Civic Journalism Redux
Nov. 10, 2016 Articles | MediumIt 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
Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks
Oct. 13, 2016 Articles | Teaching Media EntrepreneurshipHow can new faculty members nudge peers teaching outdated journalism courses?
Making a Case for New Taxonomies in Journalism
Sep. 15, 2016 Articles | Teaching Media EntrepreneurshipNew 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?
Jun. 15, 2016 Articles | MediashiftAs 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
Nov. 25, 2015 Articles | MediaShiftCNN 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
Jun. 24, 2015 Articles | Nieman LabsWith 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
Jun. 23, 2015 Articles | MediaShiftWhen 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
Nov. 20, 2014 Articles | MediaShiftJ-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.