other approved mass media-related
organization. Students applying for the M.M.C. may select an area of emphasis
within the degree program: Integrated Communications or Newspaper Leadership.
--Doctor
of Philosophy students are prepared for research and management positions
with mass media organizations and such related organizations as advertising
and public relations agencies, research and marketing companies, and, especially,
for teaching and research careers in higher education.
The doctoral
program is small and selective, permitting each student a considerable degree
of flexibility in tailoring courses and areas of study to fit his or her special
needs and career goals.
Faculty
-The School
of Journalism and Mass Communications has 30 faculty members and 14 adjunct
faculty members (http://www.jour.sc.edu/people/adfacstaff/index.html)
Charles Bierbauer
is the dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies;
Shirley Staples
Carter is the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications;
Erik L. Collins
is associate director for Graduate Studies and Research; Van Kornegay
is chair of the Advertising and Public Relations Sequence; and Pat McNeely is
chair of the Electronic & Print Journalism Sequence.
Student-Produced
Media
--Print
The Carolina
Reporter Online at http://carolinareporter.sc.edu/
is a Web showcase of the school’s senior semester working newsroom. The online
edition is published every other Wednesday; the print edition is published
on alternate Wednesdays.
--Broadcast
CarolinaNews
Online showcases student work from the broadcast senior semester. Students
produce a daily 30-minute television newscast which is telecast on area cable
systems. The online stories featured on the site provide the students convergence
experience in repackaging their material for the Web. CarolinaNews Online
is accessed at http://www.jour.sc.edu/pages/carolinanews/index.html.
And videos can be viewed using QuickTime.
How Convergence
is Addressed in Curriculum
--The undergraduate
senior semesters are where convergence has really started to become a part
of USC’s journalism curriculum. Each semester students are immersed a little
more into the world of new media, melding broadcast, print and online journalism
together. Class by class, journalism professors are exposing their students
to convergence.
Convergence
remains a serious debate among professionals and academics. It’s a necessary
debate about what journalists want to do and how and it’s about what the proper
outcomes should be, says Doug Fisher, an instructor in the print and electronic
sequences.
Many jobs are
starting to demand new media skills and there continues to be a shift among
hiring managers, Fisher says, looking for reporters with multimedia skills.
And that’s
where USC professors are stepping in; they are giving their students a marketable
skill set.
Instructor
Scott Farrand says the more he uses convergence in his classes, the more he
sees higher grades and better class reviews. He helps students start thinking
visually through photojournalism, design and Web publishing. In the fall 2003
semester, he had students produce a multimedia story.
The result,
Farrand says, of using convergence is richer stories because students have
improved their seeing and their thinking.
“Is convergence
going to go away? No. If you want to be better, faster, quicker, you have
to take advantage (of convergence),” Farrand says.
Yet no matter
how much professors incorporate convergence into their daily curriculum, the
focus remains on good storytelling. It isn’t so much about fancy gadgets and
the latest technology but about telling a good story.
“It’s easy
to get into the whiz bang of technology,” Farrand says, “but really it’s about
how to tell the story better.”
Fisher, who
has worked in radio, TV and print as well as with The Associated Press, says
reporters still need a strong background in the basic skills of writing but
they have to be open to the many possibilities of telling stories in different
ways.
“What we concentrate
on is the content rather than the gadgets and the technical aspects,” Fisher
says. “We want to teach a mindset so students understand the ability to put
the story together. If the basics aren’t there, all the technology in the
world won’t help.”
USC journalism
professors, too, are learning about convergence right along with the students.
For many of them, this is relatively new turf.
“The faculty
as a whole has to decide where we’re going with (convergence),” says Dr. Andrea
Tanner, who teaches in the electronic senior semester. “I don’t think anyone
has determined a definition of convergence. We’re taking baby steps and it’s
exciting to see where that leads.”
Expanding
the scope
Right now much
of the focus is on the senior semester “capstone” courses in which print students
produce a newspaper with an online component and the broadcast students produce
a daily newscast and Web site. Convergence curriculum has yet to really reach
into the lower level courses. Only a few courses, such as a computer-assisted
reporting class, are starting to dabble in new media. It can be challenging
to teach convergence in undergraduate courses, instructors say, because the
classes are larger and also those younger students may not even have mastered
the basic reporting and writing skills yet. “The senior semester is a natural
place to foray into convergence,” Fisher says.
Another goal is to converge the capstone courses themselves.
This semester, for example, Carolina Reporter students are appearing on the
Carolina News broadcast one day a week to promote upcoming stories in the
newspaper and on the Web site. Fisher also hopes to resume transmission of
Carolina News copy to the print newsroom for inclusion as briefs and longer
stories in the Reporter.
Dr. Shirley
Staples Carter, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications,
foresees convergence having a bigger impact in the senior semester in the
coming year or two. By the end of the semester, students should be “converged.”
She also expects advertising and public relations to take advantage of new
media opportunities, maybe using online components.
The School
of Journalism’s newest effort in teaching convergent journalism is the proposed
addition of a Convergent Journalism Sequence in the Masters of Mass Communication
program (the school’s professional master’s degree program). The new program
will include a set of four “core” courses in convergent media practices and
management in addition to the school’s core MMC curriculum. Students also
will be able to earn a Certificate in Convergent Journalism by enrolling in
these four courses. The program will begin accepting registrants in fall 2004,
with the coursework commencing summer 2005.
The role
of Newsplex
Faculty credit
Newsplex with giving them the tools and equipment to foster exploration of
convergence. Newsplex is a prototype multimedia newsroom developed by Ifra,
the world’s leading association for newspaper and media publishing. The facility
is housed in the South Carolina Educational Television building on USC’s campus.
Fisher and
Tim Brown, a professor in the print and electronic sequence, have converged
their undergraduate editing and reporting classes at Newsplex in experiments
to examine if journalists can get past the socialization barriers outlined
in the literature looking at convergence cases both professionally and at
the university level, Fisher explains. He and Brown presented a paper on their
research at last fall’s conference on “Expanding Convergence: Media Use in
a Changing Information Environment” hosted by USC and Newsplex.
Assistant professor
Cecile Holmes works with seniors to develop the student-produced newspaper,
The Carolina Reporter. In spring 2003, her class was one of the first to spend
some time in Newsplex, using the technology and atmosphere of this state-of-the-art
newsroom. Holmes background covering state, national and international issues
makes her particularly interested in the possibilities convergence offers
reporters, she says.
Holmes, who
has 23 years of experience in reporting and editing including at The Houston
Chronicle, also used Newsplex during her May semester course on Narrative
Journalism. The class spent six days in Newsplex crafting stories in print,
video and on the Web.
The students
producing The Carolina Reporter create an online version of their newspaper
and are required to be a part of a team that produces stories told across
multiple media, Holmes explains.
“The way I
see it as a teacher is to that a story is a story and we need to show students
how to tell stories that are lucid, accurate and interesting in a way that
utilizes all the media available to them and to require them to have skills
in new media,” Holmes says.
This semester
students are working on a special project about Briggs v. Elliott, a 1950s
South Carolina case dealing with desegregation. The project is part of a special
Brown v. BOE anniversary issue, complete with an interactive Web site, which
will be available this week at www.briggsrevisited.com.
Other Notes
The University of South Carolina provides the infrastructure
and some staffing for Newsplex, a prototype multiple-media micro-newsroom
developed by Ifra, the world’s leading association for newspaper and media
publishing. Newsplex was donated to the College of Mass Communications and
Information Studies for demonstration, training and research in cross-media
newshandling. The beyond-the-state-of-the-art news facility is used to educate
a new generation of multi-skilled and multimedia-minded journalists and corporate
communicators, to support professional news managers and their staffs from
around the world who are adapting to the rapidly expanding media environment,
and to research tools and methods for the emerging convergent news industry.
It is housed in the South Carolina Education TV building on the USC campus.
Newsplex
Newsplex Affiliates
Program
http://newsplex.sc.edu/affiliates.html
---------------Interesting Links
Journalism
educators converged in St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 8-13 for the Convergence
Journalism for College Educators seminar. They created a blog to share their
thoughts and ideas on convergence: http://convergedoyster.blogspot.com/
Experience
the world of an Iranian woman via her blog, “Lady Sun: My naked observations
from this crazy world of words, worries and wishes,” at http://www.ladysun.net/
---------------Copyright
and Redistribution
The Convergence Newsletter is Copyright © 2004 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.
---------------Submission Guidelines/Deadline Schedule
The
Convergence Newsletter welcomes 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.
---------------Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
To subscribe, unsubscribe or edit your information, please send a message
to
convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu