Convergence as a way to change the outlook on the media

By Galkin Daniil

My day begins by looking at the Twitter feed and the news on Google. I have access to television, I regularly read newspapers and listen to podcasts, which is why I have developed an observation for a long time - the media has changed forever. News is often sent to bystanders, using their footage, filming the moment of the incident on video, newspapers began to publish their notes both on paper and on the Internet, and even in the form of videos, TV shows are increasingly using YouTube as their platform, earning more views. than on television.

Society is changing, its needs are changing, which is why journalism, like a mirror, like a mouthpiece of society, changes with it. In modern journalism, a professional should not only know how to find news, he should be able to do everything, regardless of his platform - he should be able to write, take up interviews, speak correctly, navigate the Internet, shoot videos and photos.

Convergent journalism is an editorial office that simultaneously produces news for all types of media that are part of a large media holding: the Internet, radio, television, and the press. They support each other and promote each other through cross-promotion, exchanging advertising models that have been intensively searched for in the media market over the past several years.

In Russia, the development of mass media, media, including convergence, is noticeably slower than in the rest of the world. However, a good example of convergence in my country is Komsomolskaya Pravda, which decided to expand the types of content production by creating an electronic version of its newspaper, despite the subsequent release of its paper version and radio broadcasts. A second good example is the development of podcasts. After a ten-year history of the first Russian podcast RPod, podcasts are becoming more and more popular every year, becoming a practical replacement for old radio broadcasts.

Convergence, according to the American philosopher and cultural scientist Henry Jenkins, exists in five forms:

1) Economic convergence, when a company controls several projects that exist in one specific industry. A good example of such a company is the VGTRK company, which controls several television channels (Russia, Russia 24, Karusel), radio stations (Mayak, Yunost, Radio Kultura) and an Internet news portal (Vesti.Ru) 2) Organic convergence, when, through the use of several methods of transferring information, the project becomes multitasking and multifaceted. I think a good example of this kind of convergence is the Russian-language Internet portal Meduza, which combines a news portal, YouTube channel and regular podcasts. 3) Global convergence, when through the international media space, the Internet, cultures far from each other intersect. An example is anime, the popularity of which, despite the focus of the creators of the subculture on Japan, today is high both in Russia and around the world. 4) Cultural convergence, when two different cultures intersect and take on the traits of each other, creating new traditions. A strange but indicative example is the baptism of Rus. Yes, I actually took this example. 5) And finally, technological convergence, in which, thanks to the development of technology, old media become available in a new form. An example is a service like Rostelecom's Wink, which allows you to watch TV programs and movies on your computer or phone.

Also worth mentioning are the opinions of writers Stephen Johnson and Nicholas Carr. The first writes that converged media stimulates and draws in mass audiences, while the second calls such media too distracting and inconsistent with the thoughtfulness of the content itself. And, in a way, I agree with both.

Convergence is the best way to create content that is interesting to a mass audience, which today cannot imagine their life without the Internet. This is a new media - a media that has not yet been fully assembled, because of which it has certain drawbacks, this is an industry that will develop, evolve and get better. Opponents of convergence say that the media is becoming soulless, the identity of the authors is being lost, riveting in batches and taking advantage of user engagement in content, without going into the semantic load, but I believe that this is not the case: I believe that any growth, any change is for the better. We can look at the past of journalism so as not to repeat its mistakes, but we should not constantly adhere to the rules of the old media creation - we need to look to the future, go forward and create our own ways of conveying information to the masses.