MODERN MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND THE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF JOURNALISTS

Abstract

Media convergence has transformed journalism from a profession organized around separate media platforms into a multiplatform form of content production. A contemporary journalist may work simultaneously with text, photography, video, audio, social media, live streams, data, and mobile publishing. This article examines how modern media convergence changes journalists’ professional competence and identifies the skills required for effective work in convergent newsrooms. The study applies a qualitative analytical approach based on research on convergence culture, digital journalism education, and recent media industry trends. The analysis demonstrates that convergence does not simply require journalists to master more technologies. It changes the organization of work, the relationship between journalists and audiences, the speed of news production, and the boundaries between traditional professional roles. The contemporary journalist therefore needs a combination of traditional journalistic competencies—verification, interviewing, writing, ethics, and editorial judgment—with digital storytelling, multimedia production, data literacy, platform awareness, audience analytics, and collaborative skills. The article argues that professional mastery in a convergent newsroom should be understood not as universal technical specialization, but as the ability to select appropriate tools and formats while preserving the principles of accuracy, public interest, independence, and accountability.