January 2014: The battle of converging college newsrooms

Journalism schools across the country are constantly tweaking their programs to provide students with the most realistic foundation possible. Even when I received my bachelor's degree in journalism in 2010 from The College at Brockport (N.Y.), the program was in the midst of an overhaul, attempting to broaden the curriculum similar to what every single J-school has been forced to tackle over the past few years.

By nature, this change in curriculum forces undergraduate students out of their academic norms. With the continuing debate about journalism education embodied in the push for a "teaching hospital" model, journalism classes increasingly require outside work and the need for students to learn skills they may have never considered.

In this issue, Norm Lewis offers an inside look at the University of Florida's recent switch to a converged newsroom. While forcing students out of their comfort zones hasn't been easy, it's been for the better of the individual student, he says – and may have help propped up the tissue industry.

Be sure to visit and respond to Lewis' thoughts at the newsletter's Facebook or Google+pages. 

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December 2013: Utilizing Social Media

Are newspaper's utilizing social media sites to the best of their ability? Considering there are many uses for popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter, how are those in the industry using them, and are they effective?

In December's issue of The Convergence Newsletter, Jennifer Cox of Salisbury University takes a closer look at what some of the industry's biggest companies are doing on social media.

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October/November 2013: The issues of hyperlocal journalism

It's no secret the newspaper industry has faced increasingly difficult economic restrictions over the past two decades. Regardless of size or quality, every newspaper has dealt with severe cutbacks. One of the proposed solutions has been "hyperlocal" news sites. In larger areas, they have been touted as a way to restore the community connections that metro dailies lost as cities spilled over into ever-widening suburbs and newsrooms struggled to keep up. In smaller areas, while community journalism has remained relatively strong, such sites have been tried as a way to help those smaller organizations retain relevance in an always-on online world.
In this issue, we have two pieces that deal with hyperlocal coverage and its challenges. K. Paul Mallasch started the Muncie Free Press in 2005 and while financial success has been low to moderate, the website can lay a foundation for future local news sites. Richard Puffer runs through the recently departed Harstville Today website, which he believes can still be an influential example of local journalism.
Respond to Mr. Mallasch's and Mr. Puffer's article at The Convergence Newsletter blog and at the newsletter's Facebook or Google+ pages. View the full archive of newsletters at http://sc.edu/cmcis/news/convergence/index.html.


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March 2013: Common Issues Face Journalism Programs Today

While attempting to shape curriculum, journalism programs across the country face similar, complex issues to keep pace with today's evolving field. With more skills required for entry-level journalists, one of the challenges is shaping classes to not onlywhat students need to know but also the skills they already bring.

In this issue, Dr. Jeff Wilkinson of Houston Baptist University writes about the effective steps for building a better journalism program, the decisions that need to be made in the trenches. He says it's vital for educators to assess their program in three areas. Once they've done that, the proper steps can be taken to get a program to the next level.

Join the conversation at The Convergence Newsletter blog and at the newsletter's Facebook or Google+ pages. View the full archive of newsletters at http://http://sc.edu/cmcis/news/convergence/index.html.

February 2013: Understanding journalism's future vital for educators

In the February issue of The Convergence Newsletter, Shixin Zhang and David Edwards of the University of Nottingham in Ningbo, China, pose an interesting look at the future of journalism education. The professors examine the changing world of journalism and offer a formula on the future of its education. 

It begs the question of  how we teach students in this constantly redeveloping field? Read the article and post your comments below. Be sure to visit the newsletter on our Facebook and Google+ pages as well.

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December 2012: A call to disrupt convergence

Larry Dailey issues a provocative call to disrupt convergence projects between colleges and newspapers in America. The University of Nevada-Reno professor questions whether some of the partnerships do more than provide newspapers with free student labor. Read Dailey's article in the December edition of the The Convergence Newsletter, and post your thoughts below. What should college journalism programs require of newspapers, television stations, and other news businesses in a convergence partnership? Continue the conversation on the newsletter's Google+ or Facebook pages.

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November 2012: How students seek information in the age of convergence

The new technology explosion requires that media audiences learn and maintain new skills for information literacy so they can find, filter, evaluate, and use information.

In the new issue of The Convergence Newsletter, Alex Gorelik and Anton Bezuglov of Benedict College report on their experiment to determine how students seek and evaluate information. Their pilot study used T.D. Wilson's framework of information-seeking behavior to record students' choices as they searched for the answer to a question. Gorelik and Bezuglov found that students' impatience to find a clear answer can trump even their knowledge that a single information source may be suspect. Read the article, then visit the newsletter's Facebook and Google+ pages.


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October 2012: Teaching the business of journalism, while teaching business journalism

Barbara Selvin of Stony Brook offers a detailed look at teaching journalism students about the business side of the industry. In The Convergence Newsletter, she argues that students need a deeper understanding of business as they enter a changing field and a challenging job market. Selvin explains how she integrates the business of journalism into her semester-long course.

How do you prepare students for the challenges of the job market? Leave your thoughts below or on Facebook or Google+.

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October 2012: Seven functions of Twitter for journalists

A veteran researcher asks if journalists are making the full use of Twitter and looks at the possibilities in The Convergence Newsletter. The 6-year-old Twitter platform has become a staple of journalistic routines and offers a range of ways to inform and engage with readers. Newsletter founder Augie Grant suggests a typology of functions for reporters and researchers to consider. Read the article, then join the conversation below or on Facebook or Google+.

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September 2012: Nonprofit news sites face a different set of challenges

As the Great Recession accelerated the decline of traditional news operations in the U.S. and some other countries, the number of nonprofit news ventures has increased to fill the reporting void. In a new article, two veterans of nonprofit startups explore the different set of challenges nonprofits face. Read the article, then join the discussion below or at The Convergence Newsletter's Google+ or Facebook pages. 

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Agenda Set for 11th Annual Convergence Conference

The agenda for the 11^th Annual Convergence and Society Conference features two days of research and panels exploring the conference themes: advancing business journalism and convergence. The conference opens with an evening reception Wednesday, Sept. 26, then continues with two full days of sessions Sept. 27 and 28.

In addition to a full set of panels exploring the latest research, practices, and teaching issues related to convergent journalism, the conference features five sessions addressing business journalism. Keynote speaker Linda O’Bryon, co-creator of PBS’s “Nightly Business Report” and president of South Carolina ETV, will address the increasing importance of business journalism. Other speakers addressing topics related to business journalism include the University of North Carolina’s Chris Roush and Reynolds Business Professor Pam Luecke from Washington and Lee University. Veteran journalists Gabriella Stern, global news editor at Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, and investigative reporter Mary Fricker will discuss lessons for students and educators after the 2008 financial crisis.

Conference registration is open. Complete details and registration information can be found on the conference website. For more information or answers to questions about the conference, contact Co-Chair Augie Grant, augie@sc.edu.

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August 2012: In Convergence, Experience is Still the Best Teacher

A pair of news professionals demonstrate that experience is still the best teacher – for the instructor and the student -- in the latest edition of The Convergence Newsletter. 

Rob Wells explains the role of convergence in meeting the demands of the Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal audiences and how he used that field experience to prepare students as a Reynolds visiting professor in business journalism. 

Chris Harper of Temple University tells how the journalism department uses an urban reporting project to prepare students for the changing demands of the newsroom and to broaden their perspectives by sending students to undercovered, underserved Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Read their accounts, then join the conversation at our Facebook and Google+ pages. 

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August 2012: Teaching Multimedia Journalism, Street By Street

In the latest edition of The Convergence Newsletter, Chris Harper of Temple University relates how the journalism department uses an urban reporting project to prepare students for the changing demands of the newsroom and to broaden their perspectives by sending students to undercovered, underserved Philadelphia neighborhoods. Read his story in the August edition. Then join the conversation at our Facebook or Google+ pages.

 
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August 2012: A case study in convergence at the Wall Street Journal

Dow Jones’ coverage of the Discovery Communications hostage drama in 2010 marked a new era of cooperation in one editor's five-year journey to harmonize breaking news coverage for the Dow Jones Newswires, WSJ.com, and The Wall Street Journal print editions in Washington. It also provides broader lessons for editors and reporters harassed to satisfy competing demands in the modern newsroom and for academics trying to prepare students for this chaos

Rob Wells, formerly of The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business News, and the Associated Press, explains how convergence played a key role during a Washington-area hostage crisis for reporters and editors trying to feed the Dow Jones Newswire, WSJ.com, and The Wall Street Journal's print editions. Wells uses that invaluable field experience to prepare students for the demands of the newsroom. 

Read his account and the invaluable lessons he learned -- and now teaches students -- in the latest edition of The Convergence Newsletter. Then join the conversation at our Facebook or Google+ pages.

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June 2012: A case study of emergency news and participatory journalism

When an emergency happens, journalists are likely to find the community already has started a digital conversation. As Carrie Brown-Smith of the University of Memphis found, non-journalists quickly create Twitter hashtags to report, share, and discuss emergency information.

Her findings provide useful insights into how news media can embrace participatory journalism and respond to the community's concerns.  Read her report in the latest edition of The Convergence Newsletter.

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May 2012: How to reach all of your readers

Even as convergence reaches beyond the traditional newsroom and outside the traditional audience bound by geography, reporters must consider who is being missed in the process. Amanda Sturgill of Elon University explains an exercise she conducts with journalism students to highlight the need for a well-considered, multichannel approach to include overlooked and under-served populations in reporting the news. Join the conversation below or on Facebook or Google+.

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May 2012: A new definition of convergence must include business

Digital convergence has reached beyond news departments into the business office, suggests Augie Grant, The Convergence Newsletter's founding editor. As a result, journalists must learn the basics of business to thrive in the changing environment. Read his analysis in the May edition of the newsletter, then join the conversation below or on Facebook or Google+. 

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April 2012: Yes, blogging is journalism

Blogging is journalism, writes West Virginia University's Bob Britten in the April edition of The Convergence Newsletter. And students will benefit from learning how to use the tool in their reporting, explains Britten.

"I'm not interested in teaching a class about technology, but I am interested in teaching a class about using social media's connective, network-based nature to become effective mass communicators who can interact with readers." Read the article, then join the conversation below.

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March 2012: Measuring the value of editing to online readers

Cringing at online news copy?

"The editors who provided the anonymous last pair of eyes on hastily written stories in years gone by aren't there at the levels they used to be – if they are there at all," writes Fred Vultee of Wayne State University.

Vultee reports on an American Copy Editors Society-sponsored study of how readers assessed edited and unedited news stories for professionalism, organization, writing, and value in The Convergence Newsletter. The work is timely as online news sites increasingly ask readers to pay for access. Read the article, then join the conversation below.

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