Converging Communication, Colliding Cultures:
Shifting Boundaries and the Meaning of “Our Field”
By
Jeff Wilkinson, PhD
Department of Journalism
Regent University
Virginia Beach, Virginia
jwilkinson@regent.edu
(757) 226-4238
Paper presented at the Conference on Media Convergence: Cooperation, Collisions, and Change,
October 13-15, 2005, Provo, Utah.
Converging Communication, Colliding Cultures:
Shifting Boundaries and the Meaning of “Our Field”
By
Jeff Wilkinson, PhD
Regent University
jwilkinson@regent.edu
ABSTRACT:
Media convergence represents the huge shifts and changes taking place wrought by
advances in technology the past decade. But ongoing technological advances in unrelated fields
is bringing about other forms of convergence, and disciplines once unrelated are now finding
increased overlap. New models for understanding convergence are needed, and scholars in media
technology must also be aware of the non-media convergence because there is increasing
evidence of such overlap.
Much has already been written on the convergent synergy among such industries as
media, entertainment, advertising, public relations, sports, and journalism. But there are also
developments in the fields of architecture, law, medicine, political science, education, and
business where practitioners in those fields create messages for mass audiences with
entertainment and information value, using digital technologies and delivery systems.
An analysis of convergence in non-media related fields will be presented, and various
models for interpreting the implications of such convergence will help media convergence
scholars and educators better anticipate future developments.
Converging Communication, Colliding Cultures:
Shifting Boundaries and the Meaning of “Our Field”
The term “convergence” has been used to describe the huge shifts and changes taking
place among media companies over the past decade. Mostly scholars have used the term to
describe the influence of new technologies but others have extended th term to ownership and
economics (McPhail, 2002).
As we continue into a post-modern information age, there is evidence that media
convergence is just a part of a larger shifting and blurring of boundaries throughout all aspects of
society. The technological advances media practitioners and scholars have traditionally
considered “their own” extend into unrelated fields with consequences for the discipline. New
forms of convergence are occurring in disciplines once unrelated and are now finding increased
overlap with media and communication. New models for understanding convergence are needed,
and scholars in media technology must also be aware of the non-media convergence because
there is increasing evidence of such overlap.
The need for understanding these collisions is increasing. In May, 2005, John Podhoretz
of the New York Post noted the trend and wrote:
“But it can't be a coincidence that the five major pillars of the American media movies, television, radio, recorded music and newspapers - are all suffering at the
same time. And it isn't. Something major has changed over the past year, as the
availability of alternative sources of information and entertainment has finally
reached critical mass. Newly empowered consumers are letting the producers,
creators and managers of the nation's creative and news content know that they
are dissatisfied with the product they're being peddled.”
Much has already been written on the convergent synergy among such industries as
media, entertainment, advertising, public relations, sports, and journalism. But there are also
developments in the fields of medicine, political science, education, law, and business where
practitioners in those fields create messages for mass audiences with entertainment and
information value, using digital technologies and delivery systems.
An analysis of convergence in non-media related fields will be presented, and various
models for interpreting the implications of such convergence will help media convergence
scholars better anticipate future developments.
“Media Convergence”
Since the 1990s, the subject of media convergence has been popular among media
scholars (Burnett & Marshall, 2003; Grant, 2004). Much has been written about the subject of
“Convergence” (often "media" is implied or stated throughout the work). Definitions vary
according to emphasis, but essentially it’s the “blending of the media, telecommunications and
computer industries, and the coming together of all forms of mediated communication digital
form” (Burnett & Marshall, p.1).
Convergence is enabled and realized through the development of the World Wide Web
and high speed computer networks. The tools for creating digital content are rapidly spreading
into the hands of consumers (Pew Internet, 2004). This means increasingly consumers are
producing material for others to enjoy.
Since convergence is the coming together of technologies and their applications, the
focus must be on the services themselves and the way a user employs it. Therefore, it is useful to
see how “non-media” adopters enjoy the benefits of media convergence.
Re-establishing where Media Convergence Fits in Modern Society
For a century communication scholars and theorists have created, borrowed, and adapted
models from other disciplines in order to better explain communication processes and effects. To
help our reconceptualization of convergence, it is useful to take a foundational model and extend
it to our modern environment.
One of the oldest models is the SMCR view of communication. The four-segments are,
respectively, Source, Message, Channel, and Receiver and these have been used as a basis for
numerous communication studies (Berlo, 1960).
Originally, the SMCR model was a general model of communication rather than mass
communication. It provided a useful framework for conceptualizing important factors
influencing the process. The Source component could be one person, a group of people, or a
company, organization, or institution. Traditionally, scholars of mass media have limited their
view of the Source to be media companies or skilled message creators employed by these
companies.
The Message component is what we’ve come to know as Content. The content is also
packaged using chosen codes (language, music, images, etc). This content is typically created
for delivery through a specific Channel (which can also be called a medium or sense such as
sight, hearing, feel). Media scholars have typically viewed channel as medium over which the
message will be transmitted: Newspaper, magazine, radio, television, and now, Internet. This is
because the goal for media companies was to create messages that would simultaneously reach
large, undifferentiated masses of readers, listeners, or viewers (Wright, 1959).
The mass audience represents the final stage in Berlo’s model, the Receiver. For decades
scholars viewed the Receiver as relatively passive, but this has been revised and communication
theories now reflect an active audience approach to media messages (McManus, 1994).
Therefore, media scholars have typically conceived of the Source as “media companies
and their workers,” and characterized as TV companies, radio stations, newspapers. In an
interpersonal environment, it was more expanded, but SMCR has not been well applied to
accommodate the new technologies and their applications.
Now, Source can be virtually anyone, creating almost any kind of content (Message) and
able to deliver it (Channel) through the Internet or Personal Communication Device (PCS) to
increasing numbers of users (Receivers).
Figure 1: SMCR Revisited
Source
Professional
Amateur
Consumer
Corporate
Educator
Marketer
Message (content)
values
information
message
information
education
entertain
Channel
visual
aural
text
animation
still/moving
graphics
Receiver
one
many
one-time
repeated
This grid is open to almost anyone, and the diffusion of convergence increases the agents
and the ways they create content and deliver it to interested users of that content.
Incorporating Cognitions & Affect
The field of Communication has often borrowed theoretical concepts from other
disciplines. In this age of convergence, it is useful for media scholars to re-evaluate SMCR
through social psychology and neuropsychological advances in understanding the concepts of
Cognition and Affect.
Cognitions are related to information processing. These processes are centered in the
cerebral cortex (front part of the brain). Chunking and remembering and incorporating
information processed through the senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell) and stored here.
The notion of Affect is centered in the mid-brain area and is often conceived of as our
emotional responses and feelings. The role of Affect has become viewed as increasingly
important because it is now viewed as the prism through which information processing takes
place. So information is not processed without some emotional attachment linked to it. This
supports modern neurophysiological views of the human brain as a complex interrelated jungle,
even though there are areas of specialization.
These notions of Affect and Cognitions can be applied to the SMCR model. Affect and
Cognitions are interrelated and each represents a continuum of experience, varying in intensity
(anchors of high and low or nonexistent). They are interrelated concepts and cannot be
considered to the exclusion of the other. Few if any experiences involve only affect or only
cognitions.
In addition, the concepts of Cognitions and Affect closely relate to common media terms
of Information and Entertainment. By definition, information is processed cognitively, and when
we are entertained, our feelings are evoked through the limbic system. Using terms which media
scholars are familiar helps us to reconsider the impact of the diffusion of convergence on a
modern society. Reconceptualizing messages (content) as packages that contain varying degrees
of information and entertainment, we can create a useful classification grid.
Implications of the Diffusion of Convergence
Convergence is the tangible result of a post-modern age where formerly diverse fields
and disciplines now collide and intersect with each other. Over time this trend can be expected to
continue, expanding the opportunities for researchers in Communication and Media. While nonmedia fields are only now employing the tools of communication in a systematic way, we have a
century head start.
Taking the social-psychological underpinnings described above, a grid can be formulated
that elegantly presents itself to mass media scholars and practitioners. To better understand how
this trend shall evolve, anchor terms “information” and “entertainment” are useful in describing
the semantic continuum of message content. We generally are able to place messages on this
continuum, with the “best” having qualities of both, and the “worst” having neither. These two
anchors are useful for prediction purposes:
Figure 2: Content Evaluation Grid
Not
Entertaining
Entertaining
Informative
(professional)
I. educational, legal,
policy, business
traditional “news”
II. this content is
ever-increasing
Due to convergence
Not
Informative
(amateur)
III. amateur content
(unpopular, obscure
no $$, sales)
IV. Genres: comedy,
drama, suspense
The usefulness of this grid is that it suggests the effect of Time and the diffusion of
convergence through society. Traditionally most of all the created content tended to best fit in
quadrants I, III, and IV. These represent content that generally could be categorized as
professional-informational, professional-entertainment, and amateur.
Quadrant I reflects materials we have typically thought of as information—education,
law, policy documents, and even traditional journalism that gave us “just the facts.” Any student
who ever suffered through rote memorization drills or dry, fact-laden lectures can vouch this
constituted much of the content and the way it was presented in the past.
Quadrant III remains all amateur content, including private works that were created but
never displayed or presented. Undoubtedly this could be the largest in terms of volume and the
one increasing the greatest in the past decade. Society is full of would-be, aspiring artists, actors,
poets, storytellers, musicians, entertainers, and teachers, pundits, opinion leaders, and
philosophers. Most of these messages (thankfully) were not available for mass consumption. But
more recently the internet and consumer content creation tools are changing this.
Quadrant IV fits our earliest conceptions of mass entertainment, or “low entertainment.”
These stories were often thought of as having limited social benefit other than to entertain or
provide a means of escape.
The material in Quadrant III represents that content which combines both information
and entertainment qualities. These are materials that teach as well as entertain, explain in a way
that maintains attention through entertainment techniques like using comedy, drama, and
suspense. Creating such material was long limited to the few gifted or talented communicators
who instinctively (or through training or experience) could weave both qualities into their work.
These “converged content creators” are exemplified by Shakespeare or Hemingway or Elvis or
The Beatles.
Competition from other fields
The importance to scholars and practitioners of mass media and communication of this
trend are the issue of identity and relevance. Just as convergence brought competition between
media, computer, and telephony firms, so now there is competition for content creators.
All professionals must identify their “unique selling point”—what it is they do better than
anyone else. But as the tools of the media trade become commonplace, the demand for services
must inevitably go down. If education does multimedia, medicine does literature, government
does journalism, law does animation and video documentaries, how do we remain relevant?
There are numerous examples of this collision between fields brought about by
convergence. This paper can only briefly address six: Architecture, Law, Medicine, Education,
Business, and Government.
Collision 1: Art & Architecture.
Architecture firms are increasingly providing a wide array of multimedia services. No
longer the domain of media companies, architecture firms offer still image, video, and QTVR
(quicktime-virtual reality) displays are available online to bring vivid images to potential clients.
Collision 2: Law
In the legal field, there is a tremendous amount of overlap in the services needed and
offered and what mass media scholars have traditionally offered. Lawyers are increasingly using
video for supporting evidence and testimony. There is increasing use of 3D animation to
recreate alleged activity at a crime scene. Postproduction work for law firms is available in
virtually every state.
Collision 3: Medicine
The medical field has long engaged in multimedia activity and is generally further ahead
of media practitioners in terms of virtual reality technology. Virtual surgery is increasingly
common and now doctors are beginning to embrace videoconferencing as a means of interacting
with patients. Health news services are available nationally and HMOs will continue to create
media in-house.
Collision 4: Education
Long considered inferior to mass media, educational media is a rapidly-expanding area
with tremendous opportunity. Primary and Secondary schools have invested in computer and
video technology and teachers are increasingly urged to use it in the presentation of class lessons.
Globally, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) borrow heavily
from media to train students to learn English. Clips from Hollywood films and network
television programs are digitized and placed on the web and made part of the course lesson.
Collision 5: Business
A recent google search using the words “business school multimedia” yielded over
32,000,000 entries. Business schools have long offered a course entitled “business
communication” which typically taught interpersonal and group communication skills. Now
business degrees increasingly offer training in video production, computer networking,
and multimedia.
Collision 6: Government
The final area of collision is with government. In the past decade, there have been
increasing instances of government-sponsored or created media. More disturbingly is that the
media releases are not identified as such.. The blurring of lines between public relations,
journalism, and government propaganda has entered a potentially dangerous area. In the past
few years, policies such as No Child Left Behind and the Medicaid bill were pushed on the
public through professionally-crafted content that was thought to be impartial and unbiased
journalism. The budget for government-created media has increased dramatically in the Clinton
and Bush administrations.
Conclusion
The diffusion of convergence has tremendous implications for scholars and practitioners
in media and mass communication. A model has been presented that predicts increasing
competition for media services and skills from outside the discipline. As overall content creation
increases, so the number of people who are trained and learn to be both entertaining and
informative also increases. Over time we can predict the ongoing trend will be ever-increasing
examples of quadrant II content (that which is designed to be both entertaining AND
informational). These content creators will not be limited to the traditional fields of mass media
and entertainment.
In addition, the diffusion of convergent content creation tools results in the "all boats rise
at high tide" analogy. All four quadrants evolve and expand over time as more professionals
AND private individuals experiment and create new and existing forms of content.
The result of this can be seen in a number of ongoing trends—law firms will increasingly
employ skilled workers in multimedia, government will increasingly hire and use experts in
public relations, and educators will use media to facilitate all areas of learning.
In the field of entertainment, even programs considered “low” such as professional
wrestling will find success and increasing appeal through better writing (more complex stories
depicting universal truths, conflicts, interesting background drama) and the creation of more
interesting characters as well as the execution/performance of the character (bringing the
character to life).
Music will continue its shift from Art to Commerce. An interesting result is the
elimination of the craft of "jingle writing" as now the backlog of content/product has reached a
critical mass where it's easier to use an existing familiar pop song than to write your own. In
addition, performers must think in terms of repurposing themselves—Howard Stern is no longer
simply a radio host; Jerry Seinfeld is not simply a stand-up comic, Athletes must think of
transitioning into less strenuous forms of celebrity/entertainment, and young women must find
ways to stay current & popular (perhaps write children's stories, become a voice for animated
characters, launch fashion products, or engage in other ventures), entertainers/celebrities will
also naturally increasingly run for political office, just as media personalities and politicians can
make appearances in entertainment programs (films, television).
The craft of journalism must review what it does and how it may remain relevant in the
21st century. Journalists may increasingly experiment with new forms of storytelling (as they
are), injecting principles of entertainment to boost the informational aspects. In addition,
journalists must reevaluate the means by which they embrace convergent media.
Experiments in converged journalism are still tentative; we know that “employee
reductionism” (one-person-does-everything-across-all-media-platforms) is a bad idea.
Practitioners are looking to scholars to help them re-establish themselves as relevant and viable
in an age of converged media.
Perhaps we can take a page from history and avoid the mistake of the railroads and the
telegraph. The railroad industry did not see itself in the transportation business, and did not
embrace the innovations in transportation that emerged. They found themselves increasingly
irrelevant and marginalized. Similarly, the telegraph firms (in America but especially in Europe)
did not see themselves in the consumer communication field and rejected the fledgling telephone
device.
One case study and example for journalists is the technology of videoconferencing (see
Appendix 1). Now common in business, government, and medicine, there is little published use
among media companies for journalistic purposes. But the increasing ubiquity of
videoconferencing systems enables news departments to easily contact regular sources (in
government, business) for immediate reactions to events. Similarly, since this technology can be
found on virtually all college campuses, journalism skills can be taught and practiced by
videoconferencing (Wilkinson and Wang, 2004).
Therefore, scholars and practitioners in Journalism must re-invent themselves in the
broadest terms and aggressively move in those areas. Scholars and practitioners must accept hard
boundaries of distinction and effortlessly move between them, setting protocols, practices, and
standards. This would include writing and performance in all forms, using principles of
information and entertainment. It should be specifically tailored across platforms, and rather
than decry these added burdens, embrace them and use them to our advantage. In this manner,
journalists can remain relevant, viable, and important in the age of media convergence.
References
Burnett, R., and Marshall, P.D. (2003). Web theory: An introduction. London: Routledge.
Grant, A.E. (2004). Media convergence. In Grant, A., and Meadows, J. (eds), Communication
Technology Update (9th edition). Pp. 349-354. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
McManus, J.H. (1994). Market Driven Journalism: Let the citizen beware? Thousand Oaks
CA: Sage.
McPhail, T.L. (2002). Global communication: Theories, stakeholders, and trends. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004, February 29). Content creation online. Retrieved
March 3, 2004 from http://www.pewinternet.org/reports.toc.asp?Report=113
Podhoretz, John (May 12, 2005). Mass-media meltdown. New York Post. Reprinted in Shoptalk
newsletter at www.tvspy.com
Wilkinson, J.S., and Wang, A.L. (December, 2004). Bringing the world to their fingertips: The
benefits of university-guided student-to-student videoconferencing. Presentation at the 4th
Annual Megaconference global videoconferencing organized by Ohio State University. At
http://www.megaconference.org.
Wright, C. (1959). Mass Communication. New York: Random House.
Appendix 1
Videoconference-based Journalism Student Story
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Living in the shadow of war
· News Analysi
By Michael Ptomey, 04-15-05
Critical Look a
They are Taiwan’s emerging generation,
and they are looking forward to the rest
of their lives. But war tends to ruin plans.
It is a subject that most young adults
would rather not think about. They would
rather listen to their iPods, and ignore the
constant threat that exists across the
straight of Taiwan. Little white cords
dangle from their ears as they walk down
the streets of Taipei. The music drowns
out the noise, the noise of politics, the
noise of uncertainty, the noise of conflict.
Taiwan’s twenty-something generation is
attempting to play the part of the
apathetic young adult, even when a
communist neighbor is only 200
kilometers away, a neighbor that claims
Taiwan is a rogue province and will be taken back with force if
necessary.
Li Weiyi, a spokesman for China's
Taiwan Affairs Office inviting a
question from the media during a
press conference in Beijing, China,
Wednesday, April 13, 2005. (AP
Photo)
In 1945, the fleeing Chinese nationalist came to Taiwan to escape the
rule of the communist party. They have lived in Taiwan ever since,
while the two governments are dancing the salsa of geo-politics. In
March, 2005, China passed an anti-secession law that states China
can use force to bring Taiwan back under mainland rule. With growing
economic ties between Taiwan and China, the Chinese administration
found it necessary to reemphasize their stance on the use of military
force.
The tension between the two states is nothing new to the young
Security Refor
· John Ashcrof
Discusses Terr
and National S
Robertson Hal
PEOPLE:
· Living in the
of war
· Life Changing
Medication
· Former Attor
General to Tea
Christian Grad
School
· Changing Lea
in the Catholic
SPORTS NEWS:
· NCAA Tourna
Final Four Pred
· The Superbo
American Trad
· Fantasy Foot
Reflect on the
· Women's Col
adults of Taiwan; it is part of growing up. Most are separated two
generations from their mainland ancestry, a past they know little
about and don’t care to learn.
Basketball: Big
for Little Girls
“They don’t know their history; they have lived here their whole lives
and feel separate from mainland China,” said Ai-Ling Wang, a
professor at Tamkang University near Taipei.
Political disconnect exists between the older and younger generations
regarding independence. The Kuomintang party had been in power for
more than 50 years until 2000. Its policy has been one of reunification
with China. The majority of those who fled China in 1945 are part of
Kuomintang party. The younger generation who has grown up on the
island of Taiwan does not have the same identification with the
mainland as the previous generation. The current controlling
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supports an independent Taiwan
and would like to see the constitution ratified to make this official.
“I am Chinese, there are Chinese who live all over Asia, but I support
a free and independent Taiwan, my cultural identity is Chinese but I
believe that Taiwan is a separate and free land, China can not tell us
what to do,” said Tatto, a student from Taipei.
The controlling DDP party would agree with Tatto sentiments. This has
caused the older Kuomintang party to grow in relationship with the
main land government and distance themselves from the DDP.
Growing economic relation between the two states is an issue. China
has stated that they will use force against Taiwan if necessary, but as
Taiwan’s economy continues to emerge, using force against Taiwan
could be to costly for both sides.
A generation that has lived their entire lives in a free Taiwan will soon
be taking the place of leadership from the previous generation. They
consider themselves ethnically Chinese but free from the communist
rule of the mainland. For now they are happy to maintain peace. Fears
exist, but they are not discussed. It is a cloud that hangs over the
hopes of the young adult.
“I don’t want to go to war, because I don’t want to die,” said
Kathleen, a student at Tamkang University.
Michael Ptomey is a second-year journalism student in the School of
Communication & the Arts.
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