In April we took a special look at convergence internationally. As promised, we have revisited the topic, this time with perspectives from India and China, plus a how-to guide for keeping up with developments around the globe.
Read the October issue of The Convergence Newsletter here.
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Monday, November 3, 2008
October 2008 Issue Now Available
October 2008: With Newspapers on a Roll, Convergence has yet to Happen in India
Sometimes the story isn't just about convergence that is taking place, but also about convergence that's not. Sunil Saxena explains that the Indian media have yet to experience major convergence, and why.
Read the full article here.
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October 2008: Mobile by the Millions: Pocket-Sized Convergence Goes Big in China
Much of the discussion about convergence in the U.S. has fixated upon computers. But in some parts of the world, the big story is what's happening with mobile technology. China is one of those places. We sat down with USC's Dr. Ran Wei for an update.
Read the full interview here.
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October 2008: Keeping up with International Developments
You don't need to be in the thick of international convergence to know what's going on. TCN Executive Editor Doug Fisher tells us the best spots online for keeping up with global trends.
Read the full article here.
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October 2008: Conferences and Paper Calls
Read the conference schedule from October's issue here.
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Sunday, September 21, 2008
September 2008 Issue Now Available
This month’s issue offers a couple of first-hand perspectives on convergence from two practicing journalists, a pair of reports from the “convergence trenches.”
Stan Zimmerman of the Sarasota, Fla., Pelican Press, reflects on a career that has seen its share of industry trends and changes. Drew Brooks, formerly of The (Shelby, N.C.) Star, tells us what it was like using a mobile newgathering tool to provide up-to-the-minute reports.
Read the full September issue of The Convergence Newsletter here.
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September 2008: Don’t Fear Media Evolution – Outrun It
September 2008: Star Car Helps Paper Adapt to the Future of News
September 2008: Conferences and Calls for Papers
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
August 2008 Issue Now Available
As we hunker down for the new semester, The Convergence Newsletter is pleased to offer a special issue designed especially for educators. This month's articles talk about specific ways to practice convergence with students, the need to spot the difference between technology access and information processing, and the danger in hyping convergence without considering how to best serve audiences.
In addition, this month's issue features a special announcement about October's Convergence Conference at USC.
Read the full August issue of The Convergence Newsletter here.
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August 2008: Convergence Conference Agenda Released
Some exciting changes are in store for the 7th annual Convergence Conference at USC. Dr. Augie Grant, conference chair, discusses some of the innovations he says will increase participation and help attendees better synthesize the ideas on offer.
Read the full announcement here.
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August 2008: Making Your Wiki Sticky: Allowing Students and Faculty to Experience Convergence Together
The Mass Media Department at Washburn University does not merely talk about convergence -- they walk the walk, too. Drs. Maria Raicheva-Stover and Kathy Menzie tell us how the department has been using a wiki to allow students and faculty to learn about convergence together.
Read the full article here.
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August 2008: Rescuing our Classrooms and Students from their Technology
Rapid developments in technology mean each successive generation of students brings different information-processing tendencies and competencies. Former USC professor Dr. Paul S. Lieber discusses the need to bridge the gap between students' access to information and their perceptions of information value.
Read the full article here.
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August 2008: Pause, Watch, Listen, and Learn … Then Converge
Media hype is a phenomenon we are all familiar with. Have we considered that convergence may be among its current beneficiaries (or victims, depending on your perspective)? Hofstra University's Victoria Geyer thinks so. She offers sound advice for how instructors can teach students to see through the hype and use convergence wisely to serve audiences -- even (and especially) those who refuse to give up their newspapers and TVs just yet.
Read the full article here.
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August 2008: Conferences and Calls for Papers
Read the conference schedule from August's issue here.
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Friday, June 13, 2008
June 2008 Issue Now Available
It is illuminating and important to highlight what convergence means for those in the media business, and also for those who teach tomorrow's media practitioners. Those are considerations we regularly take up at The Convergence Newsletter.
But we should keep in mind that media exist to serve audiences, and so the effects of convergence upon these audiences is no trivial matter.
June's newsletter is another in our ongoing series of special theme issues. This month's focus is on communities, and how they are impacted by convergence. We include in our analysis communities both physical and otherwise, for when we talk about "communities" in the same context as "convergence," the intangible are in fact as real as their material counterparts.
Click here to read the June issue of The Convergence Newsletter.
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June 2008: Community Embraces a Converged Journalism-Sourcing Project
Paul Niwa may have hit upon sometime rather big. The Emerson College professor devised a unique project to create a new model of compiling sources for journalists, using the "snowballing" method of sources referring sources. Niwa and his students created a visual, Web-based schema displaying the sources and their degrees of interconnectivity.
And then something funny happened. Niwa discovered community members began to use the project not for its original journalistic function, but for a host of other purposes serving community concerns.
Niwa's piece reminds us that the Web remains, as always, organic and unpredictable.
Read the full article here.
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June 2008: Radio and Newspaper Converge in one of Iowa’s Smallest Markets
The effects of convergence, it might be argued, can be felt more acutely in smaller communities. In the case of Iowa Falls, Iowa, changes were in store when the town's newspaper and a major radio station came under the same roof.
Cliff Brockman of Wartburg College tells us how the convergence has been a miniature boon to the town — better news coverage and new jobs followed the merger, Brockman reports.
Read the full article here.
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June 2008: Knight Foundation Looks Online to Connect with Innovators
In the tradition of our recent interview with National Public Radio, this month we contacted Marc Fest, vice president of communications at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, to ask about Knight's recently created position of online community manager.
We asked Fest why Knight decided to create the position, and what they hope to get out of it. Fest's observations and insights remind us how much stands to be gained, not only by nonprofits like Knight but also by those in the for-profit arena, by plugging into the ever-growing online community.
Click here to read the full interview.
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