picture: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/angela-merkel-nails-coronavirus-speech-unlike-trump.html
Hey guys,
COVID-19 became a worldwide problem and the number one headline of 2020. The governments around the world are dealing differently with the invisible threat and new circumstances. They try to communicate with their people using different platforms to reach as many as possible. Over social media, television, radio or podcasts, they try to spread the word: People stay home, we have to “flat the curve”. Fortunately, we are living in a time of mass communication, where communication can be transmitted to large segments of a population at once. This era of mass communication makes a so-called asymmetrical communication, communication from one to many easier and more efficient. It is almost effortless for one person to share information with many people, especially because digital media is underlined by a new way of consumption, the so-called “prosumption”. Mass communication is not merely focused on the old separation between producer and consumer of messages but it is rather a coming together of these two. The producer of media can also become a consumer and the consumer can share, edit or repost the message and therefore he or she becomes a new producer.
Thus, content flows no longer in one direction but is constantly going back and forward. Henry Jenkins states that our modern media is dominated by a phenomenon he calls media convergence. In his own words, he describes convergence as the “flow of content across media platforms, the cooperation between multiple industries and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want”. This means that the way we use media today is no longer characterised by neither a one way flow nor a strict separation of the different media forms. Furthermore, he distinguished between five forms of convergence: organic convergence, economic convergence, technological convergence, cultural convergence and global convergence. Speaking of economic convergence, this simply means that one company has control over different services and products. One example for this is Disney. The company is involved in films, streaming, theme parks, toys and many more. The other four I will break down for you in regards to the way governments are approaching their people.
In the past, important speeches were traditionally transmitted over the radio or the television. Nowadays they are available for everyone to watch through numerous channels. Let's take Angela Merkel's corona speech as an example. Firstly, it was broadcasted on March 18th the TV channel “Das Erste”, one the most watched national German TV channels. However, in the era of digital media, the internet makes it possible to watch the speech “whenever, wherever” like Shakira says it in her song. The speech was uploaded to the chancellor´s instagram, as well as various YouTube channels and it is still “watchable” on the TV channel´s media center. Additionally, there are newspaper articles off-and online that have commented on the speech. This form of convergence is defined by Jenkins as cultural convergence, the spread of content over several media platforms. Moreover, it is therefore not fixed on a certain audience. Clearly, the chancellor is first and foremost addressing the people in Germany in her speech. But the internet does not know about borders and people from all over the world can listen to the advice of Angela Merkel. In return, Germans can also hear what the French president Macron, the British Prime minister Johnson or the US president Trump are saying concerning the Coronavirus.
But the cultural connectedness evoked by the global access to the information also leads to global trends, an example for global convergence, the influence between geographical distant cultures. On instagram their is the global call to #stayhome. Under this hashtag people post ideas of what can be done at home or musicians upload live concerts from their living rooms to motivate people to stay in. This global trend exists in different languages, e.g. the German #wirbleibenzuhause or the French #restezchezvous.
Another form of convergence identified by Jenkins is the technological convergence, the merging of different types of technologies. The speech can be watched on television, but also on any form of technology that has internet access, like the phone, tablet or laptop. The vast spread of the content over different platforms and technology makes them more accessible for the people. They can choose on their own when and where they want to listen to the speech and on what device. Presumably, younger people will have watched the speech on the new forms of media like social media platforms, while older people prefer the TV.
A last form of convergence is organic convergence. This form refers to the “multitasking behavior” during media consumption. While listening to the speech, people can be on their phones texting their friends or scroll through their instagram looking at posts or memes. The neuroscientist Earl Miller stated in an interview with EarthSky that the younger generation is more likely to get used to dividing their focus between different tasks, as their brains are constantly exposed to so-called multitasking. But he makes it clear that this does not necessarily make us more intelligent, as we are losing the skill to pay full attention to something. (Sorry Generation Z people)
In essence, the media convergence is an important part in our modern form of media consumption. And perhaps, you will now from time to time realize its influence over your personal media consumption.
sources:
Definition mass communication: Lule, Jack. "Understanding media and culture." (2018), p.8
Information about convergence: Lule, Jack. "Understanding media and culture." (2018), pp. 17
Erste Deutsches Fernsehen”, Das Erste, http://www.ard.de/home/die-ard/fakten/Das_Erste____Erstes_Deutsches_Fernsehen/487278/index.html (29th March 2020)
Patterson, Lindsay, “Earl Miller says the younger generation will be better multitaskers”, EarthSky https://earthsky.org/human-world/earl-miller-says-younger-generation-will-be-better-multitaskers (29th March 2020)
"Die Ansprache der Kanzlerin auf Englisch – The Chancellor’s address in English" YouTube Channel: Bundesregierung https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLxrxyk_wYo