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Convergence Of Media

Posted on 31 January 2011 by Aakanksha Shahi

The evolving face of Media is not only fascinating and encompassing but it is imperative to note that it has become an integral part of our life. Can you imagine your life without a Newspaper or without advertisements or television and films or your cell phones? It’s quite difficult to do so isn’t it? Media is dominant in every walk of life today that makes it an even more vital reason to study the emerging and fast growing sector.

A lot of people perceive media to be confined to school of Journalism as it was thought in the olden days. But it has spread across and penetrated deep into the field of advertisement, public relations, films, television, internet, radio and even our cell phones for that matter. The reach of Media is much beyond our imagination now. What is more interesting is the way these all come together to complement and enhance each other to make its expertise even more impactful. Convergence of media is what we will see in the next phase of Media evolvement.

What is convergence of Media?

  • Convergence of media refers to the coming together of different fields of Media to compliment and aid each other in their smooth functioning.
  • Media convergence is the merging of mass communications outlets—prints, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through various digital presentation platforms.
  • The industry demands multi faceted and multi skilled professionals thus overlapping of interests and job skills are quite prevalent.
  • The media convergence movement developed from latest technological advancements—particularly the emergence of the Internet and the digitization of information.
  • Media convergence allows mass media personnel to narrate stories and give information and entertainment using an assortment of media.
  • Converged communication offers numerous instruments for giving information, permitting consumers to choose a level of interactivity while self-directing content delivery.
  • Media convergence lets mass media viewers to relate with and even create mass media content.  Consumers can now monitor when, where and how they access and relate to the information of all sorts.
  • Convergence journalism engages cooperation among print, broadcast and Web journalists to produce the finest account possible using a array of delivery systems to reach the widest audience.
  • Students who recognize media convergence are more versatile, flexible and more employable.  Employers want to employ people who understand the inference of media convergence and can work in a congregated environment.
  • People wanting to pursue a career in any aspect of mass media whether it be television reporting, public relations, print journalism, advertising, radio broadcasting or Web design need to understand how to toil in today’s rapidly transforming digital world.
  • Media outlets all through the country, now rely on print, online and video partnerships and new concerted strategies that maximize resources.
  • People who possess knowledge in compound media and can ‘hit-the-ground running’ have an edge over others in the industry. So for example if a broadcast journalist has to get his story faster and before other Journalists in other channels one must have his/her contacts in place to get a credible story on time thus his PR skills come into play.
  • Technology changes news, the nature of it, how we get it, how we present it. Whether the task is writing for the newspaper, the television or the computer screen, the process of thinking about the news remains the same. The tools the reporter may use to collect and deliver the information will undoubtedly differ.

Professional requisites in the age of Convergence:

1. Adapt news copy for use by multiple media;

2. Shoot and edit video;

3. Work in an integrated media technology environment;

4. Adapt visual news content for multiple media;

5. Write for print;

6. Shoot still photographs;

7. Design graphics; and finally,

8. Design Web sites.

Although news managers indicated they need employees capable of doing this kind of work, most TV news stations provided no training support to help employees develop the required skills.

Today’s media setting is changing.  Consumers are accessing information and entertainment media in new ways such as Internet portal sites, mobiles, hand held devices, blogs, podcasts, instant messaging and video on demand. People who understand convergence will have a benefit despite of their meticulous areas of expertise. Learning to function in a converged media milieu is decisive to profession success in media.

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