New Media Technology and Its Application to Broadcasting: A Mini-Ethnographic Study

This was a comparative study of Cable News Network (CNN) and Television Commercial (TVC) news in their use of convergence technology. In order to achieve this, two objectives and two research questions were developed. The researcher employed the use of qualitative research and data was gathered using direct observation and discussions. The population of the study was all broadcast stations all over the world, however, CNN and TVC news formed the sample for the research. The theory adopted for this work is the technological determinism theory. After the analysis of the results of the direct observation and the discussions, the study found that both CNN and TVC news adopt new media technologies. However, the study also found that while CNN went for highly sophisticated technology, TVC news settled for the basics of convergence technology. The study also found that there are several challenges militating against the adoption of convergence technologies like maintenance and catching up with evolving technology and innovations. Amongst the challenges is the cost of acquisition of new media technologies. The study also found that though adopting is expensive, the benefits are enormous and far outweigh the cost. The study, therefore, recommends that TVC news should up their game by employing more state-of-the-art new media technology equipment and that TVC news should from time-to-time pay a visit to major broadcast stations like CNN to keep abreast with the trend in new media technology.