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Practicing Convergence Journalism

An Introduction to Cross-Media Storytelling

By Janet Kolodzy

Published August 8th 2012 by Routledge – 204 pages

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Description

Practicing Convergence Journalism teaches budding journalists how to make the most of digital technology to tell their stories effectively across multiple media platforms—in print, audio, video and online. Janet Kolodzy addresses multi-media and cross-media thinking, organizing, reporting and producing for both short-form spot news and long-form features. Her approach focuses on storytelling principles, not just specific technical practices, providing journalists with the mindset and skills they need to adapt their writing and reporting for the tools of today and tomorrow.

With this book and the aid of its companion website, students learn how to:

  • Develop a cross-media mode of journalistic thinking that will result in stories suitable for a fast-paced, multitasking and mobile audience.

  • Decide when visuals are useful and necessary, and understand how to capture, select and organize them to effectively enhance a reader’s understanding of a story.

  • Put together various elements of storytelling (writing, audio, moving and still pictures) for an interactive journalistic experience.

Reviews

"A solid overview of the issues and current landscape facing aspiring cross-platform journalists. Offers practical advice and thoughtful analysis of why and how journalistic standards still apply in the digital age."--Michelle Johnson, Associate Professor of the Practice, Multimedia Journalism, Boston University

"In Practicing Convergence Journalism, Janet Kolodzy deftly explains how convergence journalism has moved far beyond the cross-platform partnerships of a decade ago. Her holistic theory and strategies blend the best of the old and the new." --Camille R. Kraeplin, Associate Professor, Southern Methodist University Division of Journalism

Contents

  1. What’s Old is New, What’s New is Old
  2. Eight Elements of a News Story and the Tools to Build It
  3. Sources and Background Information: Reporting before the Reporting
  4. Short and Fast: Covering a Spot News Story
  5. Law & Ethics: Reporting Rules of the Road
  6. Building the Spot Single Story
  7. Capturing Context and Tone: Using Words, Pictures and/or Sound
  8. Packaging the Story: The Daily Wrap
  9. The Multimedia Story: How to help audiences get what they want
  10. Feature or Enterprise News Stories　
  11. Digital Storytelling: Design and Data
  12. Law and Ethics: Producing and Disseminating News

Author Bio

Janet Kolodzy is Associate Professor of Journalism at Emerson College. She is the author of Convergence Journalism: Writing and Reporting across the News Media, and has been a reporter, writer, and producer for newspapers and broadcast news.

Name: Practicing Convergence Journalism: An Introduction to Cross-Media Storytelling (Paperback) – Routledge 
Description: By Janet Kolodzy. Practicing Convergence Journalism teaches budding journalists how to make the most of digital technology to tell their stories effectively across multiple media platforms—in print, audio, video and online. Janet Kolodzy addresses multi-media...
Categories: Multimedia Journalism, Journalism, Journalism & Professional Media, Cyberculture