Multimedia Journalism

   Whitney Houston's passing this Saturday at the age of 48 was a perfect storm of multimedia mourning. The ambiguous nature of her death, and her turbulent past of success, beauty, and public addiction. have surprisingly generated coverage that has been more flashy than substantive.

   In the wake of Houston's death, as is often the case with early-deceased celebrities, the media have saturated the market with images of her tragic beauty. Coverage at the broadcast and video level has emphasized public and celebrity reactions, and social media have blown up with celebrities posting about the late songstress. Text and radio coverage has done a good job of holding to the fact that although prescription pill vials were found in Houston's room, her cause of death as of the time of the media storm was still undetermined.

   Perhaps the most disappointing example of coverage was the Wall Street Journal's slideshow of Houston. The journal selected only powerful images of the singer on stage, in the light which we all already knew her, rather than encouraging the reader-subject intimacy we've often seen as the strong point of the slide show format.

   The ABC video was more telling of the element of Houston's success anyway, in that it humanized the Hollywood reaction with red-carpet interviews, and twitter posts by celebrities.

   The LA Times' treatment of Houston's obituary was a great deal more informative as to the personal context of  her death, going so far as to mention her addiction in the lead. 

Convergence

   I chose to stay close to home in searching for my example of convergence to see how it might affect me in looking for a job. I found some evidence of convergence on the website for Long Beach's own Press Telegram.

   These pictures are of the homepage, and selected areas that I thought were examples of convergence. Not only is there a “Target” tab, demonstrating convergence of advertising and content, but very subtly in the upper right hand corner of the page there is link to “LA.com," a guide to Los Angeles diversions run by Los Angeles News Group .

    The Long Beach Press Telegram partnering with diversion guide out of Los Angeles is mutually benefitial. The outlet's can share content, making it easier for the Press Telegram to report on LA area events, and informing the larger newsgroup of developing stories in Long Beach. 

   The fact that the site also offers a web search powered by yahoo! is another example of convergence. YAHOO! search allows readers connect the stories published by the Press Telegram, to the bigger picture of the entire web.

 photos captured directly from

Multimedia Journalism and Media Convergence

Media Convergence
Although I usually pick up a print version of the Daily 49er at school daily, I didn't get a chance to today. While skimming through Facebook posts, I noticed my friend Brittany Woolsey, Diversions editor of the Daily 49er, had posted a link her most recent feature story about author Tucker Max.
The name sounded familiar, but I could not for the life of me recall who he was; so I clicked the link to read her story. Brittany and writer Matt Grippi interviewed Max about his most recent book, "Hilarity Ensues."
After reading the nut-graph, I realized he is the writer of "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell."
Once I was done, I returned to Brittany's Facebook page and told her what a great job her and Matt did on the story. I also read that Matt suggested adding a comment section on the Daily 49er site, which I also thought was a great idea seeing that this is a controversial author.
Brittany responded via Facebook saying an editor added the comment section. In addition, I posted the link to my personal blog since I thought my friends would find it interesting.
Even though this article was published today in a local school paper, social media has allowed it to transend through the internet allowing for more than just Cal State Long Beach students to read it. Readers can now even voice their opinion online in a comment section where other readers can interact with each other.

Multimedia Convergence

This Apart from War website is a perfect example of multimedia. This site was actually won the Society and Professional Journalist Award for Best Online In-Depth Reporting. The student news team from Syracuse University that created this site focused on U.S. veterans living in a small town, Chesaw, Washington, and uses print stories video packages, photo slides, and even has an interactive video about Post Dramatic Stress Disorder.

Lenai Tells the Differnce Between Media Convergence and Multimedia Journalism

http://www.daily49er.com/

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.500198509551.315492.17468834551&type=3#!/daily49er

MEDIA CONVERGENCE

According to our textbook Convergent Journalism, media convergence is when members in a newsroom work together to produce multiple products for multiple platforms to reach a mass audience with interactive content, often on a 24/7 scale. The Daily 49er is a perfect example of media convergence and it is one we all know and use. Not only does the daily 49er have a successful newspaper, but it also have its own website, blog, twitter and facebook account. This makes it more accessible for not only students, faculty and staff to see their stories but expands to a much larger audience as well. The biggest benefit of this form of convergence it that now more people are able to interact and give its feedback to the newspaper, which will only make the original paper and all of its many platforms better. As the Daily 49er continues to grow so will its audience. Media convergence is the new way of the future and the new platforms that are being constructed are limitless.

MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM

Multimedia journalism is a way of gathering information and reporting stories over mulitiple platforms and overall effectively telling a story. Whether it be through print, broadcast, photography, radio, etc. all forms of media are used. The website abc, I think is a good example of multimedia journalism. Not only does abc have a news broadcast that informs its public of news and live breaking events, but it also has a website that can be used to read detail stories, watch clips, and  see pictures. Then you have the entertainment aspect where it also provides shows for audience members to enjoy. ABC is also afiliated with ESPN, Disney, ABC Family, ABC News, and SOAP Net.

http://abc.go.com/

Summary

In conclusion, multimedia is a branch of media convergence as well. Both terms are use mutliple platforms to reach their audience. Their overall goal is to have a story told to the public and for the public to keep coming back for more information.

Media Convergence and Multimedia Journalism

Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Media Convergence:

This convergence is a larger aspect than that of Multimedia. Media convergence is a theological definition of a rapidly growing phenomenon. This is being considered new journalism. Basically, it just means that overall, each outlet of news is merged into one. Television news can be produced in a radio segment, then into a slide show, etc. Industries are starting to converge as well. MSNBC can host stories for many other news outlets to branch off of. Saving the smaller companies time, money, and staff.

An example of Media Convergence is my story of NPR. Just today the California court of appeals ruled Prop.8 to be unconstitutional. I first heard of this story on the radio while driving to school. When I got to school I went to straight online to: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/07/146526143/prop-8 .

Here I read a more in-depth explanation of the appeal. While becoming informed, I also could view the actual court document, which was uploaded to the article’s page. In addition to the ruling, there were comment and multimedia share buttons. I then posted the article to facebook to allow my friends to see the news. Within minuets I was able to hear a story, read an article to learn more about the subject, and share my experience. Overall, Media convergence is the theory to communicate and compute content.

Multimedia Journalism:

Multimedia convergence basically help illustrate a story better for its reader. Here, one can follow a story with a picture, or map. Sometimes even a video. The reader can also interact with other readers through polls, chat rooms, and comment boxes. There is also share buttons to connect the story to social media sites. Sharing these sites then allows other to be more informed and better acquainted to news topics.

Media Convergence also allows a story to be better told through different media. For example one of my favorite sites is NPR’s music. Recently I came across this page: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/06/146362608/songs-to-spin-to-from-a-fitness-guru. Here we have an interview that is actually interesting. Short and sweet, yet it has graphics and something people can relate to. Music can be really motivating, especially when it comes to exercise. Within this story we are also given a music selection. Here we can download it for future use, share it, or just listen to it now.

MULTIMEDIA CONVERGENCE

 

 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2017442929_gisele07.html?prmid=head_main

 The text book says textbook states, mass convergence and coverage across many different platforms allows the media to accommodate to  audiences who are looking for news on a new social and technological level. The news of  Super Model Gisele Bundchen, the wife of NFL Patriot's player Tom Brady  is a great example of multimedia journalism. The fact that Gisele was bad talkthing her husband's team for "playing badly" is  a big story in the world of sports and entertainment news do to the fact that they are very popular individuals . This story was covered across multiple different platforms television, newspaper,  blogs,radio, social media websites from sports like espn and entertainment news like TMZ. In this particular article The Seattle Times  joined themselves to another news source in order to report ont he story, they references from the website TheInsider.com.The article includes a comment area for the readers and allows them also to share the article though social media outlets, and the picture is acredited to a photographer from another company aswell ( Getty Images).  Immediacy for news coverage allows multiple channels of news to collaborate with each other in order  to report on stories.  
  

MULTI MEDIA JOURNALISM 

  Multimedia journalism as "the practice of gathering news and reporting it across multiple media cross ownership." It utilizes  requires many platforms in order to get news to audience in multiple forms. An example of multimedia journalism would be the TheInsider.com website because it incorporates different kinds of multimedia to report a story.

Celebrities are the focus in this website, which utilizes video sections, photo slideshows, polls, and articles which all gives the reader interactivity in the form they choose to receive it. It also was social media connections so you can share the sections of the website that interests you.

 BY: BIANCA LEMUS

Convergence

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/world/middleeast/palestinian-factions-reach-unity-deal.html?ref=world

This article from the New York Times covering an aspect of the Palestinian Conflict includes as story as it was written for print, pictures, video as well as an opportunity for users to leave feedback. This shows how convergence can help create a story. The picture and worked most likely appeared in print, but with the Internet they were able to bring in the video as well as ask for feedback by the readers.


The Walt Disney company is an excellent example of industrial media convergence. The company that started out very small has now become one of the largest corporations in the world. It owns many of the top channels in televisions and also has expanded into many other businesses. It is involved in almost every aspect of media avaliable.

Media Convergence and Multimedia Journalism

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/prop-8/

A federal appeals court has just ruled that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution, now making it a case for the U.S. Supreme Court. In covering this story, the Los Angeles Times website offers links that give more in depth coverage of this issue. One of these links shows an interactive map of gay rights in the U.S. This is a great example of media convergence, in that it offers interaction for readers, and a better understanding of different aspects of this story. There is also a timeline on the right-hand side of the page which outlines the political history of proposition 8 since it was first passed in 2008. The page is simply inundated with various links to other articles related to Proposition 8, offering a great deal of access for readers to look further into this issue.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/josh-powells-final-message-live-sons/story?id=15527487#.TzFX8OQqmSo


A segment on Good Morning America this morning covered the final voicemail that was found by Josh Powell, who murdered his two sons. This segment included audio description of the story, incorporated with images, along with an interview with the children's grandparents. CNN.com then followed up with a more in-depth article on the story, including several short videos of live coverage on the story. Other news organizations, such as CNN have elaborated and branched off from the original information found and revealed from ABC News. While the segment on Good Morning America offered audiences a visually engaging depiction, the articles offered on the internet allow for a more in-depth understanding. This lets readers absorb the story at their leisure, and allows for audiences to gather information they may have missed on the television segment.

By Brittany Hays

Cynthia Casarez

Multimedia journalism

Multimedia journalism takes several aspects of the storytelling process, such as print and still or video photography and incorporates them into a news package. This means that the different elements are used to tell the same story, it's essential to use the different formats because the different formats cater to different needs. In the example Motorola Droid Razr Maxx review,there is both a online story and video element. The written aspect allows for more in depth analysis and background information, while the video component allows for visual aid and the story can be told much quicker. For the type of story that was presented, which was a review of a cell phone it was necessary to use video so that the journalist could show exactly what it is he was talking about, although the print story provided a lot of detail it isn't as easy to envision the phone.

Convergence journalism

Ownership convergence is the ownerships of several outlets by one large media company, in this case NewsCorp. Ownership convergence is characterized by encouraging cross-promotion and content sharing among different platforms.

In the screen shot above, Speed Channel is cross promoting for Fox Sports, both outlets are owned by News Corp.

Media Convergence

Media convergence is the dissemination of content across various platforms of media. According to Jenkins, it is an “ongoing process, occurring at various intersections of media technologies, industries, content and audiences.

A great example of media convergence is the online news site, The Huffington Post. More specifically, at the top of the news story is Newt Gingrich’s battle in the Republican primaries that is transmitted across various media platforms. The news story contains a lengthy article, a video on the same story, opportunities to share the story across all of the available social media platforms, a twitter feed of thousands of users commenting on Gingrich (#Gingrich/ @Gingrich), and section that allows readers to read similar stories on Gingrich across other news channels like the LA Times, NY Times, and CNN.

This Gingrich story is also a great example of social convergence. “Media convergence fosters a new participatory folk culture by giving average people the tools to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate content,” according to Jenkins. Below the story is a section where readers can contribute to the news content itself by uploading their own photos, videos, comments and even add corrections to the article itself. A decade ago, news was solely a linear conversation between journalists and readers. Today, journalists and readers are partaking in constant communication. The public today not only reads the news but also contributes to the news content that allows the public to see the whole story and not just a single view of the story.

Social convergence allows readers to share news across various platforms with their own personal community while disseminating the story across various channels. Today, with the onslaught of media convergence, people don’t depend on just one channel to gain their news. They depend on a number of reporters, a number of news channels and on their friends to disseminate the news and get to the bottom of a story.

Multimedia Journalism

Sometimes the best way to getting the story across and impacting the public is through emotion. The LA Times Photography section is a prime example of this. This multimedia section contains a breadth of community stories told through the eyes of the victims with photography, video, sound bytes, and news articles.

Photography, video and sound bytes contain the heart of the story while accompanied articles give more background and details that may be missing from the story. Multimedia journalism allows for readers to disseminate a story through the point of view of the writer and the point of view of the subject.

A particularly powerful piece is the story on Prison Hospice: Life and Death. This is a story narrated by an inmate who is suffering from cancer. He tells the story of his own illness, the story of others and how he continues to have faith in his situation. So much emotion and compassion is evoked through the multimedia slide with powerful pictures and narration. A story from the perspective of an inmate hardly has a voice in regular news, but through multimedia journalism, it becomes a voice to be heard.

By Cristina Szewczyk

Multimedia Journalism and Convergence in Sports Media

This story on Lakers superstar and legend Kobe Bryant becoming the fifth all time scorer in NBA history is a great example of multimedia journalism. This was a big story in the world of sports today. This story includes both print and video covering the same story. A person like Kobe Bryant always has reporters, photographers, and people covering his achievements and writing stories on him. This story in particular was covered across multiple different platforms, which included radio, television, newspaper, sports blogs, newspaper websites, facebook, twitter and other sports reporting sites like espn and fox sports.The coverage of this story also required many people to be at the game, to talk to Kobe when the game ended and get pictures of him hitting the record breaking basket. All of this information and pictures were later shared through convergence across multiple different platforms. All of the websites and radio shows allow for tons of user interactivity with the writers and broadcasters. People are able to call into radio shows to discuss the topic, and espn.com and foxsports.com allows users to interact with each other and the reporter's. Both these websites also allow users to see post game interviews with Kobe Bryant and his teammates, reacting to his accomplishments. You can also see this story covered on several different platforms of espn television. Finally, espn shares the information across all of their web, tv, social media, radio and magazine platforms. Fox Sports also does the same by sharing and presenting all of the information across the same number and style of platforms. The growth of technology has been the key to the growth of multimedia convergence in sports reporting. As our textbook states, this mass convergence and coverage across so many different platforms allows the media to accommodate to fragmented audiences who are looking for news on a new social and technological level.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7547550/los-angeles-lakers-kobe-bryant-passes-shaquille-oneal-fifth-place-scoring-list

No. 24 Now No. 5

Player G PTS
1. K. Abdul-Jabbar 1,560 38,387
2. Karl Malone 1,476 36,928
3. Michael Jordan 1,072 32,292
4. Wilt Chamberlain 1,045 31,419
5. Kobe Bryant 1,128 28,601


Media Convergence

Espn and Fox Sports control and converge with local tv and radio affiliates to distribute their information across many different platforms. Espn employees will also sometimes appear on fox sports programming and fox sports employees will sometimes appear on espn programming. The most important thing for both of these companies is distributing their content to as many readers as possible, on as many different platforms as possible. Most of their money is made through subscribers and television contracts with various sports leagues. This allows for a much easier process providing content through convergence.


Joshua Saylor

Multimedia Journalism vs. Media Convergence

By Nayeli Carrillo

Media convergence, specifically discussed by authors Stephen Quinn and Vincent F. Filak and more specifically USC professor Larry Pryor is "what takes place in the newsroom as editorial staff members work together to produce multiple products for multiple platforms to reach a mass audience with interactive content, often on a 24/7 scale."

For my form of media convergence I have ABC 7 NEWS.  They provide various products such articles, videos, photo galleries, weather updates, links to ESPN, and traffic updates among other things for their readers.  It definitely helps that they have different products to cater to different needs such as the Live Well Network which does beauty, home decor, money saving strategies and gardening segments because apart from providing news worthy stories they provide niche like segments as well.  The traffic updates are particularly important because in California where everyone has a car and freeways are constantly packed its a very critical source of information.  Their Twitter, Facebook and Google+ connections helps to propagate their influence as well and keep themselves connected to their readers more easily.  It also shows their Technological Convergence.

A snapshot of the ABC 7 News webpage which provides different forms of media such as videos, pictures, and print stories to inform their audience of the most important and critical news out there.

Media Convergence is the tools such as the bringing together of videography, photos, print, and tools such as maps and social media news agencies use to keep themselves updated and relevant to their viewers and readers. Its the ability to bring together these different platforms in efficient ways to be able entertain their readers in different ways and effectively impact readers.  For instance radio interviews can provide personal stories and emotions based on tone while images can provide sensibility to the people involved in a story but print stories will always be the best to provide details.  Television segments cater to the visual needs and are great to capture action stories such as sport events, rallies and so forth.

For my example I have picked a story by Yahoo that talks about the human hourglass model Ioana Spangenberg who has a 20-inch waist compared to her 32-inch hips.  The story is great because while the prints version allows you the details and personal quotes of Ioana and her German husband Jan the photos allow you to get the impact of her waist size and enjoy it.  The video on the bottom shows her in action and shows that her waist is not in fact photoshopped but truly hers.

Media Convergence and Multimedia Journalism

Multimedia Journalism

Today I woke up to some terrible news about a girl from my hometown of Huntington Beach. The Orange County Register featured a story about a local 22-year-old girl, Holly Barish, who died last night after getting hit by a car on Pacific Coast Highway near Seal Beach. The tragic story was featured as one of the top stories in the news section of the online publication. Such a heartbreaking story can often be difficult to depict in a brief news story. For this reason, The Orange County Register’s use of multimedia journalism allowed for a very thorough coverage of the story.

The page features an interview with an officer of the Seal Beach Police Department explaining briefly what happened, what actions were taken at the scene, and who witnesses could contact with further information. There is also a picture of two officers inspecting the accident and a detailed account about the report in print. This technique of utilizing different types of media has evolved with the advancement of technology and allows readers to be fully engaged and stimulating when exposed to news stories.

Media Convergence

One of my most visited news stations is E! I am currently studying fashion merchandising as my minor and take great interest in the celebrity and fashion world. In hopes of one day being a fashion writer, I try to stay informed about what is going on within this industry. E! News is an ideal station for this but when I do not have time to sit and watch television, I am able to stay up-to-date with their website, E! Online.

E! Online features print stories about the topics discussed on their daily show, E! News. The website also includes Facebook and Twitter links that allow for an even broader spectrum of media coverage for E! Entertainment. The Facebook allows followers to get instant updates on their portable devices or computers as well as view the most recent tweets by the company. The Twitter, Facebook, and overall website also allow for feedback and interaction with their followers. This convergence of vast types of media depicts where the term “media” is headed today. With the junction of all of these forms of technology and tools to distribute the news, people are able to consume media just about anywhere.

Media Convergence vs. Multimedia Journalism

Media Convergence

The North County Times is a local newspaper from my hometown of San Diego, CA.  The North County Times uses different types of media convergence as a tactic for publishing the news.  According to the text, media convergence is when members of a newsroom work together to produce multiple stories for multiple platforms to reach a mass audience (Quinn, p.4).   Also, with media convergence news consumers have the ability to talk back to the media with interactivity options such as quizzes, polls, and chat rooms.  Specifically with North County Times, readers have the option of subscribing to their daily newspaper or visiting nctimes.com to read the same headlines, as well as have the choice to visit other outlets of news.  On the site there is a link to a story, Baby Born Along Interstate 15, which was originally reported from NBC San Diego.  This type of partnership is known as tactical convergence, which describes the content-sharing arrangements that have arisen among media companies with separate ownerships ( Quinn, p.5).  This allows media outlets to share content, making it easier and more convenient for readers to be exposed to more news stories at once.  The site also offers links to Twitter postings from readers of the North County Times as well as to their blog which offers more stories for readers.


Multimedia Journalism

On ESPN.go.com the top story of the day was of course about the big win for the New York Giants at the 2012 Superbowl.  Reporters Matt Ehalt and Mike Mazzeo shared their story, Champion Giants Return Home, featuring video, print, pictures, and comments from readers, which is the idea behind multimedia journalism.  This allows reporters to tell a single story using multiple mediums in order to impact the readers and allow them to see a story from different angles.   In this case, the Giants winning the Superbowl was a major headline, so using other mediums along with print was the appropriate way to tell the story.  Print is a useful tactic for telling a story, but in order to impact the readers the most you need to show emotions from the winning team as well.  Ehalt and Mazzeo used video footage, interviewing fans in New York City, and showing their reactions to the big win.  The video is accompanied by a print story, as well as pictures of fans and the players.  At the bottom of the page there is a section where readers can comment on the story and interact with the reporters.  


Bree Cahey

Media Convergence Multimedia Journalism

CONVERGENCE

Musician and singer-songwriter Gotye, Wouter De Backer, stopped by the KROQ studio for an interview Monday afternoon. The story was first posted on the KROQ website representing the first trend in the Intro to Convergence Journalism reading. Soon after there was a tweet, representing the second trend, that linked to the website and there was a spot on the radio informing listeners to check out the interview on the website. This post in itself represents the third trend of individuals “creating their own repurposings.”

KROQ is a popular radio station that has recently been focusing to get more hits on its website and reach a more global audience. The news in this instance is that the station has an exclusive interview with an artist who currently has a highly requested song on the station. KROQ is providing content relevant to the audience and publicizes the interview through mediums immediately available like Twitter, Facebook, and on-air radio spots.

Some convergence media can even be user generated, as stated in the reading. By posting links on Facebook and Twitter, KROQ lets its listeners interact and comment with each post. This in effect brings more potential readers because the friends or followers of a specific account on a social media site might click on the link commented on.

If people are interested enough they might even text their friends or simply spread the news by word of mouth. The more media outlets used, the more likely more people will view content like the interview with Gotye.

MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM

Let’s talk Super Bowl; the highest viewed television program of the year. Go to any news source in America, possibly the world, and there will likely be a story, possibly several, about the Super Bowl.

NBC had the rights of broadcasting the big game and as a result they have a lot of content on the game. Let’s look at a few examples of how NBC used multimedia to provide stories.

One story shared by the Associated Press on MSNBC focused on New England coach Bill Belichick and how he instructed his defensive line to allow the running player to score. The story is accompanied by a photo of said touchdown by Ahmad Bradshaw. The photo is the multimedia supplement to the online written story.

Also on MSNBC are various slide shows, each focusing on a specific theme or point in time during the Super Bowl. The post-game slideshow allows viewers to go through the photos at their own pace while also providing similar photos or photos that make sense within the context of the slideshow. For example, the photos of a somber Tom Brady contrast starkly against those of the celebratory Giants.

The Basic Skills and Roles reading mentions how journalists are continually having to learn new and evolving forms of multimedia like photo and video. Adding images to a story brings a new element of perception since viewers are being shown a moment rather than have to read about it. The multimedia a journalist chooses has a significant impact on the way the story or project is received by viewers.

Media Convergence vs. Multimedia

Media Convergence

 
Jenkins article on convergence talked about technological convergence as the tools used to produce and distribute the news. Technology is also a key factor in the acceleration of convergence. Through Jenkins and the textbook, the interactivity of convergence was also discussed. With convergence, journalism is no longer linear, but instead a conversation between journalists and their readers. The readers are given a chance to respond to reporting and even become a part of it. The New York Times coverage of the 2012 election is an example of technological convergence as well as an example of the interactivity of convergence.

The “Politics” page of the NY Times website shows readers the different technological tools they can consumer the news from.  There is the “Election 2012” iPhone App (shown in image) as well as a twitter feed specifically for politics.  The iPhone App provides news, opinions, polls and live election night results. This kind of distribution is new to journalism and a part of the technological convergence journalism is undergoing. 

The NY Times also provides various interactive outlets for their readers.  Shown in the image above is a link to an interactive graphic of the “super PACs” and a side menu of various interactive links for the reader.  These include a poll watch of the current election, a primary calendar, and an interactive feature called “Inside Congress.”  This last interactive feature allows readers to view major voting inside the Congress with an interactive map allowing them to see which way each member voted.

NY Times Politics Page

Multimedia Journalism

 Multimedia journalism is the process of gathering news and reporting it across different media platforms to effectively tell a story.  It can include such media platforms as print, photography, radio, and television broadcast.  One example of multimedia journalism is seen in the NY Times coverage of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il.

The NY Times compiled a slide show of images depicting Mr. Kim in his youth, with his family and as a leader.  With a photo gallery, the journalist has the ability to evoke more emotion within the reader by showing the various images of Mr. Kim’s life. It also allows views to look at photos for as long or as little as they like. This is beneficial for the reader because photographs are like art; therefore, different images will speak to different people and they then have the opportunity to view the photos they want to.  A photo gallery also allows many different tones of a person’s life to been seen much easier than through a print story.

Linked to the slide show is the NY Times article covering Kim Jong-il’s death.  The article was very long and provided an in-depth background and history on Mr. Kim. Written as sort of a profile piece, the article described everything from Mr. Kim’s hairstyle and preference of shoes, to his political tactics. Playing less on the emotions of the reader, the print coverage of this story allowed a reader who may not know much about Mr. Kim, to fully understand his life and his death.

Kim Jong-il Slideshow

-Posted by Cosette Macari

Media Convergence VS. Multimedia Journalism

Media Convergence

Convergence in the media is becoming more and more noticeable in the news today. News mediums are coming together and blurring the lines between different news outlets. This is certainly advantageous for consumers of the news.

For instance, to get the most up to date news, it is becoming increasingly more common for readers take to the internet and search on news websites. The L.A. Times is an example of how the convergence of media is taking place. On the homepage of the newspaper, readers are shown the latest stories along with options to share those stories via their choice of social networking sites with the simple click of a button whether it be Twitter, Google +, Tumbler or Facebook. The website is set up in a much more attractive way than traditional print newspapers. There are also interactive comment sections, which allow visitors to participate in discussions. Furthermore, readers can even comment on these stories by becoming members to the website. The page also has a section where visitors can add phone applications so that they may receive news alerts directly to their cell phones. These additions to the website allows for the possibility of these news stories to go viral and spread faster than ever before to virtually anywhere in the world. They are also becoming more and more common in the media, proving to be both helpful and necessary. With this convergence in media taking place, news is now nearly instantaneous and much more engaging than in the past.

Multimedia Journalism

Multimedia Journalism is essentially convergence taken to the next level. This type of journalism utilizes all types of media to tell a story. An excellent example of this at work is ESPN.com. The homepage has tabs that feature various sports that take readers to their respective main pages. There are also live scores that are on top of the screen. Big stories are headlined along the right-hand side and also feature videos and photo galleries. These pages typically show polls which can be taken by the visitors of the website. Further incorporating convergence, there is an online shopping option at the top corner of the website.

After yesterday’s basketball game featuring the L.A. Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, ESPN released a recap of the action along with exclusive interviews, video footage of the game, in-depth backstage interviews and press conference clips. Within the text there were multiple links that take readers to even more content. At the bottom of the story, there were social media links of both the writer and the players, along with a share button for readers to disperse to people in their networks. This serves as an easy form of advertisement. At the bottom of the page, there is an interactive comment section that allows for viewers to enter discussions with the other readers. The page also features additional related content that the reader might be interested in spread out within the page. Allowing more forms of media to converge in journalism gives the reader much more content as well as giving incentive for them to return and be engaged by the news.

Multimedia Convergence

This article-http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/02/soup-nazi-and-jerry-seinfeld-return-for-acura-ad.html- is a perfect example of media content convergence. The story focuses on a commercial that ran during the Super Bowl and it also features the actual video of the commercial. This displays the multiple layers of the media, and how the media is using different mediums in highlighting different aspects of a story.

This picture represents multimedia. These days, pictures are everywhere in news stories, because they add depth and some perspective to stories. Visuals are a valuable element of news stories.

Leonardo Poareo

Media Convergence vs. Multimedia Journalism

Media Convergence

It’s no news that people gather around the TV every Super Bowl Sunday not just to watch two teams vie for the title, but to witness the debut of the country’s latest and most provocative ad campaigns.  One of the more notable ads of the season is sparking political debate and appearing across a variety of media outlets. Chrysler’s, “It’s Halftime in America” ad depicts Clint Eastwood giving a pep-talk to America amid images of the Chrysler factory and middle class families of Detroit. The underlying message touches on the recent billion dollar Chrysler bailout, Detroit’s economic plight, and hot-button issues of Obama’s reelection campaign.

The Huffington Post gathered information from multiple news sources in a story that described Eastwood’s declaration that he “is not politically affiliated with Obama,” which he personally stated in an appearance on a different media platform, Fox New’s “The O’Reilly Factor”.  The Huffington Post is another example of media convergence because it’s a sight that gathers information across all media platforms in an effort to make information dissemination as quick and convenient as possible.

This story serves as an example of media convergence not only because it is being reported through all types of media platforms, but because it in itself is a type of media.  It disseminates a message to the public, becoming what the textbook describes as “storytelling or presentation convergence,” in which “new forms of storytelling... emerge from the combination of computers, portable newsgathering devices, and the interactive potential of Web and television” (Quinn 6).  The commercial presents a controversial news story, and media platforms converge across the spectrum to disseminate further information about the topic to the public.


Multimedia Journalism

As one of the world’s most reliable news outlets, The New York Times has examples of multimedia journalism stories in almost every one of their publications. A unique feature story on their website by Melissa Faye Greene depicts the story of disability dogs and their influence on the lives of not just the blind, but those who struggle with other rare and impairing diseases that can be eased with the companionship of a well-trained canine.  The feature story’s many components include highlighting the nonprofit 4 Paws for Ability created by Karen Shirk, a woman struggling to live with muscular dystrophy. Her belief that dogs can help children living with disabilities led to the creation of her organization, which has helped countless children better adapt to life with disabilities since its beginning in 1998.

The multimedia aspect of the story includes a video by Erik Olsen, which gives more background and visual connection to 4 Paws for ability by showing the audience the various tasks the dogs are trained to provide to their owners.  There are also photos of children connecting with the dogs they’ve received dogs from the organization. Additionally, online NY Times articles have comment sections and links to share articles over email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

The multimedia components of journalism serve to better bring stories to life and allow for a more widespread audience then previously possible.  As senior vice president of the Tribune Company Howard Tyner says, “’journalism is about ‘eyeballs’-getting as many people as possible to look at media products.’” While the print story was beautifully written, if it were not combined with the video and photographs, it might not have been as effective in grasping the audience’s ‘eyeballs’ and attention.


By Sofia Yassine

multimedia journalism vs. media convergence

Multimedia journalism is the convergence of all media put into play. In other word, to show a story. Anything from real news to celebrity gossip can be defined as multimedia journalism. Why? There are reporters, anchors, photographers, editors, directors, and producers all working together to reach the same goal. In a typical newsroom, this may be done within an 8-hour shift. E! News, KTLA, etc. have examples of multimedia journalism on their stories within their program.

As explained in class on Thursday, as well as in the book Convergent Journalism, multimedia can be, if you will, branched off of convergence.

Although convergent journalism is a work in progress, it is developing rapidly due to the growth in technological knowledge and interaction worldwide. It has aslso become necessary due to the downfall of the economy. In other words, that news-in-a-box theory is now a necessity what with cellphones and such providing the most information at the palm of your hand. For example, headlines on Twitter posts bring people to the news by linking them to the web and, therefore, to that particular web page where and in wha layout(s) the story lies.

Media Convergence and Multimedia Journalism

             MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM: 

The chapter titled "Introduction to Convergent Journalism" defines multimedia journalism as "the practice of gathering news and reporting it across multiple media cross ownership." Thus, multimedia journalism is seen as a dimension of convergence and it requires reporting gathered news across different platforms. A journalist uses a combination of different skills (from traditional to new) to gather information and report that information to the public. An example of multimedia journalism would be the E! Online website because it incorporates different kinds of multimedia to report a story.

The section of the website labeled "news" features online print stories that explain the event and what occurred. The strength of this would be the character development of celebrities as the reader can take any amount of time to learn and understand the story as well as relate or not relate to the characters within. The website also features a video section which is basically the print stories in a video format. The journalist uses videos to report the event and this results in a different connection with the audience, usually a more emotional one. Last but not least, E! Online uses photos and slideshows as well on its web page. The slideshows are under the heading "photos" and display things such as best and worst dressed celebrities, star sightings and fashion police as well as many others. The audience has the ability to click on any slideshow that they are interested in. This slideshow and photo combination of reporting ultimately gives the reader interactivity as well as choice.

MEDIA CONVERGENCE:

In a short article on convergence Henry Jenkins says, "Media convergence is an ongoing process, occurring at various intersections of media technologies, industries, content and audiences; it's not an end state." An example of media convergence would be the Los Angeles Times website which produces and reports the news across two different types of media at the same time. The website is one way of reporting on current issues and the Los Angeles Times newspaper is another way of reporting on those same issues. A strength of print media is it's ability to provide context and conduct thorough explanations on different topics, and this is what the Los Angeles Times newspaper does. The online version of the newspaper has the strengths of multimedia and the ability to interact with the audience as well as allow a reader to search for either current stories or ones still available in the website's archives.  

The newspaper uses print journalism and mostly traditional skills to gather news and report on it whereas the online website uses new skills to do the same thing. The Internet is incorporated as a different form of media and uses mass amounts of technology to share the gathered information. If the Los Angeles Times had a broadcast station that would introduce another form of media in the process as well. Currently, the newspaper and the online website do a good job in showing the trend of media convergence as they are both reporting the news across two forms of media simultaneously.