Exploring Media Convergence: Cross-Media vs Transmedia Essay

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of media convergence, focusing on the distinctions between cross-media and transmedia strategies. It defines cross-media as the use of multiple channels to convey the same story, often originating in advertising, and highlights its application in journalism, where agencies like Reuters and the Associated Press use various platforms to disseminate the same information with different presentations. The essay contrasts this with transmedia, which expands a single story across multiple platforms, each contributing unique narrative elements. It discusses the advantages of cross-media, such as increased efficiency, broader reach, and enhanced brand awareness. The essay also outlines the four levels of cross-media implementation and emphasizes the role of technology and audience participation in shaping the media landscape. Ultimately, the essay underscores the importance of understanding these convergent strategies in the context of modern media and journalism.

Running head: MEDIA
Media
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1MEDIA
Media is always on verge of transformation and hence it becomes very important to have
the knowledge of the terminology of the multiple platforms that media possess. This situation is
often known as forms of media convergence (Schivinski and Dabrowski 2016). While discussing
about cross media one more form that needs consideration is Transmedia as they both are two
important platforms of media. The real idea about the duo is unknown to many. Kevin Moloney
defined the duo as, Cross media has many channels but focuses on one main story and
Transmedia too has one story but has the story in many forms, which makes it many stories and
covers many channels.
About cross media a specific quote can be stated which is narrated by Monique de Haas.
In his words, cross media is ‘a communication in which a storyline guides the recipient from
one medium to the other.’ This means that in case of cross media the user finds out a way to
cover the diverse media platforms and obtain the relevant information about the content.
The difference of cross media with Transmedia is that Transmedia has entrance to many
channels offering a unique way to summarize and gather information. Transmedia is a form of
rich media that provides its content on various platforms and comes up with a new story. Each of
the medium or channel it covers updates and expands the narration in a broader and unique way
providing the audience with the opportunity for exploring the story.
However, Cross media does not expand the narration but it provides the same information
about the story in different forms. This is a form of adapting the same to a new platform by not
changing its meaning (Klastrup and Tosca 2015). Media is a form of storyteller and includes the
application of pictures, images, audios, graphic and illustration and many others. The channels

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that it uses are radio, television, newspaper, websites and recently the mobile websites. As there
are many channels of media cross media implements the use of those forms in different aspects.
Cross media depicts its originality from the advertising industry and what it implies is the
narration of the same information in the various channels of media. Journalism has many
examples of cross media since its beginning. In the year of 1970, Coke first initiated the aspect
of cross media ownership in television (Swart, Peters and Broersma 2016). The first agencies of
journalism like the Reuters and the associated press is still seen following the cross media aspect
by narrating the same story to the world in different forms. The story in all the channels remain
the same but what changes is the form of the narration including more photos, graphics and
illustration. Many agencies perform the same cross media factor on a regional level and in this
form they are able to distribute the aspect of investigative journalism in a more wider way. Cross
media utilizes the different channels in different way but for the same story. Cross media uses
channels to, directly reach to the audience about the story in a broader way. Cross media along
with Transmedia and the other forms of media provides the journalism of the present world with
the flexibility of using many channels to cover one story (Tenenboim-Weinblatt and Neiger
2015).
Cross media is actually the use of the same media in a new and innovative way and is not
only dependant on the advertising sector but also aims to reach directly to the audience. This
sector introduces many multimedia services such as radio, television, and internet and in the
recent context the mobile application. In the present technological era, the audiences are seen to
control the media (Swart, Peters and Broersma 2016). They are the one to choose which content
they want to see and get the information from and the cross media takes the chance of this
opportunity and visualize or narrate the content in various channels so that they can have the

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audience in every channel. It is obvious that every channel has their target audience and cross
media uses every channel in a different form (Franklin 2014). Cooperation among the channels
and the specialist is also an integral part of the cross media. Innovation and technology are two
main tool used by cross media and cross media allows the distribution of the content of one story
in a form of multi channeling. Presently the media channels identify the content and then chose
the definite media that will be appropriate for the story (Nielsen and Schrøder 2014). Cross
media is not directly linked to the technical concept but it has relevance to the technical concept.
Cross media is an effective means to accomplish communication goals but it also works as an
implication of the communication goal in a required channel (Bjur et al. 2014). The advantages
of cross media are that it increases the efficiency of the story, news or information and it strings
many channels along with each other. Cross media takes care that the utilization of the different
channels is done based on its qualities. These increase the domain of the information and
maximize the impact of the same in the target audience. However, it must be noted that in every
case the use of many media channels does not imply cross media concept but it is only under the
cross media concept when the media are used keeping their qualities in mind along with the
participatory attitude from the audience. The cross media concept also entails the brand
awareness factor and intensifies the experience of the audiences by placing the same product in a
different context. There are four levels of cross media; firstly, it provides the same information
on diverse platforms. Secondly, it has an original content along with the production. Thirdly, this
aims at increasing the awareness of the audience towards a single story. Lastly, it creates an
environment for the audience so that they can visualize or hear the same thing over many
channels and help them create their own way of experience among the other ways (Watson and
Hill 2015).

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References:
Bjur, J., Schrøder, K., Hasebrink, U., Courtois, C., Adoni, H. and Nossek, H., 2014. Cross-media
use: unfolding complexities in contemporary audiencehood. In Audience transformations:
Shifting audience positions in late modernity (pp. 15-29). Routledge.
Franklin, B., 2014. The Future of Journalism: In an age of digital media and economic
uncertainty.
Klastrup, L. and Tosca, S.P., 2015. Cross-Media Analysis: An Experience-Centered Approach.
In Users Across Media.
Nielsen, R.K. and Schrøder, K.C., 2014. The relative importance of social media for accessing,
finding, and engaging with news: an eight-country cross-media comparison. Digital
journalism, 2(4), pp.472-489.
Schivinski, B. and Dabrowski, D., 2016. The effect of social media communication on consumer
perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(2), pp.189-214.
Swart, J., Peters, C. and Broersma, M., 2016. Navigating cross-media news use: Media
repertoires and the value of news in everyday life. Journalism Studies, pp.1-20.
Tenenboim-Weinblatt, K. and Neiger, M., 2015. Print is future, online is past: Cross-media
analysis of temporal orientations in the news. Communication Research, 42(8), pp.1047-1067.
Watson, J. and Hill, A., 2015. Dictionary of media and communication studies. Bloomsbury
Publishing USA.