Convergent Journalism an Introduction: Writing and Producing Across Media

Learn how to deliver news in any and all media. This one volume teaches you how to master all of the skills needed to be a converged journalist. Don't think only broadcast or print. Think online, air waves, magazines, PDAs, cell phones and electronic paper. Convergent Journalism an Introduction explains what makes a news story effective today and how to recognize the best medium for a particular story. That medium may be the web, broadcast, radio, or a newspaper or magazine - or, more likely, all of the above. This text will explain how a single story can fulfil its potential through any media channel. Convergent Journalism an Introduction shows you, the news writer, editor, reporter, and producer how to tailor a story to meet the needs of various media, so your local news story can be written in a form appropriate for the web, print, PDA screen and broadcast.

Table of Contents:
What is convergence and how will it affect my life? The multi-media assignment editor and producer; Words: The foundation stone of journalism; Broadcast writing and speaking; Writing for the web; Converged graphics across all media; Digital still photography; Digital video photography; Editing for moving pictures; Multi-media journalism: putting it all together; Multi-media advertising; Multi-media public relations; Where do we go from here? Possibilities in a convergent future

About the Author :
Stephen Quinn is an associate professor of journalism in the Faculty of Arts at Deakin University in Australia. He previously served as an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University and as both the director of the Center for Media Training and Research and an associate professor of journalism at Zayed University in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He has also taught journalism in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Between 1975 and 1990, Quinn worked full time as a reporter, writer, editor and columnist in Australia, Thailand, the UK and New Zealand. He started with regional newspapers in Australia (the Newcastle Herald) and has worked -- in chronological order -- for the Bangkok Post, the Press Association in London, BBC-TV, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Television New Zealand, Independent Television News in London, and The Guardian in London. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Newcastle in Australia, his master's degree from The City University in London and his Ph.D. from the University of Wollongong in Australia. Quinn is the author of Convergent Journalism and Conversations on Convergence (both New York: Peter Lang 2005) Knowledge Management in the Digital Newsroom (Oxford: Focal Press 2002), Digital Sub-Editing and Design (Oxford: Focal Press 2001), Newsgathering on the Net second edition (Melbourne: Macmillan 2001) and The Art of Learning (Sydney: UNSW Press 1999). Vincent F. Filak is an assistant professor at Ball State University where he teaches undergraduate courses in news writing and graduate courses on media theory. He also serves as the faculty adviser to The Ball State Daily News, the university's award-winning newspaper. Prior to his arrival at Ball State, he taught news writing and reporting at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Missouri. He also worked as a night-side city desk reporter at the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, Wisconsin. He received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. His dissertation examined how inter-group bias between print and broadcast journalists can create problems for converging newsrooms. He has conducted several studies and has published scholarly work on this topic. He has also published research on media coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the impact of psychological need-satisfaction on college learning. Filak serves as a reviewer for the Atlantic Journal of Communication and the Newspaper Research Journal. He is a member of College Media Advisers, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society in journalism and mass communication.

Review :
I knew within 10 minutes of opening this book I would adopt it for my multi-media/convergence course. It is a carefully crafted book written with grace. The new world of media is moving at break-neck speed and this is a book that helps all of us envision what the future can and will be. Although a complex and even controversial topic, Quinn and Filak explain, define and provide a great jumping off point for their readers into the world of convergence. The chapters are written by authors of power, credibility and good common sense. Best of all, my students like (that's right like) the book. --Ralph Braseth is director of the fully converged student media center at the University of Mississippi and is assistant professor of journalism. "...shows that writing a textbook about convergent journalism when most news media have yet to converge is not an easy endeavor, a combination of futurology and guesswork...It is also a worthy if not daring primer about the brave-new-world that awaits." - CBQ, Summer 2006