Media convergence: Example from Syria


 By: Yara Hasan


Media Convergence simply refers to the merging of different types of mass media such as Traditional Media, Print Media, Broadcast Media, New Media and the Internet as well as portable and highly interactive technologies through digital media platforms.

Jenkins breaks convergence down into five categories:

 

·       Economic convergence occurs when a company controls several products or services within the same industry. For example, in the entertainment industry a single company may have interests across many kinds of media. For example,  in Syria “United group” is involved in: Magazines such as. Marie Claire Arabic Magazine. Newspapers such as Baladna Newspaper. IVR Services:Syria Call. Printing Services: UG Printing houses for newspapers and publications. Media Exclusive agents:for Al Jazeera satellite channel. Official representative: Cannes Lions. IAA international advertising organization.

 

·       Cultural convergence has several aspects. Stories flowing across several kinds of media platforms is one component—for example, The end of a brave man: A syria novel  became a very famous series.

 

Global convergence is the process of geographically distant cultures influencing one another despite the distance that physically separates them: Syrian series used to consist of 30 episodes, but recently it has begun to be affected by Western series that are often shown on Netflix with eight or ten episodes.

 

Technological convergence is the merging of technologies such as the ability to watch TV shows online on sites like Hulu or to play video games on mobile phones like the Apple iPhone. Example: in Syria you can now watch the national tv “Syria 1” on television as in your laptop or mobile phone.

 

 A 2010 book by Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains is more pessimistic. Carr worries that the vast array of interlinked information available through the Internet is eroding attention spans and making contemporary minds distracted and less capable of deep, thoughtful engagement with complex ideas and arguments. In other words, multitasking makes us do a greater number of things poorly. Whatever the ultimate cognitive, social, or technological results, convergence is changing the way we relate to media today.

 

Meanwhile, In his 2005 book Everything Bad Is Good for You, Steven Johnson argues that today’s television and video games are mentally stimulating, in that they pose a cognitive challenge and invite active engagement and problem solving.

 

As for me, I do agree more with Carr, coz it’s really logical, especially with the studies he uses: Carr cites neuroscience studies showing that when people try to do two things at once, they give less attention to each and perform the tasks less carefully. 

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