Universities can lead in incubation of new media models

Ninth in a series on entrepreneurial journalism programs at universities and media organizations. 

Mark Briggs, the man who wrote the book about entrepreneurial journalism, believes that universities are among the best places to experiment with new business models for news.

Universities embrace experimentation and risk-taking, he says. "Those are two traits that are not very inherent in legacy news organizations. That's why I've always felt that the university was in a prime position to be the startup incubator for testing new ideas in digital news and publishing."

He favors the model of a lab where students are encouraged to propose new products and applications and try them out on real audiences. Since the students have no investment in the old ways of doing things, they can approach some of the problems facing media organizations with an open mind. 

Cronkite School focuses on hands-on experiences

Eighth in a series on entrepreneurial journalism programs at universities and media organizations. 

Retha Hill, director,
New Media Innovation Lab

Arizona State University differs from some of the other programs in entrepreneurial journalism profiled in this series since it does not offer a degree in that field. Instead it emphasizes hands-on experiences in its programs for developing new digital media.

Both graduate and undergraduate students can work in its New Media Innovation Lab, operated by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where their research and computer programming help media companies create multimedia products.

Working hand in glove with the lab is the school's Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship,  which also encourages students to develop new media products.

Students from all departments on campus can participate in both these programs, bringing together experiences from engineering, business, computer science, and other disciplines.

A niche publication thrives within the New York Times

Loren Feldman, small business editor

 

Versión en español aquí.

A digital media entrepreneur has to think first of building a community. Doing that means offering not just information but answers, advice, help, understanding.

You have to know what your community needs. That is why Loren Feldman perks up when he talks about a five-part series on his blog in which a small businessman described how he almost ruined his business by mismanaging his Google Adwords account.

It was a drama and a mystery aimed at a particular audience, namely small business owners and professionals. The blog is called "You're the Boss: The Art of Running a Small Business," and it appears in the small business section of the New York Times's website. Feldman is the Times's small business editor.