It is ironic how strikingly similar the issues in today’s media landscape are to what motivated journalists to embark on civic journalism experiments in the 1990’s. So striking, that many civic journalists say that journalists would not have miscalled the 2016 presidential election if they had done basic civic listening
Archive | Articles
Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks
How can new faculty members nudge peers teaching outdated journalism courses?
Making a Case for New Taxonomies in Journalism
New forms of journalism are populating the new media landscape – much of it emerging from entrepreneurial news startups. I think there are enough examples that we can begin to develop taxonomies.
Teaching Media Entrepreneurship. What Does that Mean?
As more and more journalism programs add courses on media entrepreneurship, there is little evidence of a standardized media-entrepreneurship curriculum, according to a recent survey of journalism educators conducted for CUNY’s Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism.
Tow Report Details Promise of Crowdsourcing
CNN recently announced it was ending its longstanding iReport crowdsourcing efforts, opting instead to source stories directly from social media streams. This was a notable marker signaling how news organizations are making different choices about audience growth and engagement.
When Engagement Really Worked
With last week’s celebration of the tremendous journalism contributions of Ed Fouhy, the award-winning broadcast executive and founder of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, it seemed like a good time to revisit what we already learned about engagement– but may have forgotten.
Navigating Law for Media Startups
When I launched J-Lab in 2002, the best piece of advice I received was to have a lawyer draft a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the relationship between my center and its soon-to-be home, the University of Maryland.
Reimagining Journalism School as a ‘Gateway Degree’ to Anything
J-Lab director Jan Schaffer is wrapping up 20 years of raising money to give it away to fund news startups, innovations and pilot projects. She is pivoting J-Lab to do discrete projects and custom training and advising that build on her expertise.
J-Lab’s Jan Schaffer Reflects Back on 20 Years of Journalism Innovation
After two decades of work at the forefront of journalism innovations, interactive journalism and news startups, J-Lab executive director Jan Schaffer weighs in with some observations and lessons learned. This post addresses journalism innovations.
10 Takeaways from Teaching Entrepreneurship
So far, two cohort groups, some 21 people, have gone through my Seminar in Media Entrepreneurship for mid-career professionals. It is the first seminar that each cohort group takes as they embark on the 20-month, 10-course journey to a MA in Media Entrepreneurship at American University.