The experience with theoretical and applied research on convergent journalism and mobility in the Convergent Journalism Laboratory Project

Abstract

This article is based on theoretical and applied research carried out within the Convergent Journalism Laboratory Project (MCTI/CNPQ/MEC/CAPES 22/2014) – sponsored by the Faculty of Communication/ Federal University of Bahia (Brazil). The project has been consolidated as a research space on convergent journalism, cross-platform production, with special reference to products classified as autochthonous (i.e. specifically created for tablets and smartphones), as well as innovative formats: languages and the use of databases in the composition and visualization of content. Applied research has also been pursued and led to the creation of a mobile application (Academo) – developed in responsive design – conceived as a search engine for journalistic sources on scientific subjects. The research used as main theoretical support the concepts of journalistic convergence, mobile communication, mobile journalism, database journalism, dynamic multimedia continuum. The project´s main aim was to collaborate to the advancement of discussions and reflections on innovation in journalism, seeking to define and characterize innovation and its relation to the concept of affordances, investigate specific characteristics of mobile journalism and propose typologies and categories of analysis. The project has reached prominence and generated important bibliographic material to support various research activities, both at undergraduate and graduate level. The article summarizes the results of the research with focus on the project´s theoretical /conceptual, methodological and applied aspects.