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Media Convergence and The Death of American Journalism
When an individual Google searches the definition to Media Convergence, the
definition will appear as so, Media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets
print, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through
various digital media platforms (Higgins, 2010). Now, the other day I was reading an article in
the New York Times titled Brussels Airport and Subway Attacks Kill at Least 30; ISIS Claims
Responsibility At first this seemed like an innocent informative article about a crisis. However,
as I kept reading one subject kept popping up, religion. This begs me to ask, what does a
religion have to do with suicidal murderous psychopaths? The word Islamic showed up eleven
times in the article and was attached to words such as deadly, chemicals, militant, and attacks. In
the NYT Top 50 Comments, Emlyn Addison states, It's not just the ridiculous fictions that
confirm my atheism, it's the barbaric things that those fictions make humans do. We can expect
little but more fear, superstition, and ignorance until we uncouple ourselves from primitive
thinking (Rubin and Breeden and Raghavan 2016). I found this statement and this article to be
very untruthful, Islam means submission, deriving from a root word that means peace
(Houdmann). News stories today are not framed to the general public to inform people but
rather to press an individuals [the author or companys] political agenda upon them. I believe
that this mainly has to do with media convergence. In todays society, if it is not online it does
not exist and if it is not online, it is not true.
Media Convergence has killed true American Journalism. Social media sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube have allowed amateurs to take the news into their own

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inexperienced hands and make their opinions understood as truths. For example, the6thsiren on
Tumblr posted this to Arizona voters:
Hey, Arizona Voters! There has been some hella shady s*** going on today at the polls.
Democratic voters were being given the wrong ballots, they were told they never
registered even though they did, and they were told they were changed to Independent
even though they didnt. This wasnt isolated this happened in the thousands, and most of
my friends were faced with these complications. Topped with the fact that there were 140
less places to vote this year. If you had had any issues at the polling station report it
here because this is some major bullshit (the sixth siren of Pandora, 2016).
What the6th siren does not know is that a study was conducted by Elizabeth Bartholomew,
communications manager for the Maricopa County Recorders Office, Maricopa County shifted
to 60 polling places down from the 200-plus in use during the 2012 presidential primary as
a cost-saving move and to reflect the reduced demand for in-person voting as the number of
voters who mail in their ballots continues to rise (Pitzl et al. 2016). The number of polling
places decreased to save tax payers money. Yet thousands of readers backed up the6thsirens
statement by liking, commenting on, and reblogging her post. It also turns out that the issue with
Democratic voters receiving the wrong ballots did not only happen to Democratic voters but to
all voters alike. Yet with social media sites, individuals can say whatever they please with no
backing whatsoever. People like Jusslittlestoner can make a post saying Free the people,
Fight the power, F*** the police (Just a Little Stoner, 2016). This is what media convergence
has done. Media convergence has corrupted young minds into believing that whatever opinion
flies out of a persons mouth online is truth. With the innovative progression of things like the
Internet and digital media, the future of American Journalism looks bleak.

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This does not mean that media convergence is a horrible entity needing to be destroyed.
Media convergence is actually a very useful happening that once the people of this generation
learn to handle it properly, American Journalism will know no boundaries. What people do not
realize is that media convergence has existed since the beginning of media. First, there was the
word of mouth, then word of mouth converged with scrolls in the town square, scrolls in the
town square converged with books, books converged with newspapers, newspapers converged
with radio, radio converged with television, and so on and so forth. It was only when society
learned how to use whatever their media had converged with that they could convey truthful
news. The young people of today have much to say but no skill to say it with. In turn, journalism
articles end up being about a persons opinion rather than the matter at hand because without
skill the only thing a person knows what to write about is their opinion. Talent is wonderful but
without skill it is meaningless. In her novel, Can Journalism be Saved?, Rachel Davis Mersey
quotes Christopher Kimball (American chef, editor, publisher, and radio/TV personality) who
says,
To survive [American Journalism], those of us who believe that experience leads to
wisdom need to swim against the tide, better define our brands, prove our worth, ask to
be paid for what we do, and refuse to climb aboard this ship of fools, the one where
everyone has an equal voice. Google broccoli casserole and make the first recipe you
find. I guarantee it will be disappointing. The world needs fewer opinions and more
thoughtful expertise the kind that comes from real experience, the hard-won blood-onthe-floor kind. I like my reporters, my pilots, my pundits, my doctors, my teachers and
my cooking instructors to have graduated from the school of hard-knocks (Mersey, 2010,
p. 11).

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Additionally, Benjamin Franklin was an amazing inventor, however, what most people do not
know about him is that he was also a journalist. As publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette,
Franklin wrote stories that not only told a story but told the stories from more than one point of
views. Therefore, he was mainly unbiased in his work and his words had much impact on
America in that time. Nonetheless, Franklin did not make educated guesses on what he wrote. He
knew what he was speaking about. Benjamin Franklin attended the Boston Latin School and later
attended at George Brownells school where he excelled in writing. After that, he apprenticed at
many places, one of which was at his half-brothers print shop where he studied the great classic
writers and authors of his time, thus proving Kimballs statement. See, a great journalist can only
be as great as what they know. So, through internships, college education, working as an
assistant, etc. this generation [the millennials] can learn how to hone their writing skills. Instead
of writing an opinion, they will write fact. Instead of writing f*** the police a person can
explain their opposition to police brutality and back up their opinions with fact, therefore,
making it truth. The only hurdle is to not become stuck in the idea of The Noble Amateur. This
is the idea that amateurs are going to bring democracy to the internet and the internet will no
longer be ruled by experienced individuals but by hobbyists and people with educated guesses.
Andrew Keen points out the issue of this in his novel, The Cult of the Amateur: How Todays
Internet is killing our Culture. He quotes Marshall Poe, founder of the New Books Network, who
says this about Wikipedia,
Its not exactly expert knowledge; its common knowledge when you go to nuclear
reactor on Wikipedia youre not getting an encyclopedia entry, so much as youre getting
what people who know a little about nuclear reactors and what they think common people
can understand. [Wikipedia] constantly throws people off and they think, well, if its an

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encyclopedia why cant I cite it; why cant I rely on it? And you cant; you cant rely
on it like that (Keen, 2007, pp. 39-40).
So, instead of rewarding an educated guess with a like, reblog, or heart, this generation
needs to focus on the reward of knowing the truth. Now this does not mean that the news has to
stay on paper or a YouTube video cannot be watched to consume the news. It is the way people
go about it that changes the way they consume it.
American journalism is going to converge with media whether todays society likes it or
not. Once this generation educates themselves on how to use this phenomenon called media
convergence, the possibilities are endless. The truth can be heard on a global scale. John V.
Pavlik spoke about this very thing in his novel Media in the Digital Age. He stated, While
writing this chapter, I noticed my thirteen-year-old daughter Tristan sitting in front of a
computer. I asked her what she was doing, and she replied, Watching the news. Taking a
closer look, I saw that she was watching a video produced by the New York Times and available
on the nytimes.com home page (Pavlik, 2008, p. 69) With media convergence properly used
an individual in the U.S. can view the same new story as someone in Germany. Also, with media
convergence, the news will travel faster. As said by Keith L. Herndon author of the novel The
Decline of the Daily Newspaper: How an American Institution Lost the Online Revolution, The
rules have been changed by the globalization of business and, especially for media companies,
the rise of the Internet. As uncomfortable as it might be for some, newspapers, have no choice
but to plunge in (Herndon, 2012, p. 176). With everyone in the world interacting and being on
the same page there is room for healthy discussion. Just as in Northeast Lakeview Colleges Intro
to Communications Course, truth is presented and the students have a healthy discussion on their
opinions on the matter. Many of the students attending the class have differing viewpoints but

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there is peace and harmony within the classroom because their beliefs are all based on the same
truths. Properly used media convergence could very well be the solution to world peace.
News today is biased, untruthful, and taking advantage of the minds of youth today. Due
to media convergence, any true form of American Journalism has died. Investigating situations
and understanding the truth is no longer on journalists agendas. Instead, they press their own
political views upon the public. Media convergence has allowed things like The Noble
Amateur to arise, convincing young people that they do not actually need an education to be an
expert on a subject. Nonetheless, if young people do gain the education necessary whether it be
through college, internships, etc. media convergence can be used for good. Media convergence
can be used to portray the truth around the globe and help every person on earth gain their own
opinions about matters based on truth. Phillip Meyer author of The Vanishing Newspaper:
Saving Journalism in the Information Age Updated Second Edition he quotes American
newspaper publisher and editor, John Shively Knight who says, Get the truth and print it (qt. in
Meyer, 215). Meyer states, If he were alive today, he might rephrase it [the motto] with a bow
to the Internet: Get the truth and post it (Meyer, 2004, p. 215). American Journalism may be
dead now due to media convergence but it can be revived if todays youth becomes educated and
posts the truth. ThenAmerican Journalism and Media Convergence knows no boundaries.

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Works Cited
Heath, David. "Benjamin Franklin: Read All About It." PBS. PBS. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Herndon, Keith L. Merger, Convergence, and an Industry under Siege. The Decline of the
Daily Newspaper: How an American Institution Lost the Online Revolution. Vol. 83.
New York: Peter Lang, 2012. 176. Print.
"Hey, Arizona Voters!" The Sixth Siren of Pandora. Tumblr, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Higgins, Mary W. "What Is Media Convergence?" Distinct Studios. Wordpress, 5 Dec. 2010.
Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Houdmann, S. Michael. "What Is Islam, and What Do Muslims Believe?" GotQuestions.org. Got
Questions Ministries. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Keen, Andrew. The Noble Amateur. The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing
Our Culture. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 2007. 39-40. Print.
Mersey, Rachel Davis. Chapter 1: A Brave New World of Journalism. Can Journalism Be
Saved?: Rediscovering America's Appetite for News. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010. 11.
Print.
Meyer, Philip. Chapter 12: Feet on the Street. The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in
the Information Age. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Columbia: U of Missouri, 2004. 215. Print.
Pavlik, John V. 3/Audiences or Users of Digital Media. Media in the Digital Age. New York:
Columbia UP, 2008. 69. Print.
Pitzl, Mary Jo, Anne Ryman, Rob O'Dell, Dan Nowicki, Ricardo Cano, Lindsey Collom, Chris
Coppola, Ken Alltucker, Dennis Wagner, Ronald J. Hansen, Dianna M. Nanez, Rebekah

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Sanders, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Caitlin McGlade, Brenna Goth, Christopher Silavong,
Yihyun Jeong, Michael Kiefer, Ginger Rough, and Rafael Carranza. "Long Lines, Too
Few Polls Frustrate Metro Phoenix Primary Voters."Azcentral. USA Today, 23 Mar.
2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Rubin, Alissa J., Aurelien Breeden, and Anita Raghavan. "Strikes Claimed by ISIS Shut Brussels
and Shake European Security." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Mar.
2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Stoner, Just A Little. "DIS." Just a Little Stoner. Tumblr, 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.