It’s not just about the inverted pyramid. Or even the audio and visual skills required to produce a Soundslides project. Preparation for careers in news, no matter how broadly defined, requires an understanding of the history and quickly unfolding future of journalism business models. And all the related issues of marketing, ethics and entrepreneurship.
But let’s start with the basic business models.
Andrew Dunn, a student at the University of North Carolina and former intern at Poynter’s St. Pete Times, pitched his idea for such a course over the weekend on his blog.
First on his book list: “All the News that’s Fit to Sell,” by James Hamilton. It’s a timely pick. Josh Benton will begin a month-long discussion of the book today at the Nieman Journalism Lab.
The best result from my quick search online for J-School courses focused on economic models is this Future and Business of Journalism syllabus posted by Tim McGuire at the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. Here’s an updated syllabus for the Spring semester.
Scroll down past the course requirements (including “pay attention and stay awake”) and you’ll find a collection of recommended books and links that, combined with Nieman’s exploration of the Hamilton book, provide a decent primer for Andrew and anybody else interested in helping shape the future of news.
Here’s a starter on the business of newspapering from NewsU and the Maynard Institute, plus the business model category in our Transformation Tracker resources.
Your recommendations for syllabi, books and links on this topic?