Commentary Teaching media convergence and its challenges

Many of my colleagues from journalism schools in the United States have for many years been bulking up on convergent media courses to prepare the next generation of reporters for an industry that is being reshaped by digital communication technologies. Concepts and theories of internet journalism were first taught during the days of HTML programming in the early1990s. Some have embraced the need to teach ‘new media ’ skills wholeheartedly, some gingerly, and some not at all. What are the plausible reasons behind these mixed sentiments towards the teaching of convergent media courses? Are academics ’ multimedia skills keeping pace with their students who are commonly referred to as ‘digital natives’? Is the emphasis on technology-oriented production courses overlooking the imperative of teaching students the fundamentals of clear, succinct reporting? Indeed, reporters today are required to be fluent in the language of cross-platform delivery of news and media content. In addition to the fundamental skills of journalism — master writing, efficient and effective fact gathering, interviewing and editing — these days students must also know how to blog, podcast and desig