This course enables students to understand and engage effectively with opportunities for entrepreneurial development as professional journalists and managers, and deals with characteristic requirements and challenges. Students will analyse current development in news production and distribution with a focus on the enterprise as a business, and will be able to critically evaluate the implications – at both an industry level and a personal level. Professional participants will be encouraged to reflect on their understandings and practices to develop fresh insights about the limits and possibilities for journalistic work and the journalistic enterprise in today’s increasingly digital and multi-media environment.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course the student will be able to:
• Recognise and analyse trends in news production and distribution • Understand and appreciate the theory of entrepreneurship, as well as distinctions for an intrapreneurial orientation in legacy firms • Address implications of the changing news industry that are critically important for successful practice among journalists and managers • Contrast and reflect on new media and traditional media in news environments • Evaluate personal professional development needs for entrepreneurial skills and behaviours that are essential for success • Understand business models and business planning as essential successful factors for start-ups
Contents
The course features a reading list and connected topical lectures, The course begins with a one-day intensive seminar that looks at cases and includes guest lecturers to illustrate practical cases from the industry. The course concludes with a half-day workshop where students present and discuss the results of teamwork projects.
Modes of study
Option
1
Available for:
Degree Programme Students
Other Students
Open University Students
Doctoral Students
Exchange Students
Participation in course work
In
English
Exercise(s)
In
English
Lectures and discussion about readings (15 hours). Students are tested on their knowledge of readings and lectures. Students are divided into teams that conduct research and develop a business plan for a news start-up. The teams are required to make presentations of the results.
Evaluation
and evaluation criteria
Numeric 1-5.
Participation in classes and a team-produced research paper and presentation (2 ECTS). Readings and lecture notes that culminate in an examination (3 ECTS).
Study materials
Contemporary readings from academic journals and books, trade press sources, international news magazines, and on-line reports. Many are posted on a course Moodle site and others are supplemental and recommended by the instructor. There are four required books for all students:
Briggs, M. (2011) Entrepreneurial Journalism: How to build what?s next for news. London: SAGE.
Grueskin, B., Seave, A. and Graves, L. (2011) The Story So Far: What we know about the business of digital journalism. NY: Columbia Journalism School. (Provided as nn e-book on the Moodle site)
Jarvis, J. (2014) Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining new futures for news. NY: CUNY Journalism Press.
Sirkkunen, E. and Cook, C. (eds.) (2012) Chasing Sustainability on the Net. Tampere: Comet. (Provided as an e-book on the Moodle site)