Digital Convergence: Changing the Media Landscape

 When I was in elementary school, I did not have a Facebook or Twitter to use to communicate with my friends. In high school, I had a Myspace page, but that was short lived. I remember getting my first Facebook page my sophomore year of high school. I enjoyed being able to talk to my friends. Facebook is an outlet I still use to this day. Since the launch of Facebook and Twitter, data has been created and replicated at a speed that seems to increase month after month. A study sponsored by EMC in 2011 stated that 1.8 zettabytes were created and replicated. That amount of data is equivalent to “every person in the United States tweeting 3 tweets per minute for 26,976 years nonstop” (McGaughey, 2011). Even 10 years later, the amount of data continues to grow. According to projections from Statista, there will be “74 zettabytes of data created in 2021” (CloverDX, 2021). A zettabyte is equal to one trillion gigabytes. In the media industry, companies must adapt to the digital age because consumers are finding and accessing information at the click of a mouse or the tap of a mobile device. Today’s discussion will focus on media convergence and how that affects the way news is created and distributed. 

 

The Reinvention of Journalism

The trust and objectivity of journalists used to be at the forefront of most newsrooms. But trust and finances have started to fall over the years. “The issue, however, is not only that journalists are failing to meet professional ideals or that the industry suffers financial woes. The collapse of the old model is due to internal inconsistencies that corrupted what should be—what can be—a profoundly noble calling: to see the world clearly and help others see it clearly, too” (Sillars, 2019). In the Internet age, many newspapers and magazines have been struggling to maintain an online presence. Many have had to reinvent themselves. Traditional mediums have had to find new ways to gain revenue, including digital subscriptions and crowdsourcing. The loss of advertising revenue has caused many traditional media companies to resort to job cuts. Over the past decade, half of journalists have lost their jobs. “Overall newsroom employment – which includes journalists working for television and digital outlets – has decreased by a fourth” (Sillars, 2019). Some newspapers have been able to survive by being bought out by wealthy benefactors. Other newspapers that were not so lucky had to close their doors. When we lose newspaper companies, we are losing some accountability. Journalists hold the government accountable for their actions. If the closed newsrooms had enough income to establish a digital presence, then they might still be open.

The Rise of Media Convergence

Digital media convergence is how traditional mediums are adapting to the pressure from their competitors and fake news. Many people are no longer just reading newspapers or watching television. They are reading news stories or watching their favorite television show on their smartphone. “Nearly three-quarters of the people of the world will use just their smartphones to access the Internet by 2025. “Almost three quarters (72.6 percent) of internet users will access the web solely via their smartphones by 2025, equivalent to nearly 3.7 billion people” (Handley, 2019). That is staggering to think that almost four billion people access the web on their smartphone. According to the Pew Research Center, two in five adults or 40 percent, used a mobile device to access the internet, email or instant messaging in 2010. The increase in users indicate that big data is here to stay. The World Wide Web is not dead but lives by what we create. “People seem to think the Web is some sort of piece of nature, and if it starts to wither, well, that’s just one of those unfortunate things we can’t help. We create the Web, by designing computer protocols and software; this process is completely under our control” (Berners-Lee, 2010). The Web is like a living organism that feeds and grows from the content of the users. “The goal of the Web is to serve humanity. We build it now so that those who come to it later will be able to create things that we cannot ourselves imagine.” (Berners-Lee, 2010). Media organizations contributing meaningful content online are playing a role in the continued growth of the World Wide Web. Traditional mediums will get left behind if they do not bring their content to the online users.

The Future of Media Convergence

Media convergence will continue to make an impact on how news is created and accessed in the years to come. In 2019, more people were starting to use smartphones instead of computers to access information. “The time spent on smartphones is set to overtake the hours spent on accessing the internet from PCs. People are forecast to spend three hours 22 minutes on their smartphone every day this year, beating time spent online via a PC, laptop or tablet for the first time, which is set to fall to three hours 19 minutes, down nine minutes in 2018” (Handley, 2019). Media companies must figure out how to tailor their news specifically for smart phones. Condensed stories that are straight to the point will be more favorable than long-form stories.

Smartphones have changed the way media companies use advertising their content. “In 2018, businesses spent $137.9 billion on advertising via smartphone, which is equivalent to $35.36 per user” (Handley, 2019). Social media is the most popular choice for advertising, followed by video ads and mobile searching. Media companies must transition advertising online if they want their ads to reach a wider audience. As media changes, the smartphones are changing as well. The technology of 6G will be different from what we know about 4G and 5G. The 6G technology “is expected to create a ubiquitous network covering land, sea, air and even space thanks to satellite and drone technology. Right now, the availability of network connectivity tends to be poor in sparsely populated regions or areas with difficult terrain (for example, rural areas, islands, mountainous regions). However, thanks to the universal coverage of 6G, we will be able to better monitor nature and biodiversity in these remote regions. (OPPO, 2021). The rise of technology will continue to change how media companies operate for years to come.

In conclusion, media companies will constantly have to keep up with new trends and developments in technology if they want to reach their digital audience. News is no longer created solely for television and print. Smartphones are altering how news content is distributed. Media companies are having to compete with all the online clutter that can be accessed on smartphones. If a media company wants their content to be seen by online users, then they need to distinguish themselves from the others in the clutter. They need to make their presence known by creating meaningful content and interacting with their online users. Media companies can either embrace technology or get left behind. 

References:

Berners-Lee, T. (2010). Long live the web. Scientific American, 303(6), 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1210-80

Handley, L. (2019, January 24). Nearly three quarters of the world will use just their smartphones to access the internet by 2025. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/smartphones-72percent-of-people-will-use-only-mobile-for-internet-by-2025.html.

How much data will the world produce in 2021? CloverDX. (2021, April 23). https://www.cloverdx.com/blog/how-much-data-will-the-world-produce-in-2021.

McGaughey, K. (2011, June 28). World data more than doubling every two years driving big Data Opportunity new IT Roles. Dell Technologies. https://corporate.delltechnologies.com/en-us/newsroom/announcements/2011/06/20110628-01.htm.

Sillars, L. (2019, March 1). The Future of News: Les Sillars. First Things. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/03/the-future-of-news.

What will the future beyond 5G look like? OPPO. (2021, February 10). https://www.oppo.com/en/newsroom/stories/future-5g-6g-b5g/.