from student journalists to news entrepreneurs: a case study of technically media international...
TRANSCRIPT
From Student Journalists to News
Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of
Technically Media
International Symposium on Online Journalism Austin, TX – April 20, 2012
Mark Berkey-GerardAssistant Professor, Rowan UniversityTwitter: @mabege
Technically Media
Founded in 2009 by three Temple U. grads
Media consultancy for business, news and nonprofits
Publishes Technically Philly, a regional technology blog in Philadelphia
Sean Blanda, Brian James Kirk, and Christopher Wink. Photo by Colin Lenton
Technology blog covering local: • startups• venture capital• social media/web development • digital access• science, tech, engineering and math education• technology-related local government policy
•25,000 a month•Employed in research, science, media, marketing, IT•71% age 20-39•63% earn $50K+ annually•47% read daily
Readers
Technically Media:
Provides “editorial strategy” for businesses, nonprofits and news organizations
Identifies audience conversions
Online publication where legal scholars, historians and staff write about constitutional issues
Extend museum programming to digital platform
Adopt newsroom ethos and practices
National Constitution Center
Why Study Technically Media?
• “Prototype plucked from an entrepreneurial journalism textbook”
• Profitable without outside investment
• Bridge the gap between research and classroom
• Evidence of entrepreneurial capacities
Entrepreneurial Capacities (Gibb)
1. Opportunity seeking
2. Initiative taking
3. Ownership of a development
4. Commitment to see things through
5. Personal locus of control
6. Intuitive decision making
7. Networking capacity
8. Strategic thinking
9. Negotiation capacity
10.Selling/persuasive capacity
11.Achievement orientation
12.Incremental risk taking
RQ1: Knowledge and skills?
• Newsroom
• Publishing
• Consulting
• Grants
• Event Planning
• Small Business
RQ2: Acquire knowledge and skills?
• Implementation of existing ideas
• Student publication, internships, entry-level jobs
• Reporting as a pathway to business knowledge
• Creating forums for sharing knowledge (BarCamp News Innovation)
RQ3: Key entrepreneurial capacities?
• Initial launch
• Beyond advertising
• Journalistic values as a product
• Event funded online news publication
• Expanding to additional markets
RQ4: Implications for J education?
• Training for jobs that do not exist
• Opportunities to build publications and tools
• Testing products
• Entrepreneurial projects as gateway to traditional employment