Monday, January 29, 2007
Media convergence: slicing up the pie
The topic of “media conversion” should be recognized as an umbrella term that covers several ideas that are thematically related but with distinct implications for research and business. Henry Jenkins described converged media as being different functionally for institutions as compared to individuals. He said, “...convergence represents a paradigm shift – a move from medium-specific content toward content that flows across multiple media channels, toward the increased interdependence of communication systems, toward multiple ways of accessing media content, and toward ever more complex relations between top-down corporate media and bottom-up participatory culture” (Jenkins, 2006, p. 243).
The ideas of “top-down” vs. “bottom-up” are familiar to those involved with sociology or even Marxism’s discussions of power. Generally speaking they refer to how changes move through the structure (societal, technological, political). “Top-down” vs. “bottom-up” processes are in many ways two sides of the same coin, making a terribly useful distinction; people will use provided resources as suits their needs, and corporations will maintain these resources only as they feel it is profitable. This meeting place, the Internet, has much duplicity as a result. Individuals feel it is a right to have free and total access, while companies jockey for more and more eyeball time.
A recent article published through AEJMC by Edgar Huang and a team of graduate students takes a slightly different perspective. They describe areas of active convergence not in terms of power structure, but in terms of purpose. Their literature review supports several areas of active research under the general heading of convergence: content convergence, form convergence, corporate convergence, and role convergence (Huang, 2007, pp. 226 – 227).
Distinctions between these categories are fairly intuitive. Content convergence refers to the deployment of related content through multiple mediums. For instance, newspapers might have an online version that requires primarily the same content but delivered in a different way. Jenkins calls this “trans-media.” Corporate convergence is the natural result of content convergence: company mergers. Form convergence is the elusive idea that we will have a (I would argue impossible) “black box” for receiving all our media. This is still a hotly debated area in research and business. Finally, role convergence is the way our professions are migrating. Professionals are increasingly expected to perform convergent tasks, such as creating content simultaneously for print, broadcast and the web.
These categories are non-exclusive and are anything but set in stone. Rather, they represent a starting point for discussing the different areas convergence is occurring. The study goes on to primarily examine role convergence as viewed by educators and media professionals, touching on other areas such as corporate convergence. I think it was revealing that Huang (2007) found that the most in-demand skill by media industry employers was not computer skill, but old-fashioned good writing.
References
Huang, E. et al (2007). Bridging Newsrooms and Classrooms: Preparing the Next Generation of Journalists for Converged Media. Journalism Communication Monograph, 8(3).
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
The ideas of “top-down” vs. “bottom-up” are familiar to those involved with sociology or even Marxism’s discussions of power. Generally speaking they refer to how changes move through the structure (societal, technological, political). “Top-down” vs. “bottom-up” processes are in many ways two sides of the same coin, making a terribly useful distinction; people will use provided resources as suits their needs, and corporations will maintain these resources only as they feel it is profitable. This meeting place, the Internet, has much duplicity as a result. Individuals feel it is a right to have free and total access, while companies jockey for more and more eyeball time.
A recent article published through AEJMC by Edgar Huang and a team of graduate students takes a slightly different perspective. They describe areas of active convergence not in terms of power structure, but in terms of purpose. Their literature review supports several areas of active research under the general heading of convergence: content convergence, form convergence, corporate convergence, and role convergence (Huang, 2007, pp. 226 – 227).
Distinctions between these categories are fairly intuitive. Content convergence refers to the deployment of related content through multiple mediums. For instance, newspapers might have an online version that requires primarily the same content but delivered in a different way. Jenkins calls this “trans-media.” Corporate convergence is the natural result of content convergence: company mergers. Form convergence is the elusive idea that we will have a (I would argue impossible) “black box” for receiving all our media. This is still a hotly debated area in research and business. Finally, role convergence is the way our professions are migrating. Professionals are increasingly expected to perform convergent tasks, such as creating content simultaneously for print, broadcast and the web.
These categories are non-exclusive and are anything but set in stone. Rather, they represent a starting point for discussing the different areas convergence is occurring. The study goes on to primarily examine role convergence as viewed by educators and media professionals, touching on other areas such as corporate convergence. I think it was revealing that Huang (2007) found that the most in-demand skill by media industry employers was not computer skill, but old-fashioned good writing.
References
Huang, E. et al (2007). Bridging Newsrooms and Classrooms: Preparing the Next Generation of Journalists for Converged Media. Journalism Communication Monograph, 8(3).
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Now is the Time
Signs of life are few at the schrockmedia desert complex. You can see the large metal door embedded in the mountainside, a blinking LED of the video camera pointed at it, and a thumb print scanner covered with a fine layer of red dust. A hot gust of wind whips by, bringing scorching air up from the valley. The day has quickly warmed. You raise one arm gingerly to the neutral unblinking eye of the video camera. Why no doorbell?
In the cold hermetic air inside, a figure hunches over a MacBook ringed by a semicircular wall of monitors. They display images from a world in disarray: periodically updating analytics from websites, populations across the world in all states of activity, a badly burned-in antique screen from the middle of last century displaying an enormous unblinking eye. The figure that was waving on one of the monitors is now doing sweaty jumping jacks. Steam rises from the vintage hand-pulled espresso machine tucked underneath the counter.
The figure sighs and takes a vinyl record down from the towering shelves cut directly into the mountain wall. Pulling it from its waxy sleeve, he lays it delicately on a Rockport Sirus turntable. “Hopeful, optimistic music today” he says quietly to nobody in particular. Music begins to play as he pulls up a chair to type...
In the cold hermetic air inside, a figure hunches over a MacBook ringed by a semicircular wall of monitors. They display images from a world in disarray: periodically updating analytics from websites, populations across the world in all states of activity, a badly burned-in antique screen from the middle of last century displaying an enormous unblinking eye. The figure that was waving on one of the monitors is now doing sweaty jumping jacks. Steam rises from the vintage hand-pulled espresso machine tucked underneath the counter.
The figure sighs and takes a vinyl record down from the towering shelves cut directly into the mountain wall. Pulling it from its waxy sleeve, he lays it delicately on a Rockport Sirus turntable. “Hopeful, optimistic music today” he says quietly to nobody in particular. Music begins to play as he pulls up a chair to type...
