Week Two : Convergence Worldwide

I believe that the principle reason that convergence is spreading worldwide is because of globalization. As Thomas L. Friedman appropriately titled his latest book : The World is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-First Century, what happens on one side of the globe has implications on the opposite side. Think of the Asian economic crisis in 1997 or the Tsunami a few years ago.

In order to report news and "tell stories" quickly and as it develops, it is impossible for a journalist in Bangkok,Thailand to hop on a plane and arrive in time for the 9/11 attacks in New York. We must, therefore, rely on other journalists and technology to disseminate information from faraway to local readers, listerners and viewers. The world nowadays does not sleep and we live in a world that is flying past us. One news outlet in one city cannot manage to report everything simulteneously. As Dr. Quinn wrote in his book : "multiple products for multiple platforms to reach a mass audience with interactive content, often on a 24/7 timescale" (p.7).

People want to know what's going on rightaway. For that, we have the Internet and even news on your mobile phone sent by SMS. The newspaper often contains news that is outdated when people get it in the morning. Updated news from wires, online, bloggers and citizen journalists help us to know the facts.

People are curious. People want to know what is going on elsewhere. Their businesses depend on it and their interests to know what's going on in other places have turned CNN, BBC and other global news outlets into commonalities and a daily part of many people's lives. CNN is available in almost every hotel room in the world.

Convergence is already happening in Thailand. At my radio station, we are what can be called an "ownership convergence" as we are owned by the Public Relations Department (PRD) of the Royal Thai Government. The PRD also owns TV channels and numerous other radio stations as well as many PR websites (www.prd.go.th) . We pool or resources together to deliver news to our listners, viewers, and readers. For example, news in Thai will be translated in numerous languages to be broadcast on the radio.

Bruce