This document discusses the growing trend of entrepreneurial journalism education programs in the US. It provides context about the transition to the digital age and economic crisis in traditional journalism. Entrepreneurial thinking in journalism education offers a way to change the "culture of journalism" and help students develop new skills and find jobs as few will work in traditional news organizations. Approximately 30% of US journalism programs now teach entrepreneurial concepts. Common course designs involve students developing business ideas, market research, and pitching to investors. However, entrepreneurial concepts could be applied more systematically across journalism curricula. Questions remain around assessing the success of these programs in creating new ventures and jobs.

1. Entrepreneurial
Journalism
Education in the US
Donica Mensing
@donica
Academia.edu / dmensing@unr.edu

2. Entrepreneurship is the process of
creating and implementing innovation-
based solutions and responses to
economic or societal problems and
gaps in the private marketplace.
Mars and Metcalf (2009)

3. Context
 Global transition from the industrial age to the
digital information age
 40 years of stagnation in the publishing business
(Hoag and Seo, 2005)
 Economic crisis in journalism organizations
 Journalism education that focuses on
reinforcing the way things used to be done

4. Few students will find jobs in traditional
news organizations.
Journalism education programs
continue to grow.
The journalism industry is in dire straits.
What is our response?

5. Entrepreneurship offers a
theme for energizing
journalism education

6. Questions
Motivations for developing
entrepreneurial journalism efforts in
journalism education
Major trends in entrepreneurial
journalism curricula
What these efforts represent in terms
of the future direction of journalism
education

7. Developing literature
 An education for independence (Baines and
Kennedy, 2010)
 Learning from layoffs (Nel, 2010)
 Creative destruction (Nee, 2013)
 How jschools are helping students learn
entrepreneurial journalism skills (Breiner, 2013)

8. The overall picture
Approximately 30% of US journalism education
programs teach some aspect of
entrepreneurial journalism
(Becker, Vlad and Kalpen, 2012)
List of 25 relevant journalism education
programs (and counting)
http://bit.ly/11GsD2L
Strong foundation support (Scripps Howard
Foundation/Knight Foundation)

9. Three emerging models:
“traditional classroom teaching
and degree programs,
innovation laboratories, and
partnerships with news publishers and
nongovernmental organizations.”
(Breiner, 2013)
How j-schools are helping students
develop entrepreneurial skills

10. Motivations vary:
To save journalism
To save students

11. Many programs focus on graduate
students or midcareer
professionals, rather than
undergraduate students

12. Some of the largest programs
receive multimillion grants to fund
their work.
Arizona State, City University of New York,
Columbia University, University of Southern
California, University of North Carolina

13. Most entrepreneurial
courses focus on
new product development
and revenue generation

14. Courses are usually electives,
generally taken by a small number
of students within a program.

15. Course design is often similar:
students work alone or in teams to
develop an idea, do market
research, create a business plan,
build a prototype and pitch it to a
potential investor.

16. However, entrepreneurial
concepts and approaches
could be embedded in
small, creative ways throughout
a journalism program – in
courses, meetings, activities.

17. Conclusions
 Entrepreneurship is one way to
change the “culture of journalism”
Faculty can (and need) to practice
entrepreneurship in pedagogy and
practices
Entrepreneurial concepts could be
more systematically applied in other
ways

18. Entrepreneurial concepts could
be applied to:
Professional practices (e.g. story
forms, sourcing, interviewing, etc.)
Civic practices (organize, contribute)
Technological practices (new apps, sites)
Economic practices (new forms of revenue)
Pedagogical practices (alternative
teaching methods, lessons, assignments)

19. Questions of assessment
 Number of new ventures created
 Success of students in finding and creating their
own jobs
 New journalistic practices developed
 Number of experiments launched

20. Finally
 Entrepreneurial thinking offers a path for
journalism educators to innovate and change
 Rather than teaching students in „teaching
hospitals‟ we can help students engage fully on
the streets doing the work they imagine
 Confining entrepreneurial ways of thinking to a
few classes for a few students limits possibilities.
Entrepreneurs embrace change; so can we.

21. Growing list of
entrepreneurial journalism
programs/classes/ideas.
Please add yours.
http://bit.ly/11GsD2L