Convergence & Consolidation in Journalism

Both media convergence and consolidation are happening in today's media field. These have raised both suspicions and praise from the public and the people in the field. They're both not necessarily good for journalism; but they're both happening and there's nothing we can do about it. Convergence and consolidation are results of today's culture and today's mass-media, and the journalism field wouldn't be as effective without them in terms of reaching a broad audience and providing the audience with more news outlets than ever before.

Media convergence is a necessary evil in today’s journalism field. The convergence of different media formats such as television, newspaper and radio provide more than one outlet for news access. This is an advantage for audiences because it allows them to access news through more than one outlet (video, writing, graphics, etc). Convergence is also beneficial for news corporations because it allows the news to reach a broader and larger demographic; allowing more viewers to access information.

Convergence is not all good, however. It contributes to loss of jobs and unemployment in media formats such as newspapers and magazines because of increased technology. Convergence replaces the old, fundamental way of journalism by allowing journalists to easily access information, true or false, instead of going out and getting it straight from the source, themselves. Overall, convergence is good for the journalism field because it provides news corporations with a larger audience and provides audiences with more ways to access news.

Consolidation in the media is leading to a field of oligopolies that overshadow small, local and personal news programs. These massive conglomerates (Time Warner, Disney, etc) are becoming increasingly concerned with profit, rather than the public interest. These corporations are experiencing an increase in control over the media due to the dwindling number of competitors, and this is bad for the public because it can lead to less voices heard, less coverage, less accuracy and less information being provided. Unchecked media consolidation is not good; it leads to a lack of diversity, less local programming and fewer sources for information and news. It could possibly diminish the quality of journalism by no longer carrying out investigative journalism, which is the “watch dog” job of the media.

Consolidation, in any form, leads to lesser-quality work. It switches the gears of the companies from public interest to private profit. It reduces the amount of information available, because when large companies have a hold on information; they can decide what to do with it. Consolidation is good in terms of cost-cutting and cost-effectiveness, but causes adversities in the credibility, reliability and ethics of the journalism field.