Convergence
Newsletter
From
Newsplex at the University of South Carolina
Vol. III
No. 7 (January 12, 2006)
Commenting
on Convergence
By Jordan
Storm, editor of The Convergence Newsletter
I must
say, I always get excited in the beginning of a new year. To me, January brings
the possibility of change and 2006 promises to be full of change. Just think,
Knight Ridder is for sale and Steve Outing, senior editor at the Poynter
Institute, has reported http://www.reporter.co.za/,
a South African Web site, is soliciting and paying for citizen-generated
content. I wonder, what will 2006 mean for convergence? Will convergence continue
to be defined and debated, or, with the introduction of new communication
technologies, will it continue to evolve and grow into something else? Perhaps,
as Douglas Starr of Texas A&M hints below, convergence will continue to be
old-hat, simply the process of renaming old concepts and job titles that have
been in the profession for years.
Although The
Convergence Newsletter does not usually publish in January, my executive editor and I felt
it was important to share Starr’s piece with you, the newsletter’s audience.
Too often the newsletter acts as a cheerleader for convergence. The real purpose
of The Convergence Newsletter is to create an open forum where scholars and
professionals can explore and debate how issues of convergent media and new
communication technologies are shaping journalism. In order to have a debate, of
course, two opposing sides need to participate.
That is
why we are sharing this supplemental issue with you. We invite you to send in
your thoughts after reading Starr’s piece in order to continue the
conversation. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jordan
Storm is working toward a Master of Arts degree at the University of South
Carolina. Contact her at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
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Feature
Articles
A Dispatch
from the Convergence Trenches
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Conference
Information
Citizen
Media: Engaging an Empowered Audience
Ver 1.0:
Institute for Analytic Journalism
BEA2006:
Convergence Shockwave
Newsplex
Summer Seminar Series
World
Editors Forum
ICA:
Networking Communication Research Conference
Convergence
and Society: Ethics, Religion and New Media
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---------------Feature
Articles
A Dispatch
from the Convergence Trenches
By
Douglas Perret Starr, Professor of Agricultural Journalism, Texas A&M
University
Oh, boy!
No matter how closely and carefully I look at His Royal Convergence Highness, I
still get the impression that his clothing leaves something to be desired. He’s
not exactly as naked as his fairy tale forebear, but he sure isn’t dressed to
the nines as most people seem to have it.
In the
first place, the only things about convergence that are new are some terms and
the fact that duties once the prerogative of the News Editor and the
Photographer and techniques used in newspapers and magazines now are relegated
to the News Reporter.
The Web
News Reporter covers the story, shoots the photographs and the video, writes
the story and the headline, helps select the photograph and writes the
captions, and puts the whole thing on the Web page.
Then, of
course, the News Reporter writes the broadcast version of the story and
prepares the Teleprompter version. What a salary today’s News Reporter must
draw.
The Way Things Were
Years
ago, we learned that giving a camera to a News Reporter meant that we would
have a good story or a good photograph, but not both. That idea seems to have
disappeared. Maybe that’s why many stories are not so good.
I was a rimmer,
or copy editor, at the Fort Worth Star–Telegram in the late 1970s, editing copy
and writing headlines as directed by the News Editor (today’s Gatekeeper) when
the newspaper shifted to the computer from Underwood standard typewriters and
No. 1 copy pencils.
The
newspaper laid off two dozen or more union Linotype operators on the grounds that
the four rimmers/copy editors were setting type, so what were Linotype
operators needed for, anyway?
To
compensate for our extra duty, our hourly wage was elevated from $7 to $7.25.
We were cheaper than union Linotype operators and we had no union backing.
In the
1960s, when I was an Associated Press newsman in Jackson, Miss., writing news
on all-caps teletype machines, we wrote as many as seven versions of the same
story every day: one for the morning newspaper (AMS), one for the afternoon
newspaper (PMS), and five versions, all different, for the five afternoon
hourly radio newscasts.
We
composed directly on the keyboard, which meant that, because we were punching
tape, and the tape had to feed through the transmitter before we could read it,
we were typing blind. Even so, we could compose copy at 80–85 words a
minute.
In
covering legislative senate and house sessions, we composed on the keyboard as
many as eight or 10 stories, one after the other, using only notes, because of
the press of the deadline. AP was always on deadline. And we punched that tape
at 80–85 words a minute.
In those
days, every AP field newsman in the bureaus too small to warrant a teletype
operator operated in that fashion.
New Tool, New Terms, Techniques
Now comes
his Royal Convergence Highness. Wow! A new tool, so it must require new
techniques, even new terms. Can’t use the old terminology with new equipment
and new ideas, even if they appear to mirror the old.
So, the
duties of the News Editor shifted to the Web page editor, with small changes.
The Web has no pages to fill, no newshole, no space left over after the
advertising is set down on each page, because the Web is its own newshole,
eliminating page design.
So the
Web page designer sets up the page, and the design duties fall to the News
Reporter. Where the News Editor inserted subheads (two to four words inserted
and centered in the column to break up the gray type and indicate what is
coming up) and called for paragraphs of no more than four or five lines of
type, the News Reporter inserts the subheads and restricts Web paragraphs to
four or five lines on screen, but with a blank line between paragraphs.
That does
two things, the same two things that were done in newspapers: The short paragraphs
made for plenty of white space and easy reading in the 2-inch-wide newspaper
column, and the subheads told readers what was coming next.
Gee, the
Emperor’s clothes seem to be fading away.
And,
whereas in the old days, the copy editors edited the copy and wrote the
headlines, on the Web, the News Reporter writes the headlines. I really don’t
know who copyedits the News Reporter, but from stories I have read, it seems
that News Reporters edit their own copy, a gross mistake.
And those
old sidebars, secondary news stories that accompanied many long, important
pieces, became Hyperlinks on the Web. Same idea, new name.
More
clothes are disappearing.
Surfing the Web
Another
new term, surfing, means flipping through the Web file in search of interesting
stories. Imagine. Just like turning the pages in a newspaper to see what other
goodies are in store.
I think I
am becoming sacrilegious. I don’t mean to be, but I just don’t see the new
attire on His Royal Highness. It all seems to me that the new equipment is just
that, new equipment. When Gutenberg developed movable type, nobody called for
new ways to write.
The
writers used the same language that they had used for years; they just
published it more easily and faster.
Well,
that’s what the computer does, enables News Reporters to produce their stories
faster.
But, as
in Gutenberg’s time, nobody could read the product of the new technique until
it was published; neither can people read what is on the Web unless they are
online.
Drat! I
knew it was going too well.
But the
Web has a singular advantage: it has so much space that News Reporters can
develop their stories as long as they wish, including all of the details that
bear upon the story. Oh, boy, that’s great. Now readers will know all those
dreary details.
Really?
Few readers read all the way through any one story in the newspaper, a
relatively easy task. To expect readers to slog through 10,000 words on the small,
blinking computer screen … well, it ain’t gonna happen.
The only
people who read all the way through such long pieces are scholars seeking
information for their own writing in hopes of gaining publication in an
academic journal and securing tenure and promotion.
Other Terms, Other Comments
Now that
His Highness is nearly naked, I’d like to comment on three terms: Gatekeeper,
Agenda-setting and Framing. Those jobs may be a bit out of the convergence
area, but they are there.
The
Gatekeeper is the newspaper’s News Editor, the desk that decides both which
stories to publish and which stories not to publish. That means that the
Gatekeeper sets the Agenda — somebody has to do it — and decides on
which news story readers read. Powerful position, that.
Consider
this: The average newspaper publishes 40,000 words of news a day. The
Associated Press transmits 2 million words of usable copy a day. In addition,
each newspaper has news from its own staffers.
Without a
Gatekeeper, no, let me change that, without a News Editor, a job held by a
professional with years of experience and vast knowledge, very little usable
news would appear in the newspaper except by accident. Readers have to trust
somebody.
And
Framing, which has terribly undesirable connotations, is a bugaboo tacked onto news
stories, as though the News Reporter has time to decide in what frame the story
will be cast. Writing copy at 80–85 words a minute gives precious little
time for the story itself, let alone determining some devious approach to set a
tone.
News
Reporters are just too professional for that. Besides, Accuracy and Objectivity
are their watchwords.
Inverted Pyramid Easy To Read
I fear
that if His Convergence Highness were not the Emperor, he would stand a good
chance of being arrested for indecent exposure after this next suggestion:
changing the writing style for the Web.
I have
read Ann Wylie and Jakob Nielsen and their suggestions for Web writing, and The
Convergence Newsletter writers’ suggestions about using narrative writing and telling the
story first, and they are good suggestions. But I have concerns.
If an
airplane crashes and kills 250 people, I don’t want to begin by reading that it
departed O’Hare on schedule heading east for Washington, D.C. To me, the news
is that the airplane crashed and a bunch of people were killed, not a narrative
with a “once-upon-a-time” approach.
The
narrative can be put into the story later.
Of
course, if these pundits — other than me, of course — are referring
to analyses and columns rather than to news stories, then, fine. Write opinion
copy any way you want to.
But,
please, for hard news stories, write them straight. Remember? Start with the
Who and tell readers what the Who did and Why the Who did it. Terse, concise,
to the point. The Inverted Pyramid.
Remember
the rule: Don’t write a 500-word story in 1,000 words; write a 1,000-word story
in 500 words.
I’d
appreciate it. Maybe your readers will, too.
By the
way, notice how easy this copy is on your eyes. No paragraph longer than five
lines. A blank space between paragraphs. And subheads. Gee, ain’t that sumpin’.
You’re
welcome.
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Editor’s
Note: If you became hot and bothered by Starr’s commentary, or yelled aloud, “Hurrah,
someone finally said it,” I want you to share your thoughts with me by
e-mailing the newsletter at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu.
This conversation often is discussed in hushed whispers; let’s scream it in
print.
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---------------Conferences
American
Press Institute and J-Lab
Citizen
Media: Engaging an Empowered Audience
April
4-5, 2006
Reston,
Virginia USA
http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/06/Citizen/
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Institute
for Analytic Journalism
Ver 1.0
– A Workshop on Public Database Verification for Journalists and Social
Scientists
April
9-12, 2006
Santa Fe,
New Mexico USA
Participants
in the three-day workshop will explore developing statistical and other
methodological tools suitable for social scientists, biomedical and behavioral
researchers, journalists and other interested investigators to determine the
veracity of public records databases.
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Broadcast
Education Association
Convergence
Shockwave: Change, Challenge and Opportunity
April
27-29, 2006
Las
Vegas, Nevada USA
The
BEA2006 Conference aims to create a forum for discussion and research on the
issues that face media convergence today. The deadline for pre-registration is March
10, 2006.
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The
University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Newsplex
Summer Seminar Series
May 8
– June 30, 2006
Columbia,
South Carolina USA
Four
separate seminars will be held at Newsplex in May and June 2006, ranging in
topic from a broad overview of convergence trends to more specific training in
Web publishing and specific software operation. The seminars are:
May 08-12:
Convergence Software Bootcamp #1
May
22-26, 2006: Teaching and Research in Convergent Journalism
June
12-16, 2006: Web publishing in Convergent Journalism
June
26-30, 2006: Convergence Software Bootcamp #2
For more
information, or to reserve a spot, visit: http://Newsplex.sc.edu
or e-mail Augie Grant: augie@sc.edu.
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World
Association of Newspapers
World
Editors Forum
June 4-7,
2006
Moscow,
Russia
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International
Communication Association
Networking
Communication Research Conference
June
19-23, 2006
Dresden,
Germany
http://www.icahdq.org/events/conference/2006/conf2006info.asp
Conference
pre-registration starts January 15, 2006.
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University
of South Carolina College of Mass Communication and Information Science and
Newsplex
Convergence
and Society: Ethics, Religion, and New Media Conference
October
19-21, 2006
http://newsplex.sc.edu/newsplex_cfpapers06.html
Since
September 11, ethics and religion have emerged as important topics in the study
of new media. At this conference, the moral implications of emerging media are
addressed at the levels of society, culture, and the media professions. It is a
forum for scholars, media professionals and theologians to discuss converging
media from the standpoint of competing values. Papers and panels may include
institutional, content, audience, cultural, political and technological
perspectives on media from the perspective of social responsibility. Abstracts,
completed papers and panel proposals for this conference should deal with one
or more of the following four themes:
= Ethics:
Examination of current approaches to moral reasoning about convergence
= Values:
Analysis of values related to converging technologies (i.e., information
equity, privacy, diversity, etc.).
=
Religiosity: How denominations are contributing to public and policy discussion
of convergence and values.
= Media
Convergence, including convergent journalism, technological convergence and
audience behavior.
The
purpose of this conference is to provide a scholarly exploration of these
issues individually and of the connections among them. Submission may address
theory, history, media practice, social influences, cultural issues, legal
implications and effects upon consumers.
Faculty
and graduate students are invited to submit in one or more of three categories:
completed papers, proposals or abstracts of papers in progress and proposals
for panels.
Submissions
may address practical, theoretical, phenomenological, critical and/or empirical
approaches to any of the subjects listed above. 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.
Submission deadline (postmark) is June 15, 2006.
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---------------Announcements/News
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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---------------Publisher
and Editorial Staff
The
Convergence Newsletter is free and published by The College of Mass Communications and
Information Studies at the University of South Carolina.
Executive
Editor
Augie
Grant, Ph.D.
Editor
Jordan
Storm
convergence-news@mailbox.sc.edu
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---------------Copyright
and Redistribution
The
Convergence Newsletter is Copyright © 2006 by the University of South Carolina, College of
Mass Communications and Information Studies. All rights reserved.
This
newsletter 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
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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
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