Thoughts on convergent journalism

There is no doubt that convergence would happen in the Philippines, in fact it is happening right now as I write except that many of us are probably looking for the most appropriate word to describe this phenomenon where television, radio, print and other forms of non-traditional media “converge” to serve one main purpose – provide the public with information they need in order to remain free.

But thanks to this course, we now know what it's called. Although the last time i checked "convergence" is not yet in the dictionary, at least in the Random House Webster's second edition. :)

It may not be the ideal yet (just like what the video that Mr. Quinn has shown us during his talk last summer) but Philippine media is moving towards that direction and there are a number of proofs that will support this.

The country’s television networks at least the two biggest ones have their own radio stations and more recently have set up their own news websites in order to meet the needs of their publics, who have become more demanding as they prefer fast, reliable, clear and accurate data and information.

All local newspaper organizations have likewise created their own websites so they could expand their reach and improve their competitiveness amid new technologies offered by new media that transmits information through the Internet, and accessed with devices like phones, Personal Digital Assistants, laptops, and desktop computers 24/7. In fact they have taken advantage of these technologies just so they could keep up with the race.

This is, I think, one of the major reasons why convergence journalism is spreading worldwide. Today, so much about the practice and business of journalism is changing that those who still report news using the old-fashioned vehicles would probably soon find themselves in the obituaries.

It is safe to assume, in fact in is correct to treat everyone whether you are from television, radio, print, news wires etc. as your competitors. Whether they like it or not, they will have to compete not only with radio and network television, but also with numerous cable television networks and Internet news sources which have changed the entire news reporting landscape.

So to remain ahead of the competition, media companies gather, share and disseminate information through a variety of media platforms. This however presents significant challenges, for one, journalists are now expected to learn, well they must learn, not just one medium and they must also anticipate working not necessarily in their chosen field like traditional print or broadcast.

About me

My name is Karen Lema, I am aPhilippine-based journalist working for Reuters. I just started working for the wires last July as I previously worked as a reporter for BusinessWorld, a business paper in Manila, for almost five years.

I have been in the media industry for seven years. I immediately started working as a reporter for the now defunct Philippine Post after I graduated from the University of Sto. Tomas where I took up Communication Arts.

Few months before the newspaper shut down, I left to work for NHK or the Japan Broadcasting Corp. also as a reporter for less than a year.

I originally wanted to go into broadcast but I guess fate has other plans for me. Haha. I guess I pretty much learned to love the print media.

It was only during the course of this masteral program when I first heard the term convergent journalism and thanks to Mr. Quinn, who gave a very interesting talk about this subject last summer, I got a clearer idea of what CJ is all about.

With the ever-changing media landscape, this course could not have come at a better time, so I am really hoping this subject is going to be interesting, challenging and most of all exciting.

Looking forward to another great semester.

Cheers!