Rapidly converging media technologies mean the School of Communication is changing its curriculum and facilities to train students who can produce news in text, voice, and visual formats. 

Called “media convergence,” the trend unifying previously separated media technologies has accelerated in recent years as news websites integrate text, sound, and motion pictures that used to be rigidly divided into print and broadcast news outlets.

Adjunct Professor Chris Delboni, who received a masters degree in Online Journalism from American University in 2003, said media convergence is creating “a new, brave world of journalism.”

The task the school faces is how to prepare students for a world that is still being defined.

“Students should be able to write well and be adaptable, versatile and more tech savvy,” said Michel Dupagne, an associate professor of Broadcasting and Broadcast Journalism whose research specialization is new technologies. 

For others, technological shifts cannot alter the essence of journalism as a process of collecting, verifying and disseminating information that supports an informed and participatory citizenry.

“The biggest challenge is how to maintain the reliability and integrity of the news in the midst of technological change,” Dean Sam L. Grogg said. 

For journalism undergraduates, a senior-level capstone project course that combines written and online journalism has been taught since last year. Delboni taught a new media reporting class for graduate journalism students this fall and will teach an online reporting class for undergraduates in the spring. Existing classes are also integrating new media skills in their syllabi and The Miami Hurricane has included videos and email alerts in its online edition.

“The results are already amazing,” Grogg said. “Take a look at the online version of The Miami Hurricane. Take a look at the Knight Center website. Take a look at the student blogs in the visual journalism program. Take a look at the website of our summer high school journalism workshop. Everywhere you look, this new way is fast becoming standard practice.”

Maggie Steber, an internationally known photo journalist who spent the fall as a resident professional at the center, taught a course this fall combining online and traditional elements to forecast “the newspaper of the future.” Other visiting residents will likely teach specialized, online skills classes.

As part of the Knight Center for International Media, a high-level professional from the media industry will be named as a new endowed chair in visual communication in coming weeks.

The School of Communication has spent $11 million in the last few years to upgrade its facilities.

The digitalization of the school’s television production suites cost about $2 million and the new international wing, which includes webcast- and teleconference-capable classrooms, a student newsroom, and an additional computer lab, cost about $9 million. 

Nevertheless, a lot of changes are happening at low cost. For example, students have been listening to lectures on I-Pods in select classes for the past year. The “Flip” video cameras on which students are first learning basic video skills are also on the low-end of the cost scale.

“The fact that the new technologies are so pervasive makes their utilization less expensive than one might think,” Grogg noted.