Journalism and convergence

Abstract

The new word of command in business, professional and academic circles, convergence has been utilized to refer to a diversity of processes: concentration of the communication groups, initiatives for integration of newsrooms and distribution of content in multiple platforms, development of new language formats, reconfiguration of the relations between producers and audiences, etc. As the researcher Canavilhas explains in the opening article of this dossier, “We can ascertain an attempt to integrate the several facets of convergence, seeking an overall definition capable of covering all the fields of convergence”. In fact, beyond a mere technical description of the phenomenon, the concept of convergence has benefited from different approaches – economic, sociological, technological, normative – which explain the diversity of objects and scenarios described as convergent. The interdisciplinary relation with many meanings that is established with regard to convergence can lead to a draining of the concept. It is sometimes confounded with a group of variables that explain the processes of transformation or reconfiguration of the entire media system. This explains the caution of the authors who participate in the dossier Digital Media, convergence and journalistic practice: challenges and prospects, in this edition of Brazilian Journalism Research. Some researchers prefer to utilize more precise terminologies to describe phenomena that emerge in this scenario. This is shown by the articles by Alzamora and Tarcia and also by Pase, Nunes and Fontoura on considering “transmedia narrative” to be a subject of research which is located in the ambit of convergent journalism. Canavilhas prefers to apply the concept of “remediation” to describe the transposition and adaptation of aspects of digital language by the traditional media, which would differ from convergence of content, defined as the utilization of “a particular language with unique and differentiated