ABSTRACT
The dynamics of technological change are of pressing importance for researchers exploring the history of the Internet. The term “media convergence” is frequently used as a form of analytical shorthand to characterize the ostensibly technology-driven imperatives shaping news media institutions around the globe. Typically signaled for attention in this regard are the ways in which the Internet is transforming—for better or otherwise— the gathering and processing of digitized news so that it may be rapidly appropriated, inflected, and repurposed across different media platforms. While it is fair to say that evaluative assessments of this transformation tend to generate more heat than light, few commentators would dispute that its perceived impact invites active rethinking of familiar assumptions about how formerly medium-specific institutions can successfully operate in multimedia contexts. Indeed, the reorganization of the communicative power at stake is widely perceived to have profound implications that speak to the very survivability of “old media” in the brave new world of “new” media rapidly unfolding around us.
