The future of media and convergence is upon us. Several hours ago, it was announced on social media that the Michael Brown death by officer Darren Wilson was spread throughout the country, via Twitter, Facebook, and various text messages. The grand juries decision not to indict was widely circulated on social media, as the most trending topic of the night. CNN was covering the footage in Ferguson, but other news outlets only mentioned the national story in passing. It seems that many of the media outlets that were there were bloggers. Bloggers and podcasts are becoming more of the norm, as major newspapers continue to close.
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Demonstrators protest Darren Wilson verdict.
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CNN is one of the few remaining news outlets that are still using a full staff (camera men, photographers, editors, writers) that are covering stories top to bottom with a heavy dose of field men. The future seems to be online reporting, with much more emphasis on news media multi-tasking. With many of the major newspapers closing their doors (i.e, Newark Star Ledger), in favor of online publishing, news media coverage and budgets are being slashed like never before. While it appears that news coverage is less credible, with poorer content and expertise, the doors have opened for a number of individuals to break into the journalism field without the traditional schooling that many of the media elite have gone through in years past. There bloggers who have amassed great financial and commercial success by starting blogs. Arianna Huffington started her Huffington Post blog/website in 2005, and received a $5 million investment a year later. "In 2011, AOL acquired the site for $315 million U.S. dollars." (Brown, addicted2success.com).
Nick Denton created the blog "Gawker" in 2003, which is a site dedicated to the celebrity field in Manhattan. "As of 2012, the net worth of Nick Denton is a little over $100 million USD" (Brown). Denton and his site are indicative of the future of news, whether it be gossip sites like "Gawker" or real time news, where you can catch the latest trial information by glancing at your phone.
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| Nick Denton has used social media to generate $100 million from Gawker blog. |
LeBron James and several athletes took to Twitter to get their voices heard after the Darren Wilson verdict last night, which is the modern day version of black athletes (i.e, Jim Brown, Karriem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, etc.) from the 1960's calling press conferences and speaking out against the blatant double standards of the day, as it related to black Americans. When we can interact with our sports heroes and respond to national issues that effect our daily existence, we have entered another realm of the digital era.
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| Superstar athletes of the 1960's protest racial inequalities. |
Online reporters have been making their way online for several years now. It will be nearly impossible for people in the media to survive without a strong online presence. The Star-ledger, the New York Times, and various other newspapers have a digital profile over the last few years. With this trend, many advertisers have begun to take their advertising dollars to the online audience. "Digitization is transforming both how and when media organizations distribute their content. They no longer distribute content solely through traditional channels but instead deliver it via the Internet, satellite, and a host of other digital technologies". (McIntosh, page 30).
Digital technology is delivering news faster and more convenient than at any other time in our history. I imagine that the warp speed at which the Darren Wilson non indictment was spread is the way things are done now, while technology continues to find even faster, and more cost effective manners to deliver the news. Television, radio, and newspapers have seen their decades old practices threatened by the ever changing world of convergence. This has forced some companies to merge with one another in an effort to fend off the digital age competition. AOL has purchased several tech companies and Disney has purchased several media outlets over the years. With more companies combining resources to maintain a hold on market shares, it has led to more companies merging or folding. We are in the midst of the technology revolution and I don't see the revolution slowing down, but only becoming more intense. If you are not a part of the revolution, you unfortunately will be left behind in every aspect.
Works Cites:
Joel Brown, "The Top 10 Famous Multi Million Dollar Bloggers" addicted2success.com,
Pavlov & McIntosh "Converging Media" 2013
Lebron James, Twitter account, November 24, 2014
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