Acts of convergence: Random occurrences or Routine workflow? AEJMC August 8, 2007

The “C” Word?  Don’t use it anymore  First generation change  Stage we must pass through  Get all reporting and editing skills in one classroom  But grieve for a lost past

1. Denial and Isolation  I won’t teach that  I have no room in my syllabus  It’s not what my kids need to know  That’s not real news  They’re not real journalists

2. Anger  Let’s vote on it!  My students hate it!  You don’t pay me enough to do that!  See, it won’t work!  Fix this computer so it works!

3. Bargaining  I’ll put that in the syllabus  If somebody else teaches it  And I can keep all my other material  And somebody else grades it

4. Depression  It’s the death of journalism  They’ll know I don’t know anything  I’ll have to change all my classes  When can I retire?

5. Acceptance  Same values apply  Same skills in different medium  The kids are getting jobs  The profession is demanding it  Best TV jobs at newspapers

Second Generation Convergence  “Multimedia reporting”  Print does online video  Broadcast does online words  Not newspaper reporters doing stories on TV and TV reporters writing stories for newspapers  Still TV and newspaper stories online

Net Neutral Matthew Gruen, 16, is one of thousands of Wikipedians devoted to policing Wikipedia's neutrality. Third generation convergence  “Reversing the flow”  The web is the “upstream” medium  You can print it or broadcast it later…or not  It changes the way we do news  It changes the way we use media

What’s working?  Turning out web producers  Everybody is looking for editors/producers with web skills  Sports folks get it  Ellyn Angelotti From KU, to Journal World, to Naples, Now interactivity editor at The Poynter Institute. Age 24

The big surprise  Best Jobs in TV may be at newspapers  Newspapers requiring video skills for all hires  Audrey Esther to Virginia Pilot  Denise Spidel to Naples News

Should work but isn’t  Faculty keeping current in new media skills  Student newspaper doing more than shovelware  Students keeping that multimedia orientation

What have we learned?  Students can do multimedia  You need good tech support  Programmers  Sys Ops  Geeks get it  Geeks rule

Ah ha! moment The web is a medium onto itself. It will require professors with web experience and sensibilities. It will require professors with web experience and sensibilities.