Media Convergence & Multimedia: Sera Kihyun Kim

Media Convergence

     Media convergence is rather a newer form of producing news by utilizing different media outlets such as the newspaper, Web sites, Internet, social networking and etc. The quick improvement of vast technologies has allowed the news industry to form new jobs and tasks for journalists to overcome. People have become accustomed to the timeliness and quickness of current events happening around them, thus demanding constant news feeds and information.
      An example of media convergence is the Flipboard. Flipboard is a magazine-like application used on smartphones for people who like to social network and also get news information in a magazine form. Not only is it entertaining, but it is also fun to read and look through for those who want information constantly. Flipboard gathers news information from different outlets such as the AP, Reuters, Cnet, NPR, The Telegraph and much more. Readers can get an idea of various types of news outlets, while enjoying their social network and sharing the news information instantly on their phones. One can also pick what section he or she would like to read about in the palm of their hand. Because Flipboard links top news stories, people can also know what the world is interested in as well. The invention and exponential growth in technology within a short period has created the journalism industry to be more creative and work together as a team to expand news stories to mass audiences.


Multimedia Journalism

     Multimedia Journalism is the synergy of both print, Web and Internet broadcast. Combining these multimedia has become widely known on the CSULB campus as well. It is still in the process of improving the timeliness to satisfy the demands of news information among students. The Daily49er focuses on different news stories over print and Web; however they have recently created Beachnews to provide visual news stories for some of the main events happening on campus. Beachnews is available both on YouTube and is linked to the related stories on the Daily49er Web site as well.
      An example of multimedia journalism would be the story on Eric Mendoza, a CSULB student, who lost 200 pounds and in return received a $10,000 grant. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5UOrdZNS8&list=UUas0pAfnq618PsfXv8BsoTQ&index=1&feature=plcp) Multimedia journalism has helped people get more involved in what is happening around them by being able to "like" or "dislike" a certain story as well as commenting their opinions on each video or post to engage themselves in the stories as well.