Convergence- where is it taking the news?

Since the Internet began to pick up steam in the late 1990s, news gathering, production and dissemination began to change in ways unimaginable by older generations. The Net has been and will be, it seems indefinitely, a platform where all media - film, TV, radio, music, and print- converge.

Current discussion deliberates on how this value-added medium will affect media consumption and jobs. Creative Editing quotes Linda Grist Cunningham,"chair of an ASNE committee that conducted a survey of copy editors: As the literacy skills of even our better writers decline and as the demands of technology complicate our production schedules, editors will be forced to pay attention to the needs of copy editors if we are to improve our newspapers”(Bowles & Borden, 2011, p.5). 

What does this suggest? Hasn't technology facilitated tools to research, bookmark, organize content, share, fact check, cite, revise, correct, post, illustrate, design, present, expand, clarify, and the like. Or have the "apps" stunted our abilities? 

I am optimistic in our ability to maximize the reality and promise of convergence. After all, published content is still produced by hand, not generated by an avatar. What about you?


aSalas

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Technology and its affect on Convergence

In our modern society technology is everywhere as it has become apart of our everyday lives. And although it helps simplify our lives it also has replaced certain aspects of our lives as well. Now, we make weekend plans with our friends via facebook instead of talking it out and reading today's news online instead reading a hard copy newspaper.

With faster technology also comes consequences, and often in the realm of news and journalism these effects affect copy editors. New Technology affects copy writers in many ways as it most importantly makes their role more crucial in the newsroom than ever before. Although all computers in this day and age have spell check and some grammatical tools, computers can not replace a good pair of human eyes which can edit mistakes that most computers often skip over.

Technology also makes a copy editor's job harder as well. As social technologies such as facebook and twitter make our writing voices more informal, copy editors have to work extra hard to make sure these same in formalities don't translate over into the newsroom.

Although new technologies are comming at us left and right and replacing lots of things we once did, I don't think copy editors and the role they play won't be replaced.

Convergence

Technology can have a profound impact on how a copy editor performs on the job. Many people (even those who are not in the journalism field) rely too heavily on Spell Check. It is necessary to avoid automatic correction and use our own eyes and judgment to fix potential stories for grammar and content. Relying too heavily on computers can make us lazy and ultimately inefficient at our job.

However, on the other hand, technology can be extremely beneficial to how a copy editor performs on the job. Technology allows news to be transmitted almost instantaneously through the Internet where millions of people can gain access to various news sources. Being a copy editor in the Technology Age gives us the benefit to take advantage of this fact.

Research and Convergence: Technology and How it Affects Copy Editors

It's easy to see how technology is becoming a big part of copy editors' lives, both for the good and, more likely, for the unfortunate reasons.

Computers and technology are very helpful for most people today. It's very easy for someone to make a mistake when typing an article on Microsoft Word, but with the visual notification system built into the program, it's just as easy to notice the mistake and choose from the helpful list of reasons why you made that mistake to fix it. While this is extremely convenient for most people, this advancement in technology might be too helpful for a copy editor. This kind of built-in system almost takes the place of the copy editor to the point where they might not even be needed to finish the article. At that point, you could have the news editor just copy edit his own material with a couple of simple clicks.

Convergence

The convergence of media can have both positive and negative effects on the role of a copy editor. In the past a copy editor may only have to edit article for one form of media. Now with the rise of convergence the copy editor may be required to do more work and edit on multiple platforms of media. This would in turn create a possible need for more copy editors and boost their prestige within the media community. Although convergence could also hurt the copy editor. If a company that once reported using on form of media now has many forms under their control they may try to cut back and consolidate their staff. Possibly giving the role of a copy editor to another employee.

Technology and Copy Editors

Tecnhology affects how a copy editor performs on the job because it is what people rely on. A copy editor is required to look beyond the spell checking of a word document. A copy editor needs to judge news value and adhere to the AP format. Technology however influences the way reporters and writers write. At times, writers often rely on the computer to tell them whether they mispelled different words and they do not copy edit their own work. This is where the problem comes in for copy editors. It is then their responsibility to look over the whole document and reconstruct what should have been quality writing on the staff writer's part.

Convergence in every day life

Today convergence plays a big part in our every day lives. When it comes to reporting though, its easier to get information right on the scene rather than waiting to go back to the news room and gathering the information.

Technology makes this easier to do, so when you get that phone call about heading to a breaking news story, you can go easily on your phone, or your laptop and quickly get any and all background information that you need so you are right on top of the issue at hand and can quickly be knowledgeable about the topic. When you then ask the questions you won't look lost or uninterested because you are already knowing what you want to say.

Overall, having convergence in media just makes it easier for everyone to do their job, and to get there job done faster and in some cases more efficiently.