Mass Communications has changed tremendously in recent years. Cell phones advanced from a simple cell phone to a mobile device that does more than just talk on the phone. Some popular media companies have more than one media outlet. Small newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations are being gobbled up and merged with a more popular media company. In some homes, you can’t find a newspaper, many people read the news online. The same content that people listen to on the TV and radio is available to read online and in the newspaper. This new phase of communication production and distribution is known as convergence. Convergence means the merger of people (writers, editors, producers, advertisers, etc), content (print,
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Corporate convergence is a product of three elements, digitization, corporate concertation (fewer large companies own more media properties), and government deregulation (increasingly allowed media conglomerates to own different kinds of media, such as television, radio stations newspaper), in the same markets and which has permitted content carriage companies to own content producers. The benefits of corporate convergence is that it can reduce labor, administrative and material costs to use the same media content across several media outlets. Corporate convergence limits competition for converged companies due to the economic barriers being raised to newcomers seeking to enter media markets. Communication companies have formed newspaper chains and networks of radio and TV stations to realize many of these advantages. Corporate convergence can result in the treatment of audiences as consumers rather than citizens and the further commercialization of the media. The substantial costs of corporate mergers have also led converged companies to seek profits through cost-cutting rather than increased investment in communication services. Concerns about the quality of corporate journalism occurs due to corporate convergence (Gasher, …show more content…
New stations sometimes combine with a sister station to save money. The Deseret news, in Salt Lake City, merged its newsroom with its sister stations KSL TV and KSL radio in 2010. Instead of hiring a separate news staff for each medium, an operation can have the same reporters produce stories for the paper, website, and TV station to save money. Each medium can promote its partners, such as the TV newscast telling people to visit the website or the print newspaper. There are some disadvantages to operational convergence. First, Convergence can result in cutbacks because most merged news rooms use smaller staffs. The Deseret news cut its works force by more than forty percent, when they merged with KSL. Second, reporters require additional training to make various media. Some print reporters carry video cameras and audio recorders as part of their reporting tools. Some people worry that converged operations means fewer independent forms of journalism. Some people feel that operational convergence may be good for the media companies, but it may not be good for the consumers (Dominick,
Corporate convergence is a product of three elements, digitization, corporate concertation (fewer large companies own more media properties), and government deregulation (increasingly allowed media conglomerates to own different kinds of media, such as television, radio stations newspaper), in the same markets and which has permitted content carriage companies to own content producers. The benefits of corporate convergence is that it can reduce labor, administrative and material costs to use the same media content across several media outlets. Corporate convergence limits competition for converged companies due to the economic barriers being raised to newcomers seeking to enter media markets. Communication companies have formed newspaper chains and networks of radio and TV stations to realize many of these advantages. Corporate convergence can result in the treatment of audiences as consumers rather than citizens and the further commercialization of the media. The substantial costs of corporate mergers have also led converged companies to seek profits through cost-cutting rather than increased investment in communication services. Concerns about the quality of corporate journalism occurs due to corporate convergence (Gasher, …show more content…
New stations sometimes combine with a sister station to save money. The Deseret news, in Salt Lake City, merged its newsroom with its sister stations KSL TV and KSL radio in 2010. Instead of hiring a separate news staff for each medium, an operation can have the same reporters produce stories for the paper, website, and TV station to save money. Each medium can promote its partners, such as the TV newscast telling people to visit the website or the print newspaper. There are some disadvantages to operational convergence. First, Convergence can result in cutbacks because most merged news rooms use smaller staffs. The Deseret news cut its works force by more than forty percent, when they merged with KSL. Second, reporters require additional training to make various media. Some print reporters carry video cameras and audio recorders as part of their reporting tools. Some people worry that converged operations means fewer independent forms of journalism. Some people feel that operational convergence may be good for the media companies, but it may not be good for the consumers (Dominick,