Convergent Journalism: An Introduction, 4th Edition

Chapter 1 The Current Journalism Landscape

Vincent F. Filak

DOI: 10.4324/9781003402039-1

Introduction

When we first published this book in 2005, the term “convergence” was a buzzword on the lips of most people in the media industry. Today, it is as dated as words like “groovy,” “gnarly” or anything with an “-izzle” on it.

In the early 2000s, some journalists foresaw the idea of TV and print journalists working together in a “converged” environment. Other people had a sense that any effort toward merging operations was merely about saving money or further empowering media conglomerates. Still others believed convergence to be a scam in which fewer reporters would have to do more work, thus leading to lousier journalism. In the end, none of ...