Welcome to the Practicing Convergence Journalism website.
This website is designed for exploration and further examination of the topics and skills addressed in Practicing Convergence Journalism. It will be divided in a way to coincide with the chapters in the textbook. On this site, each chapter will include 1) some suggested assignments aimed at further familiarity with the journalistic work outlined in each chapter, and 2) several links to articles, blogs, demonstrations, and websites that delve into the chapter’s topics more deeply or serve as portals to examples to review and study for inspiration and instruction. Most of the chapters also will have audio and video clips from journalists interviewed in the sidebars that provide practical advice and examples for practicing journalism in this multimedia-rich environment.
For educators, the aim of this website is to provide a place for supporting resources for your teaching. For students, the aim of this website is to embark on a never-ending learning process of discovery and debate as it relates to journalism practice.
This textbook and this website promote a multimedia and multiple media mindset. It advocates journalism in various media, pulling from the strengths of the more established journalism media: print, broadcast, and now online. These days, social media and mobile tablet devices are the hot media for presenting journalism. Yet as news organizations and journalists learn the strengths and weaknesses of these newer media and better understand older formats, some constants still prove effective: good sourcing, concise writing, and insightful reporting. They all involve journalists who are audience-centric, tool-neutral, story-driven, and professional.
Listed below are a few links to incredibly helpful websites that provide tutorials, tip sheets, and the like for students and teachers to use in learning and understanding the various tools journalists now have at their disposal.
- www.newsu.org—NewsU is the Poynter Institute’s extensive collection of training on everything from social media to data visualization to reporting basics. Webinars, as well as collective virtual and self-directed courses, are available.
- http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/—The Knight Digital Media Center at the University of California Berkeley’s website provides tutorials and videos on a variety of topics from public records to blog software.
- http://www.j-lab.org/—J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism now at American University offers webchats and workshops relating to new media and civic/community interactivity. It also sponsors programs to fund new ideas supporting journalism and community interactivity.