Chapter 2 Summary

In this chapter, the book discusses the changes to the field of Journalism such as convergence and online media. The book first discusses the changes to the way people consume media.

Television and newspapers are declining as the internet becomes a more widely accessible and usable source for media. While television and newspapers are being used less frequently, they are still important parts of Journalism and will not go away as soon as some people might think. Readers are turning away from newspapers and looking instead towards the internet for their news needs. This leads to news outlets changing the way that they provide news by offering it in more ways than traditional print.

The process of journalists coordinating print, broadcast, and online reporting is called convergence. New providers have to adapt to the changing landscape of journalism. They do this in part by providing news content on multiple platforms so that different types of news consumers can consume the news that they want when they want to consume it.

Another way that the field of journalism is changing is the level of involvement of the reader. In the past, the reader would have no direct outlet for feedback. In today’s world the news consumer wants their news quicker than ever before and wants a way to directly respond to the news provider. News anchors are now encouraged to be active on social media and in writing blogs to encourage viewer communication and participation. Even more so, normal citizens want to participate in the news process in a process often called citizen journalism. Citizen journalism is just another way that the medium of journalism is changing.

The main theme of the chapter is that the way that journalism happens is changing while journalism itself remains the same.

This chapter means a lot for me because if I want to work in the field of journalism then I need to pay attention to media trends so that I can stay up with the way that news is produced while not compromising both the principles of basic journalism and biblical principles.