October 2011: A hundred comments in a half-hour

Blogging has become "the first draft of journalism" and a channel to stronger relationships with readers, according to sports writers adapting to their expanded roles. Learn how pros covering leagues from the NFL to minor league hockey have integrated blogging into the routine. Read Brian Moritz's research in the new edition of The Convergence Newsletter. Then join the conversation on Facebook.

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September 2011: Utah's Experiment in Team Teaching

Kimberley Mangun and Daren Brabham collaborated at Utah to team teach a course in beat reporting and multimedia with a focus on diversity reporting. Explore their results in the new edition of The Convergence Newsletter in their article, Converging Beat Reporting, Diversity and Multimedia: An Experiment in Team Teaching.

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September 2011: Update on TCU's converged student newsroom

At Texas Christian University, Assistant Professor Aaron Chimbel helps students navigate the demands of combining four news operations -- newspaper, television, webcasts and magazine -- into one news website. How do you coordinate coverage? Who has the final say? And can you hold a meeting for 50 reporters and editors? In an update to his 2010 article, Chimbel reports on TCU's progress in Starting a Converged Campus News Website in the new edition of The Convergence Newsletter.

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September 2011: When students take the lead

To learn news convergence, students eventually must take the lead and experience the challenges of working in a converged newsroom. In the process, they figure out how to overcome technical obstacles, negotiate through staff conflicts, and provide readers rich, multimedia content on deadline.

This month, Aaron Chimbel explains how his students at Texas Christian University's Schieffer School of Journalism have managed the practical aspects of merging newspaper, magazine and broadcast operations into a single news site, TCU360.com, and he reports on the early results.

Kimberley Mangun and Daren Brabham analyze the lessons they and their students at the University of Utah learned from a collaborative project with reporting and Web design classes.

Read the full September issue.

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August 2011: Lessons in convergence from two perspectives

It falls to us as educators to help students discover the best ways to tell a story, but what happens when we are not sure of the best way to do that? What if the curriculum is entrenched in the status quo?

The theme of this month's newsletter is convergence in the classroom. Sometimes, rigid credit-hour guidelines limit what we can do to integrate convergence on both the program and classroom level. Even as the 10th Convergence and Society conference approaches (agenda now available), we still are looking for new ideas to prepare the journalists of tomorrow.

In this issue, Annemarie Franczyk looks at things from a program perspective while Jennifer Cox offers some insight at the classroom level. Also in this issue, Convergence and Society conference chair Augie Grant briefs us on the upcoming conference.

To read the August issue, click here.

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June 2011: Redefining Journalism Education in a Digital Sense

There isn't much about media that isn't digital now, but that continues to raise questions about whether education systems internationally are equipped to meet the needs of the digital creative industries. EU nations and the U.S. have been on different paths in approaching the issue: The U.S., as might be expected, more laissez faire, while Britain, for instance, has been more inclined to treat it as a matter of national policy.

But convergence is rapidly breaking down barriers and bridging oceans, making such questions cross-national concerns. The result is an EU-U.S. funded study designed to bring industry and education together to find answers and make recommendations to policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic. The work goes beyond journalism and media to encompass a wide range of related digital creative industries - but that's part of the challenge, determining what should be included.

In this issue, Executive Editor Doug Fisher, a member of the study group, provides a more detailed explanation and asks, on behalf of the researchers, for your ideas and, especially, for nominations to industry panels that will be established as part of the work.

You can read the article here.

April/May 2011 Convergence Newsletter

With convergence comes great responsibility and opportunity - opportunity that the University of South Florida's Anne Anderson says many newspapers still seem to be missing. In her discussion of media platform convergence, Anderson highlights the industry's neglect of younger audiences even as studies show the reading habit begins early. Part of the news industry's responsibility is to adapt content to its audience, and Anderson suggests the industry expand the concept of younger readers and community content in order to capture this ignored audience.

To read the entire article click, here.

Another responsibility is to try new things, as Chris Vadnais, superintendent of AFN-Incirlik, the Defense Department's radio and television station at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, has done as a converged journalist. He details his experience and says managers are vital to the convergence process and must lead by taking some of the fear out of failure.

To read the entire article, click here.

To read the entire April/May issue click here.

March 2011 Convergence Newsletter

While it's no secret converging newsrooms face many challenges, such as staff restructuring, the convergence of two newspapers written in different languages for diverse target audiences creates its own set of issues.

John Turner recently worked for two Cambodian newspapers, The Phnom Penh Post and The Cambodia Daily. In this issue, Turner reflects on positive and negative aspects of multilingual and multicultural convergence.

To read Turner's entire article, click here.

To read the March issue of the Convergence Newsletter, click here.

February 2011 Convergence Newsletter

The Internet's role in convergence is irrefutable as the centralized location of easily accessible information. This continues to send shockwaves throughout the newspaper industry, and while some applaud new journalism for breathing a new life into newspapers, others are quick to write the industry's obituary.

But the University of Alabama's Kristen Heflin cautions not to jump to conclusions. Her research of the newspaper industry's past shows the industry's ability to adapt to change and survive, rather than meet an untimely death at the hands of another news platform.

In this issue, Heflin explores the parallels between the emergence of television news and its effect on the newspaper industry and the relationship between newspapers and the Internet.


To read the entire article, click here.

To read the entire issue, click here.


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December 2010 Convergence Newsletter

Discussion concerning convergent media tends to focus on the benefits of convergence, often overlooking "de-convergence." In the latest issue of The Convergence Newsletter, Marc Edge of Sam Houston State University explains Canada has seen a reversal of some early convergence efforts, as well as new combinations.

Augie Grant of the University of South Carolina, meanwhile, looks at the unmistakable presence of convergence in media and education as one theme of the 10th annual Convergence and Society Conference.


To read the entire issue, click here.

Happy Holidays from The Convergence Newsletter!

De-convergence and re-convergence in Canadian media

Discussion concerning convergent media tends to focus on the benefits of convergence, often overlooking "de-convergence." But Canada has not only seen a reversal of some early convergence efforts, it has seen some new combinations "re-convergence" as Marc Edge of Sam Houston State University explains in continuing to look at the successes and failures of convergence in Canada.

To read the entire article, click here.

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December 2010: Convergence and Society conference recap

Augie Grant of the University of South Carolina looks at the unmistakable presence of convergence in media and education as one theme of the 10th annual Convergence and Society Conference.

To read the entire article, click here.

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November 2010 Convergence Newsletter

Web content such as video and audio used to supplement printed content or substitute for it in newspapers and magazines is a sign of convergence. As a part of Missouri Western University's Global Journalism Research course taught by Dr. Robert Bergland, undergraduates Austin Jacobs, Emily Gummelt and Todd Fuller researched convergence here and in other countries. They presented their findings at the 10th annual Convergence and Society Conference at the University of South Carolina and recap those findings here.

Jacobs analyzed the multimedia features of Mexican newspaper websites, while Gummelt studied web content of the top U.S. magazines. Fuller analyzed findings about the interactivity and functionality of newspaper websites.

Also in this issue is the latest Research for the Newsroom from Clyde Bentley, associate professor at the University of Missouri.

To read the entire issue, click here.

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November 2010: Research for the Newsroom

Clyde Bentley continues his Research for the Newsroom excerpts this month with a look at the Internet's impact on everything from the perception of newspapers to the tendency for women to consult the web before making decisions.

To read the entire article, click here.

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November 2010: A content analysis of U.S. weekly newspaper websites: Interactivity and functionality

Todd Fuller, an undergraduate student at Missouri Western State University, analyzed findings about the interactivity and functionality of newspaper websites and presents his findings in this month's issue.

To read the entire article, click here.

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November 2010: Magazines and their websites: A 2010 study

Emily Gummelt presents her findings concerning web content of the top U.S. magazines in relation to convergence. Gummelt completed the research prior to graduating from Missouri Western State University.

To read the entire article, click here.

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November 2010: Multimedia features in Mexican newspaper sites: A comprehensive analysis

Austin Jacobs, an undergraduate student at Missouri Western State University, analyzes the multimedia features of Mexican newspaper websites. Jacobs presented his work at the 10th annual Convergence and Society Conference at the University of South Carolina.

To read the entire article, click here.

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October 2010 Convergence Newsletter: Convergence and Social Media

As social media continues to infiltrate newsrooms, classrooms and businesses, questions of its use and effectiveness widen.

In this issue, Dr. Glen Nowak, who is in charge of news and electronic media relations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the integration of social media into the agency's communication efforts.

The CDC in Atlanta is one of the largest components of the U.S. government's health initiatives. It may be most widely known as the agency in the news when there is a disease outbreak, such as the recent H1N1 flu strain. But its mission is wider, to provide people and communities with all necessary expertise, information and tools to protect their health, according to the agency's website.

Nowak sat down with The Convergence Newsletter to further discuss social media. To read his comments, click here.

To read the entire issue, click here.

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September 2010 Convergence Newsletter

As newsrooms incorporate convergent technologies with traditional newsgathering to find the best model for delivering information, individual journalists are embracing convergent techniques as complementary elements to their articles.

To read the entire issue, click here.

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September 2010: Convergence can save jobs, level playing field for print journalists

Dr. Chris Roberts of the University of Alabama highlights the findings of his and fellow researcher Dr. John Besley's interviews with journalists for whom a large part of the job is covering government and other civic meetings, noting three ways journalists find convergent techniques especially useful.

Click here to read the entire article.

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