Research Assignment:
Innovations for a Converging Media World
I. Purpose of this assignment:
To give you a chance to dig more deeply into an area of the media that is interesting to you, and to research innovative new models in the media that have resulted from convergence.
II. Examples of new media models:
A TV streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, a music service like Spotify, a news blog or vlog, podcasts, a new model for the newspaper industry (Axios, Pro Publica, or new ways to use social media for news sourcing), new video or sports streaming site, etc.
III. Final product. You have two options:
1) A five to seven-minute live or recorded presentation
2) A five to six-page paper (double-spaced)
In either case, you should include the following content:
- Media context of your new model. What old media did it replace? Or what media is it most similar to, and how does it improve on that old model?
- Facts, statistics, and/or experts’ opinions on how the new model you’re focusing on is working from an industry perspective.
- 1) What is working well?
- 2) What problems is this model running into from a business point of view (such as making a profit, finding users, dealing with the competition, etc.)?
- 3) What problems is this new model causing for the industry and its competitors?
- Facts, statistics and/or experts’ opinions on how this new model affects consumers:
- 1) How is the model meeting consumers’ needs?
- 2) What are the downsides of this model for consumers?
- 3) What impact is your media model having on our culture?
- Conclusion
- Bibliography in Chicago style, including at least 7 sources. At least three must be from the list provided.
IV. The steps:
1) Choose your topic and final project format (presentation or paper).
2) Write a two-page (double-spaced) proposal for your final project. This will mean doing some preliminary research about your topic to find out if enough has been written about it for you to complete this project.
This proposal should include the following:
- A clear explanation of your topic.
- Background on your topic and media area.
- Facts and/or insights you’ve begun to discover about your topic (i.e. issues you’re beginning to discover or learn more about).
- Questions that are being raised for you. What are you wondering about?
- Preliminary bibliography, with at least 3 sources. At least 2 of these sources should be taken from the list of publications below.
3) One-on-one video conferences
4) Final product – presentation or paper
5) Reflection paper on your process, results. What worked, didn’t work? What would you do differently next time? What did you learn?
Newspapers:
- The New York Times
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Washington Post
- The Christian Science Monitor
- The L.A. Times
Magazines:
- The Atlantic
- The New Yorker
- Forbes
- The Weekly Standard
Industry Sources:
- Pew Research Center
- Nieman Foundation
- Columbia Journalism Review
- On the Media (NPR)
- Poynter.org
