Page 26 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

WHAT IS CONVERGENCE AND HOW WILL IT AFFECT MY LIFE?

group (Filak, 2004). These and other cultural issues are likely to cause
problems for convergence unless they are dealt with properly.
Tensions can be reduced through tasks that show journalists’ shared
values. Reporters learn to trust people from other media through
working with them and discovering their similarities. Managers play
a vital role in pointing out that journalists share the same core values.
Instructors in various institutions also are seeking ways to instill these
collaborative values in their students (Birge, 2004). This early inter-
vention should help limit the likelihood that students will start down
the path of “us versus them” (Filak, 2003). Another key is training in
the sense of exposure to ideas, and learning how to operate in different
media. Part of the problem is the language that separates print and
broadcast journalists; an editor in print is very different from a broad-
cast editor. Working together and sharing media experiences can help
diminish the perception of difference by both groups.

Why Is This Book Needed?

16 In 2003 Professor Edgar Huang and a group of his graduate students at
the University of South Florida released details of a national survey they
conducted at universities and media organizations (daily newspapers
and commercial television stations). The survey asked how journalism
schools should prepare students for media convergence. The results
showed that three in five of America’s journalism schools had adapted
their curricula or developed new courses to prepare for convergence.
Camille Kraeplin and Carrie Criado of Southern Methodist University
found that 85 percent of the 240 university programs they surveyed
had adopted or were in the process of introducing convergence to
the curriculum. Some of the changes were “fairly minor” (Kraeplin &
Criado, 2002). Huang concluded that a wait-and-see strategy would
disadvantage journalism schools, and suggested that schools needed to
provide cross-media knowledge and experience to help students find
jobs. Multidimensional news reporting over multiple platforms would
be the way tomorrow’s news was presented, Huang concluded. “There-
fore, dealing with media convergence in college journalism education
is an urgent necessity” (Huang et al., 2003).
This book is based on the belief that university journalism pro-
grams need to offer convergence skills. This preparatory chapter aside,
the rest of the book adopts a hands-on approach. The book is a sat-
isfying and rare blend of academic study and practical application.