Converging Communication, Colliding Cultures:

Shifting Boundaries and the Meaning of “Our Field”

Jeff Wilkinson, PhDAssoc Prof, Journalism

Regent Universityjwilkinson@regent.edu

Media Convergence Areas

Convergence occurs at various levels throughout society and institutions

1. Technological convergence 2. Organizational convergence 3. Convergent journalism 4. Media Use Convergence

Diffusion of Convergence

Media convergence spreading to non-media fields

Important to Media Scholars, practitioners because it represents external competition

Social Darwinism at work To better understand how media

should respond, revisit our assumptions

SMCR revisited 50 years ago, media scholars could

conceptualize Mass Communication as follows:

Source Message Channel ReceiverMedia Companies& workers

News, Information, Entertainment

TVRadioNewspaper

Audiences

Old Model Assumptions (Wright, 1959)

1. It is directed toward relatively large, heterogeneous, and anonymous audiences

2. Messages transmitted publicly, often timed to reach most audience members simultaneously, and are transient in character

3. The communicator tends to be or operate within a complex organization that may involve great expense

New Model Assumptions (McManus, 1994)

1. Previously distinct technologies are merging (note* “have merged”)

2. Shift from media scarcity to media abundance

3. Shift from content-geared-to-mass to content-geared-to-groups or individuals

4. Shift from one-way to interactive

Implications of New Assumptions The Source (Creator) no longer limited

to complex organizations & great expense

Message (Content) is being redefined because we now have an abundance of creators

Channel (www) is open to everyone and is increasingly two-way/interactive

Receiver includes consumers and even media companies!

Expanding SMCR

Source Message Channel Receiver

ProfessionalAmateurConsumerCorporateEducatorMarketerMedia

ValuesInformationMessageEducationEntertainment

VisualTextAuralAnimationStill/movingGraphicsWWWNetwork

OneManyOne-timeRepeatConsumerCorporateMedia

Back to the Beginning: Key Constructs,

Components

Social Psychology and Neuropsychology consider Cognitions and Affect as basic building blocks for human beings

Cognitions ≈ Information Cerebral cortex centered, rational thinking

Affect ≈ Entertainment Mid-brain centered, emotions/feelings

Information and Entertainment

Neither either/or, exist on continua Historically, information (serious)

and entertainment (light) have been separate

Only recently are Entertainment and Information being consciously blended, enhancing both

Ideal Content Blends Both Information that entertains is most

attended to, remembered Entertainment that informs teaches

skills, values, most benefits society These principles increasingly

practiced by creators in designing CONTENT

Macro-social level this is “Diffusion of Convergence”

Modeling the Diffusion of Convergence

Cogni / Aff Not Entertaining

Entertaining

Informative

Facts; education, business, policy, law, etc.

Ever-Increasing categories & examples

Not Informative

“amateur content” “Mind candy”;

WWF, desperate housewives

Examples of Collision 1: Art & Architecture Full-service architecture firm

http://www.3dworks.com/code/frameset_e.htm?view=/code/info_e.

htm QTVR Photography and imaging

http://www.panoramas.dk/architecture.html http://www.qtvr.dk/uk/arkitektur.html

Examples of Collision 2: Law

http://dmoz.org/Society/Law/Services/Litigation_Support/Evidence_and_Presentations/

Animation http://3dcrimescene.com/

Standard news documentary http://www.settlementvideo.com/

Examples of Collision 3: Medicine

http://www.symmation.com/content/medical-animation.php

Images http://www.medtecimaging.com/

Examples of Collision 4: Education

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Video for cross-cultural communication

http://www.geocities.com/ehansonsmi/video_references.html

NECC podcast demonstrated interviewing & on-air skills of non-media educators

Examples of Collision 5: Business

Google search 10/11/05 for “business school multimedia” yielded 32,600,000 hits

Online Design School-Graphic Web Multimedia Business Marketing ... Online Design School-Graphic Design, Web Design, Multimedia, Business Marketing Design, Digital Arts accredited certificate programs and courses.www.sessions.edu/ - 10k - Cached - Similar pages

Business School : Multimedia Development and Business BA (Hons) A Joint Degree in Multimedia Development to provide broad knowledge of the design, technical, social and legal issues that organisations have to ...www.uce.ac.uk/web2/business/multimedia_business.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Releases First Multimedia ... Harvard Business School announced commercial launch of the first multimedia case ...www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/ 1997/04.24/HarvardBusiness.html - 8k - Cached - Similar pages

Rutgers Business School : Multimedia Spring 2005 Rutgers Business School offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs.business.rutgers.edu/default.aspx?id=737 - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Examples of Collision 6: Government

Hong Kong http://www.policyaddress.gov.hk/05-06/eng/webcast.

htm

United States http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/ http://www.whitehouse.gov

/kids/videos/index.html#

Revisiting the Diffusion of Convergence Model

Cogni / Aff Not Entertaining

Entertaining

Informative

Facts; education, business, policy, law, etc.

Ever-Increasing categories & examples

Not Informative

“amateur content” “Mind candy”;

WWF, desperate housewives

Implications & Suggestions for Change

Embrace non-media convergence applications

Look for ways to link Journalism & Communication to other fields

Example: Videoconferencing for Journalism students under the rubric of “cross-cultural language learning”

Journalism & Cross-cultural communication, Spring 2005

RU Journalism student met with students from Tamkang University

Discuss perceptions, attitudes of Taiwanese students regarding identity with Mainland China

Topic is political and very sensitive

Conclusion

Media convergence extends beyond traditional boundaries

Diverse sectors and fields are embracing and employing the same tools and principles to create content

Journalism and Mass Media and Communication must expand to survive