Rich Gordon's "The Meaning of Convergence"

In Rich Gordon's "The Meaning of Convergence," the nascent concept of convergence is discussed. Convergence, the term coined by Ithiel de Sola Pool, is the blending of diverse -- and traditionally separate -- form of communication. According to some, it could result in a single network for all news, with the old forms of analog news rendered obsolete.

While Gordon sees that scenario as many years away, he nevertheless highlights the importance of convergence, breaking it up into five types.

Ownership convergence: When two divergent types of media are under the purview of one company (ie AOL Time Warner)

Tactical convergence: When although two different media companies are not jointly owned, they collaborate for their mutual advantage

Structural convergence: When within a single media company, cross-media policies are implemented

Information-gathering convergence: When a single reporter uses multiple types of media to cover and report on a story

Storytelling convergence: When a story is told using multiple forms of media (ie some of the visual journalism on the Web)

What struck me about the idea of convergence was the fourth category, information-gathering convergence. Many times in our classes, we have discussed the "new journalist," one who takes photographs, gets information, writes a story, then puts it on the Web.

Some of my classmates have expressed anxiety because this "new journalist" will have to be proficient in so many fields. But Gordon's article demonstrates that knowledge of all media will be necessary in the future, and that multimedia skills are among the most useful a journalist can have.