Convergence and Consolidation in Journalism

As journalism is made up of convergence and conversions, journalism is communicating to the reader about situations that they find relevant to report. Convergence is bringing a number of things together. This could be information in a story, or details through different witnesses’ views. One example of a convergent that has been recently created is the iPhone. This technology formatted for users to go on the internet, send e-mails, make phone calls, text, listen to music, watch movies, and play games. All of these applications to the iPhone were not around 5 years ago. The new developing technologies are providing the nation to multitask. Journalists combined different sources and data into a report. Such sources can be from other countries or news stations. Medias, all over the world, are knowledgeable resource for journalists. For reporters in America, getting data or messages from other countries are extremely important. When there is a story of a deadly disease that is spreading across Europe, tourists or people on business, traveling should be informed as to what is happening in foreign places.

Media consolidation is defined as the uniting of something. In journalism, it is relevant that this is for media ownership. Large conglomerates and business owners are primary examples of consolidation in the media. One reason for consolidation in the media is because the nation is in a recession. With economy problems in the United States recently, there is little has been done to change the situation. Large businesses, like Universal Studios, have diverse base of viewers and is displayed on multiple media references. Universal Studios produces movies, television shows, and a theme park in Orlando. Their merchandise is consolidated worldwide. By consolidating, unemployment has gone down. Conglomerates expansion makes the economy flourish. Sales will go up, and prices will eventually decrease because of the mass production of products.

Components of the Story

Recently, in the news, there have been some scares at airports. There have been terrorist attacks, there have been passengers getting charged more for their luggage, and security breaches. Airports have decreased in popularity. People all over the country have looked to other ways of transportation. FoxNews.com and CNN.com are both nation-wide news stations. They report on mostly the same stories and have very distinct differences within their reporting. One current event, released earlier this week, was about the JFK Airport security breach. Looking at two different news sources, on the same event, it was found that one source was more complete than the other.

There is a lot to be said about the accuracy of this event. Both news sources focus on the facts of the full, complete story. FoxNews.com differs from other competition by interviews people that were affected by the breach. These people were at the airport and delayed because of the security breach. It was interesting to find that only women were interviewed, one woman saying, “All those doors that you’re not supposed to go through should have a guard or security” (Carrasoqillo, 2010). By putting these small interviews, you can feel the stress and the frustration from passengers. This provides some insight as to why this event is traumatic and important. The brevity of both articles represents their direct and clear reporting of the event. By keeping the article brief and straight forward information, readers can get information quickly and accurately.

Carrasoquillo, A. (Photographer). (2010). Suspect in JFK Airport Security Breach Arrested. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583197,00.html

Both articles are well written and have full attribution to the event. When reading the articles you can clearly identify what happened and why might the suspect have acted the way he did. Not that there was really to debate. In Terminal C, in JFK Airport, the suspect is 28 year-old Haison Jiang, who “ducked under a rope and walking the wrong way through security to greet a women” (Susana, 2010). To anyone ignorant to airports, this looks to have been a misunderstanding. However, the United States does not take lightly to misunderstandings. The CNN.com takes an approach that provides this alibi to the suspect, thus giving an unfair balance for his mistake. The authors don’t add any of their own interpretation toward the event. They keep the objectivity to hitting the straight facts and representing their equality and not bias to either the misunderstanding of neither the suspect nor the airports position on security.

Susana, M. (2010). Security Breach at JFK Airport Causes Delay. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/16/new.york.jfk.breach/index.html?iref=allsearch

This event has become a human interest. People are always changing their minds and ideas because of situations that happen in the news or what they observe from other’s mistakes. This situation at an airport could happen again unless people understand what happened and why it was a misunderstanding. People are influenced very easily by their observations. By observing what is right and wrong, they will learn how to survive in the changing world.

Issue of Journalism: Legal

There is a vast argument about the journalism. Is it better to believe in moral rights of reporting, or because of the freedom of speech, reporting information is justified. The right to freedom of speech has existed in the United States for centuries. But there are several ways that the government can silence people that abuse this freedom. The debate that has progressed throughout the years has been whether reporters having the right to freedom of speech, but should they need authority to be able to write about certain private matters. For example, a reporter has found a story that, if told, would destroy a family or reputation. This situation is often occurs to most celebrities. The reporter writes an exaggerated image or story that blows up in the news. Celebrities, much like other people, would not like to have their personal affairs in the media. Elected politicians have argued against the tabloids as well. These politicians however are putting themselves in the public’s eye as public officials. Citizens have the right to know what their state and national leaders are doing with their tax money.

One issue, in journalism, the privacy issues. The identities of rape victims are mostly remained nameless. These identities are not discussed because of the integrity of the victim. The trauma that these people have gone through is horrific, and reporters don’t want the victim to get anymore upset or unstable. It is more beneficial that the names are heard. When a news report is heard on the radio or television saying, “Women Raped in Park” it doesn’t seem real. By giving the victim a name, people are more likely to recognize that something is wrong. It would also help the victims. By hiding and not talking about the issues, they are leaving the public with no information about how to prevent situations. By having victims talk about their story, they can help defend against future rapes. In article that explains another side to keeping rape victims nameless illustrates that by doing so the victims do not appear ‘damaged’. Families of rape victims are also spared from humiliation.

Haws, D. (1996). Rape victims: papers shouldn't name us. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18690653.html

It is clearly an issue of who is going to speak up for what reasons. According to Melvin Mencher, “Morality is basic to the theory and practice of journalism” (Mencher, 2008). Mencher explains that reporters should be moral, but they also can be legal. It is understood that there are some boundaries that reporters should not cross, but they still have the right to cross these boundaries and report their information for the public. But to justify which is more standard, it is the freedom of speech. Reporters are given the same rights as other people when writing about their views and ideas.

Mencher, M. (2008). News reporting and writing. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Goals of the Class

Hello, my name is Chelsea Cooke and I am from New Hampshire. I decided to go to the University of Maine, because of the rural setting and the smaller classes. I found Maine to have a calm atmosphere and generally a nice community. When I visited, there was knowledgeable people that understood everything I was going through, and answered my questions thoroughly. I felt comfortable. Technically, I am a Business Administration major. After a year and a half of taking business classes that I didn't like, I decided not to take them anymore. I took a Public Speaking and loved the material. I wanted to learn more. I took a Introduction the Communication class last semester. This was an exciting and interesting course. Now starting my spring semester, I am taking three more communication classes. I have always liked international studies and have wanted to do some work after college with the National Passport Center. I have applied for multiple internships at the National Passport Center these last couple of years. Perhaps if I take this course, I can add some type of journalism literature to my resume.

I have always liked to write. All through high school, my teachers talked to me about how well I could write. Senior year of high school, I decided to dabble my in writing for the school paper. I had trouble at first, but I progressed. As my high school career came to a end, I had proudly recognized my potential. When I first thought of some goals that I could possibly have, I thought back to my time on my high school paper. One goal is to develop my writing more. I have found, in the past, my writing to be bland and very dull. By adding personality to my work, there is much more I could write about. I feel that I am not terrible at describing certain things. If my writing had more personality, I could see myself writing professionally. I want to be able to appear to be confidence in my writing. By taking this course, I want to be able to inform my readers on diverse subjects.