Convergence Newsletter
From Newsplex at the
Vol. IV No. 10 (May 2007)
Commenting on Convergence
By Melissa McGill, editor of The Convergence Newsletter
Contrary to the popular saying, what happens in Vegas does not always stay there. This issue
features briefs of convergence-related papers presented at the 2007 Broadcast
Education Association Convention held April 18-21 in
We are in the middle of one of our busiest months here at Newsplex. The Newsplex Summer
Seminars start next week, running through early June, and the deadline for
submissions for the October conference is a week later, June 15. These and
other circumstances will postpone the June edition of this newsletter. Look for
the newsletter to return the first week of July with our fourth anniversary
edition.
View past newsletters at http://www.jour.sc.edu/news/convergence/index.html.
Melissa McGill is working toward a Master of Mass Communications
at the
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Feature Articles
A Bullet-Points Approach to Visual Storytelling on the Web
Viral Marketing to Valuable Niche Audiences Via
Blogs
Participatory Journalism: Are the Voices of Underrepresented
Citizens Being Heard?
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Conference Information
Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism
AEJMC
Creating Communication: Content, Control and Critique
Info Services Expo 2007
Convergence and Society: Media Ownership, Control, and
Consolidation Call for Papers
Online Fundamentals for Newsroom Leaders
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---------------Feature Articles
A Bullet-Points Approach to Visual Storytelling on the Web
By Tony DeMars, University of North
Carolina-Pembroke
Over the past ten-plus years, the popular press and researchers
suggested those working in news and news-related fields should ‘prepare for
change, ‘adapt or die,’ and ‘change now before it’s
too late.’ During these transformative years, news convergence efforts emerged
between print, broadcast and online news outlets. Changes in the way news
content reaches the audience have occurred, but have these changes been the
kind that generates consumer interest in news content and adapts to what
appears to be a difference in how younger media consumers expect to use media
content?
The Broadcast Education Association presentation “A Bullet-Points
Approach to Visual Storytelling on the Web” is an attempt to further new
thinking regarding how news stories are told. While focused as a pedagogical
paper with the goal of encouraging educators to be forward-thinking about
educating future journalists, the work also suggests the news industry should
recognize a need for adjustments in reporting methods. This research suggests
that the assumption made by some in the industry that making TV news more
tabloid style or newspaper articles shorter to attract younger readers fails to
recognize that a significant change seems to have occurred in how the modern
media user expects to get information or entertainment. This sea change
requires a new approach to visual storytelling.
What has been the dominant style of presentation of news in the ‘new
media’ arena? Television news produces the same type of linear stories for
their linear broadcasts, then posts the video of that
linear news show or individual linear stories onto a Web site. Newspapers
continue to write linear stories, then post those
stories as text onto a Web site. When convergence agreements have allowed
traditional and broadcast news organizations to work together on news, each
type of media has mostly continued to create and distribute the same format of
news content as was appropriate for their respective, traditional manner of
distribution. This approach does not take advantage of the interactive ability
of new media.
The Institute for Interactive Journalism on the J-Lab site lists
several sites (http://www.j-lab.org/cool_intnarr.shtml)
featuring what are described as Interactive Narratives, noting that "these
outlets are using interactive techniques to tell stories in new ways." This
style of interactive news focuses on an interaction between citizens and professional
journalists. This interactive approach means citizens are encouraged to add
content to a story, to contribute stories, to respond to elements of a story
through activities or surveys, or to select various elements of a story for
further understanding. While this form of interactivity is one good use of new
media, the potential for the user to ‘read’ the story interactively, in a
non-linear fashion, is a mostly untapped.
This is where the ‘Bullet Points’ proposal comes in. One example
on J-Lab’s Interactive Narratives site (http://www.ljworld.com/specials/murray_trial/
) gets close to what the
‘Bullet-Points Approach’ proposes. This interactive site allows the user to see
elements of the story as they developed—to go back and read past content. Users
may also select and view interviews from persons related to the story or past
reports about the story. In essence, this approach serves the user who wants
much more depth, providing non-linear links to serve this purpose. In a similar
context, the model proposed in this paper suggests using a multi-media
authoring program like Flash or Swishmax to create a
"story page." On that page, users would see an outline of the story
along with a synopsis. Major elements of the story would then be listed as
bullet points, much like a full-sentence outline. Interview clips ("sound
bites") would be strategically placed next to each, along with a thumbnail
of the speaker. Users could choose to view the sound bite or to view a longer
interview related to that segment of the story. Users could select randomly
from bullet points of interest to see details of main story points.
This ‘non-linear’ approach to visual storytelling was demonstrated
during the BEA presentation. The proposal challenges those teaching print or
broadcast news courses to introduce a new multi-media authoring component to
those classes in expectation of a need in the future to adjust to a new model
of visual storytelling on the Internet and other new digital media.
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Viral Marketing to Valuable Niche Audiences Via
Blogs
By Steven McClung, Ph.D., Patrick O’Donnell, MA, and Mike Tomaszeski, MA,
It’s been said that the overwhelming majority of all blogs have at
least one, but not many more than one, reader. In most instances, that’s the
case; there are millions of blogs out there spanning a variety of topics from
pets to politics.
However, there are some blogs floating around the blogosphere that are managing to gather audiences. And
where you find audiences, you’ll find marketers. The research I and my students
have been engaged in at
Getting the word out
In order for a blog to attract larger audiences, interested Web
users have to have heard about the blog and know where to find it. Traditional
media is one way the bloggers can get their word out.
Stories about, interviews with bloggers on
traditional media, radio, television and print, go a long way in exposing
unaware, potential blog readers to the source. Many political blogs have seen
exponential audience growth as a result of a radio or television interview,
mention or citation as a source. Early on, professional journalists who cited
blogs turned attention to them. As a result, there seems to have evolved a
symbiotic relationship between bloggers and
traditional media. As Johnson and Kaye report, reliance on blogs by traditional
journalists has led to many media members starting their own blogs and the bloggers seemed to have gained some credibility in
mainstream media.
The other way bloggers get their voices
heard is by simple grass roots marketing. Viral marketing is what it’s called
on the Internet, and some refer to it as simply partnering. Back in the old
days, there was a software program called a “webring”
that exposed audiences who were interested in a certain topic, to other pages
concerning the same topic. That way, fans of the Miami Dolphins could browse
all the Dolphins sites easily and quickly. Webrings
don’t really exist anymore, but the principal of it does. Many bloggers are more than happy to promote other bloggers on their sites. In fact, that is one of the
commonalities of both music and political bloggers.
There is plenty of networking.
Delivering a product
The second thing a blog needs to do to be successful, successful
at least for marketers to take notice, is deliver a product. Blogs are content
driven vehicles. They do deliver content. In the case of political blogs the
content delivered is text. Within the text, users find debate, discussion and
opinion. Political blogs are not short on content. What makes political blogs
viable is the information and influence. In fact, Brooks notes that blogs are
important because their audience influences the traditional media and the
politically powerful.
Since its inception in 1991, the Web has led to the growth and
dissemination of many new ideas and technologies. Two of these innovations that have
independently become popular since the rise of the Web are MP3s and weblogs. MP3s, which
first gained exposure in 1998, are easily downloadable. Although there are many different types of
blogs, blogs that combine the traditional blog format paired with MP3s are
becoming more and more popular. MP3 blogs approach online music from a very
different angle than Napster and the other free services that followed. These blogs, like My Old Kentucky Blog,
contain music from new artists or hard-to-find songs from the past, and
encourage users to purchase albums if they like what they hear. These blogs may skirt the legality line, but
they also offer unique marketing chances for musicians and their record
companies.
Blogs must have value to someone.
Finally, the common denominator of any blog is value. The blogs have
to be valuable to someone. Political
discourse and debate is undoubtedly a cornerstone of the nations’ watchdog
mentality. Entertainment, whether it’s music, movies or sports, is one of the
leading revenue generators in this country.
Information concerning both arenas is valuable to most people.
That’s what blogs provide: information, opinion, and the actual product.
Are blogs the most efficient vehicle for attracting large
audiences? Not yet.
Are blogs efficient in delivering audiences that are interested in
a particular subject? Absolutely.
Now, those audiences aren’t large…yet. But in the evolving media
landscape of 100 cable channels, 200 satellite radio channels and magazines
that are highly targeted toward composite audiences, it could be said that not
many media vehicle audiences are getting larger. And as marketers are
increasingly becoming aware, bigger is not always better.
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Participatory Journalism: Are the Voices of Underrepresented
Citizens Being Heard?
By Sybril Bennett, Ph.D., Executive
Director, New Century Journalism Program,
When Tony DeMars asked me to discuss
whether the voices of underrepresented citizens were being heard, my response
was an emphatic yes. After all, this
topic was to be presented during a panel at the Broadcast Education Association
at the annual convention in
It is extremely difficult to quantify the number of Web sites
which serve the public’s interest, convenience and necessity. Traditional media were able to ignore
audience input until the virtual media expanded the landscape for critical
analysis, thought and interaction.
Virtually speaking, just because the consumer can respond to or a
content producer can post to a Web site does not mean that the site is
journalism-based. Part of the challenge
is the incessant nature of people to identify anyone who has a Web site or is a
blogger as a journalist. This is a dangerous mistake
that needs to be refuted. Every blogger isn’t a journalist, and every journalist isn’t a blogger. Every
person with a Web site is not a journalist.
Therefore, studying sites and arbitrarily including them in journalistic
discussions is shortsighted.
Ultimately, my presentation entailed setting up a research agenda
for academicians. Analytically speaking, someone needs to define journalism,
advocacy, citizen’s journalism, participatory journalism and underrepresented
populations. That message then needs to
be standardized and widely disseminated to be adopted by the masses. During the opening session of the National
Association of Broadcasters, President David Rehr
made a plea to NAB members to “update, reframe and rebrand”
the public’s perception of broadcasting.
Journalism professors would be wise to follow suit.
Through purposive, experimental and experiential research
methodologies, the role of citizen contributions needs to be examined. An excellent starting point would be
analyzing the New Voices projects which are administered at the
In conclusion, with every new innovation, there are early
adopters. Typically, members of underrepresented groups are slow to adopt new
technology. On the surface, this appears
to be true when examining Internet participation in “citizen’s
journalism.” However, a sweeping generalization
cannot be made because we really don’t have a way to track the author of any
given Web site. Further, is the Web site for journalism, advocacy, neither or
both? Answering all of these questions
is paramount to the journalistic mission as well as academic instruction. Right
now, definitions are being assigned primarily by the media and not by
researchers. It is imperative that
academicians lead these defining efforts.
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June 15 Deadline for Convergence Conference Submissions
By Augie Grant, Executive Editor of The Convergence Newsletter and Associate Professor,
For me, one of the most exciting things about the end of the
Spring Semester is that my email box begins to fill with submissions for the
Convergence and Society conference, which will be held October 11-13, here at Newsplex. The special theme of this year's conference is
"Media Ownership, Control, and Consolidation," and we are encouraging
researchers from a host of different perspectives ranging from critical
analysis to empirical research to submit their work for the conference. As
always, the theme will generate sessions on this topic, but we also expect a
wide variety of submissions dealing with all areas of convergence, ranging from
pedagogical and definitional issues to theoretical and empirical research.
In addition to a traditional "Call for Papers," we have
also issued a "Call for Showcase Presentations" designed to provide a
venue for scholars and professionals experimenting with convergent media
technologies to demonstrate their systems, processes, experiments, and
innovations.
Links to both the "Call for Papers" and the "Call for Showcase Presentations" can be found on the Newsplex academic home page: http://Newsplex.sc.edu
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---------------Position
Announcement
Multimedia Producer and General
Manager
The
producer/GM will oversee the school’s new Web product, which will feature
student work produced for all media platforms in a state-of-the-art media lab.
The lab will serve as a collaborative environment for majors in online, print
and broadcast, the visual technologies, and persuasive communications.
Minimum
qualification: A journalist with substantive experience in a broadcast, print
and/or a Web newsroom, with a background in both reporting and editing and with
a portfolio that demonstrates a foundation in classic journalism skills and in
producing stories in the multiple platforms - interactives,
streaming video and still photography, and text. Also
required: facility with such emerging communication technologies and trends as podcasting, blogging and citizen
journalism.
The primary
responsibility will be the day-to-day oversight of the Web site, assuring it is
professional-quality. The producer/GM will coordinate closely with professors
from all departments to assure the site is supplied with timely, fresh,
high-quality content, and also will work directly with student teams from
across all disciplines, from product creation through the production process.
The
producer/GM must be a strong hands-on editor comfortable working with young and
inexperienced reporters/producers. The candidate will be expected to remain
current with the industry and technology by forging relationships with
work-world professionals, by attending conferences and trainings, by staying
up-to-date with the industry literature, and by planning an annual summer experience
in the field.
The
producer/GM will be expected to promote experimentation and R&D-style
initiatives, and to oversee a Web product reflecting Newhouse’s
emergence as a leader in multi-platform storytelling and content presentation
of all kinds.
For a
position description and online application instructions, go to
www.sujobopps.com, (#023193). Cover letter, resume and list of professional
references must be attached. Priority consideration will be given to
applications received by April 27, 2007 and the search will remain open until
the position is filled.
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---------------Conferences
57th Annual Conference of the
International Communication Association
Creating Communication: Content, Control and Critique
http://www.icahdq.org/conferences/index.asp
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Knight-Batten
Awards for Innovations in Journalism
Deadline
June 13, 2007
Find out
about the Award: http://www.j-lab.org/batten.shtml
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Convergence
and Society: Media Ownership, Control, and Consolidation Call for Papers
Submission
deadline (postmark) is June 15, 2007.
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60th
World Newspaper Congress/ 14th World Editors Forum
Info
Services Expo 2007
June 3-6,
2007,
http://www.capetown2007.co.za/home.php
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AEJMC
http://www.aejmc.org/07convention/index.php
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Online
Fundamentals for Newsroom Leaders
Poynter
October
30, 2007 – November 1, 2007
Deadline:
August 27, 2007
http://www.poynter.org/seminar/seminar_view.asp?int_seminarID=4269
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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
Executive
Editor
Augie
Grant, Ph.D.
Editor
Melissa McGill
convergence-news@mailbox.sc.edu
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---------------Copyright
and Redistribution
The Convergence Newsletter is Copyright © 2007 by the
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
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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
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Newsletter editor at convergence-editor@mailbox.sc.edu. Please
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If you
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The Convergence Newsletter is published the first week of
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