convergent journalism

Interesting read…gave me different ideas of convergence–I guess I thought of it more as technological than cultural earlier…but now think that its probably sort of a cycle..something that feeds off each other.

The most interesting bit though, is the idea that convergence and its products are not top-down as most media related products are. Its bottom up too, in a very active, everyday way. Which is why it allows people to see and do the things that are relevant to them, which is why everyone is an author. However, my concern with such freedom is that it is unlimited. Convergence has led to this explosion of expression, creativity and freedom that perhaps has unsavoury consequences. Society I believe, functions efficiently only when there are rules and regulations. With the freedom and opportunity that the internet accords anyone with a reasonably fast internet connection, misuse/abuse is an issue. The article talks of high school soft porn, an apt example. Freedom of expression could be used as a counter-argument, but how far can that be stretched? On the basis of freedom of expression, a Dutch court has refused to ban a political party with a paedophile agenda. (Read the full story at: Dutch will allow paedophile group ) The group supports reducing the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12, believes in legalizing child porn and sex with animals. I know its an extreme example, but hey, they say its freedom of expression. I’m not a strong advocate of censorship, but with everyone capable of being an author these days, I’m concerned that it might be getting too difficult to know where to draw the line.