Media Convergence

This second edition furthers conversations about the ongoing society-wide and worldwide digitalization of human communication. Reviewing the long lines in the history of media and communication – from writing via printing and broadcasting to computing – the book lays out three general types of media: the human body enabling face-to-face communication here and now; the technically reproduced means of mass communication across space and time; and the digital technologies integrating one-to-one, one-to-many, as well as many-to-many interactions. All these communicative practices coexist in contemporary media environments. Across cultures, genders, and age groups, people go on communicating in the flesh, via wires, and over the air, as illustrated though case studies of mobile communication on mundane matters, and of climate change as a global challenge for human communication and coexistence. The second edition includes: Updated accounts of research and public debate on digital media and communication Analyses of current social media and an emerging internet of things Systematic presentations of digital as well as traditional empirical methods Discussion of the normative implications of digitalization, including the classic rights of information and communication, and a right not to be communicated about through surveillance Interdisciplinary in scope to showcase the wide-reaching cultural consequences of media convergence, this book is ideal for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars in the fields of media, communication, and cultural studies.

Media studies scholars and commentators have categorised the media in distinct periods: 'old media' such as television, radio and print; 'new media' which include online media, computers, and PDAs. Now we are in a period of 'media convergence' - print newspapers sent as MP3 - but also the increasing convergence of media policy, media ownership and media practices. This book looks at how 'traditional' media companies are moving in to converged media, questions of ownership, questions of working practices and questions of the audience.

The development of digital media presents a unique opportunity to reconsider what communication is, and what individuals, groups, and societies might hope to accomplish through new as well as old media. At a time when digital media still provoke both utopian and dystopian views of their likely consequences, Klaus Bruhn Jensen places these ‘new’ media in a comparative perspective together with ‘old’ mass media and face-to-face communication, restating the two classic questions of media studies: what do media do to people, and what do people do with media? Media Convergence makes a distinction between three general types of media: the human body enabling communication in the flesh; the technically reproduced means of mass communication; and the digital technologies facilitating interaction one-to-one, one-to-many, as well as many-to-many. Features include: case studies, including mobile phones in everyday life, the Muhammad cartoons controversy and climate change as a global challenge for human communication and political action diagrams, figures, and tables summarizing key concepts beyond standard ‘models of communication’ systematic cross-referencing. Major terms are highlighted and cross-referenced throughout, with key concepts defined in margin notes.

The Media Convergence Handbook sheds new light on the complexity of media convergence and the related business challenges. Approaching the topic from a managerial, technological as well as end-consumer perspective, it acts as a reference book and educational resource in the field. Media convergence at business level may imply transforming business models and using multiplatform content production and distribution tools. However, it is shown that the implementation of convergence strategies can only succeed when expectations and aspirations of every actor involved are taken into account. Media consumers, content producers and managers face different challenges in the process of media convergence. Volume I of the Media Convergence Handbook encourages an active discourse on media convergence by introducing the concept through general perspective articles and addressing the real-world challenges of conversion in the publishing, broadcasting and social media sectors.

This edited volume explores different meanings of media convergence and deconvergence, and reconsiders them in critical and innovative ways. Its parts provide together a broad picture of opposing trends and tensions in media convergence, by underlining the relevance of this powerful idea and emphasizing the misconceptions that it has generated. Sergio Sparviero, Corinna Peil, Gabriele Balbi and the other authors look into practices and realities of users in convergent media environments, ambiguities in the production and distribution of content, changes to the organization of media industries, the re-configuration of media markets, and the influence of policy and regulations. Primarily addressed to scholars and students in different fields of media and communication studies, Media Convergence and Deconvergence deconstructs taken-for-granted concepts and provides alternative and fresh analyses on one of the most popular topics in contemporary media culture. Chapter 1 is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

This book focuses on how everyday media such as Facebook, iTunes and Google can be understood in new ways for the 21st century through ideas of convergence. Key chapters explore the development of the internet, the rise of social media and the new opportunities for audiences to create, collaborate upon and share their own media.

The Media Convergence Handbook sheds new light on the complexity of media convergence and the related business challenges. Approaching the topic from a managerial, technological as well as end-consumer perspective, it acts as a reference book and educational resource in the field. Media convergence at business level may imply transforming business models and using multiplatform content production and distribution tools. However, it is shown that the implementation of convergence strategies can only succeed when expectations and aspirations of every actor involved are taken into account. Media consumers, content producers and managers face different challenges in the process of media convergence. Volume I of the Media Convergence Handbook encourages an active discourse on media convergence by introducing the concept through general perspective articles and addressing the real-world challenges of conversion in the publishing, broadcasting and social media sectors.

The Media Convergence Handbook sheds new light on the complexity of media convergence and the related business challenges. Approaching the topic from a managerial, technological as well as end-consumer perspective, it acts as a reference book and educational resource in the field. Media convergence at business level may imply transforming business models and using multiplatform content production and distribution tools. However, it is shown that the implementation of convergence strategies can only succeed when expectations and aspirations of every actor involved are taken into account. Media consumers, content producers and managers face different challenges in the process of media convergence. Volume II of the Media Convergence Handbook tackles these challenges by discussing media business models, production, and users' experience and perspectives from a technological convergence viewpoint.