What is Media convergence?
Media convergence is a term that can refer to either:
1) the merging of previously distinct media technologies and media forms
resulting from digitization and computer networking; or 2) an economic strategy
in which the media properties owned by communications companies employ
digitization and computer networking to work together (see media ownership).
For
much of media history, it made sense to talk about various analog media forms book, newspapers, radio, television, cinema as distinct technologies belonging to separate industries.
However, the combination of digitization and computer networking has resulted
in the breaking down of these traditional media silos and the integration of
all media, enabling the immediate and global exchange of every kind of content.
This
technological convergence simplifies the production of media content while also
greatly expanding, accelerating and facilitating its distribution, often with
associated cost savings. A digital photograph, for example, can be shot and
circulated globally within seconds via the Internet, eliminating the need for film processing, printing and
physical distribution. Similarly, consumers can access multiple forms of media
content books, radio and television programs, music, movies, newspapers on
their computers, smart phones or other devices at a time and place of their
choosing, often for free. With technological convergence, the electronic
transmission of data, which can be exponential, replaces the more singular,
physical transportation of material goods.
Technological
convergence has also lowered the barriers to entry for media production.
Digitization allows consumers of media content to become producers and
distributors of media content as well, whether they are hobbyists frequenting
social media sites or professionals (e.g., designers, filmmakers, musicians,
writers, etc.) seeking to establish themselves. Some analysts see this as a
democratization of media; anyone with access to digital media and a computer
network can produce, consume and circulate media content.
Our
experience with convergence to date, however, has also revealed some drawbacks.
Not everyone has ready and affordable access to digital media, or the skills to
employ them, creating a digital divide between information haves and have-nots
in a society where connectivity to computer networks (and the literacy required
to navigate them) is increasingly important. Also, the ubiquity of digital
media and the tracking capacity of computer programs have resulted in increased
surveillance, prompting concerns about personal privacy.
Furthermore,
the rapid change of digital formats, the dynamism of digital content and the
massive quantity of data lead to concerns about the storage, preservation and
protection of communications and cultural materials deemed important to the
public record. The ease with which digital content can be copied, manipulated
and redistributed presents a challenge to existing copyright law and complicates any attempts to prevent the pirating of
intellectual content, as the music, film and television industries have
discovered. The free circulation of media content has also posed a serious
threat to the economic viability of traditional media industries, such as book
and newspaper publishing.
This
strategy is a product of three elements: 1) digitization; 2) corporate concentration,
whereby fewer large companies own more media properties; and 3) government
deregulation, which has increasingly allowed media conglomerates to own
different kinds of media (e.g., television and radio stations, and newspapers)
in the same markets, and which has permitted content carriage companies (e.g.,
cable and satellite TV distributors) to own content producers (e.g., specialty
TV channels).
Corporate
convergence allows companies to reduce labour, administrative and material
costs, to use the same media content across several media outlets, to provide
advertisers with package deals for a number of media platforms, and to increase
brand recognition and brand loyalty among audiences through cross-promotion and
cross-selling. At the same time, it raises significantly the economic barriers
to newcomers seeking to enter media markets, thus limiting competition for
converged companies. Historically, communications companies have formed
newspaper chains and networks of radio and TV stations to realize many of these
same advantages, and convergence can be seen as the expansion and
intensification of this same logic.
While
corporate convergence can be beneficial to companies, there are potential
undesirable consequences, including: a reduction in competition; increased
barriers to entry for new companies; the further commercialization of the
media; and the treatment of audiences as consumers rather than citizens. The
substantial costs of corporate mergers have also led converged companies to
seek profits through cost-cutting rather than increased investment in
communication services.
Corporate
convergence also prompts concerns about the quality of corporate journalism,
such as: the role of the media in democratic societies to provide objective
information and analysis to an informed citizenry; the independence of
journalists; the range of voices and diversity of viewpoints on current events;
coverage of local issues; and conflicts of interest between properties owned by
the same company.
By FUMBUKA SEIF S
42554 BAPRAM 3
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