My last post about citizen journalism and the horrific Haitian earthquake got me thinking about the skills needed to be a reporter. Media commentators, for example Jeff Jarvis and Roy Greenslade, are known for saying that today’s journalists need to be entrepreneurs. It’s no longer enough to be able to talk, listen and write it down. Anyone who wants to be involved in the business of reporting news now needs to understand how to put news together. We need to get to grips with what’s behind a news report: getting the photos, videos, audio, quotes, interactive maps, charts, graphs and quizzes that make up the news package. Journalists, particularly citizen journalists, must be able to write, film, record, blog, comment, fund and somehow make money along the way. We need to be entrepreneurs. As Jeff Jarvis puts it:
“We all agree that it’s important for journalism students — and journalists — today to understand the economics of news. Some of us add that it was irresponsible of our institutions not to teach this in the past. We agree it is important to bring entrepreneurship into the industry. Some of us concentrate more on new entrepreneurial ventures, others more on bringing innovation into existing companies. Some say journalists aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs (I disagree) but all agree that entrepreneurship is a way to teach both innovation and business.”
Today's journalist is a one-man-multimedia-band (Source: http://hayleywatson.wordpress.com/2009/09/)
Jarvis’ ethos is embodied in his online Entrepreneurial Journalism Workspace, with links to his lectures on entrepreneurial journalism, and other US-based journalism schools following the same trend. For American journalism students, being a multitalented entrepreneur, as well as a traditional reporter, is now a key part of the job description.
But what about in the UK? Features writer Patrick Barkham published an article in the Guardian last November featuring the postgraduate students at Goldsmiths College, who have set up an online magazine called EastLondonLines to demonstrate their multifaceted entrepreneurial skills. And fellow students at City University London have always been praised for their entrepreneurial and blogging abilities. Newcastle and Birmingham Universitities have also recently initiated journalism courses geared towards a well-rounded entrepreneurialism; and it seems that students across the UK (and the rest of Europe) are finally waking up to the whole package required of a modern day reporter. This is vitally important. As freelancer Michelle Rafter says:
“Shakespeare said a rose by any other any other name would smell as sweet. But did Shakespeare call himself a freelance writer or a poet? A hired pen, or a playwright? No offence Shakespeare, but words matter. Today what writers call themselves matters more than ever because it sets the tone for how we perceive the value of what we do, and how others perceive us.
This hit home after two professional groups recently scrubbed the term “freelancer” in favour of the more business-like “entrepreneur” to describe their members who work independently. Earlier this year, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers changed the name of its Freelance Committee to Entrepreneurial Committee, apparently to better reflect the times. At the Online News Association annual conference earlier this month, officials of that professional group started preliminary work to offer webinars and other training for reporters who work independently, either by choice or because they’ve been laid off and are contemplating some kind of start up. The ONA’s term of choice for describing these individuals: journalist entrepreneur, or entrepreneurial journalist.”
Wise words, Michelle. Journalists’ good communication skills, ability to work under pressure, and nose for news imbue them inherent entrepreneurial potential. And it seems that if we want to survive in this ever-changing multimedia-based world, we need to harness this. Citizen journalists, marginalised from the outset, can use their entrepreneurialism as a way in to the mainstream. Selling their stories, putting their photos up on the internet, being in the right place at the right time, and telling others about it; all of these are ways for citizen journalists to avoid sinking and come out swimming (and earning money). Just the other day, on work experience at the London Evening Standard, I found a photo uploaded to Flickr by citizen photojournalist Phil Chappell – and we ended up using it in the published article, as it was the only one of the event in question. It’s a good example of a citizen journalist being an entrepreneur, and getting great results for his efforts.
Created at http://www.wordle.net/
Bearing this in mind, and with the aim of helping citizen journalists worldwide harness the inner ‘journa-preneur’ (™), I’ve compiled a list of what I consider to be the top examples of entrepreneurial journalism on the web. I’ve included examples of photojournalism, videojournalism, audiojournalism, exemplary blogging and use of web 2.0, and some miscellaneous others which will hopefully inspire you to go out there and try journa-preneurialism for yourselves…
Photojournalism sites
- Fotofile - a list of resources for budding photojournalists
- Mark Hancock’s blog - a discussion of photojournalism, how to get in and get on, and a resource for uploading press photos from all over the globe
- Multimedia Evangelist – weekly update on what’s new in photojournalism
- Multimedia Shooter – rules, ideas, projects and general inspiration for photojournalists
- Daniel Sato’s blog – news and views from a student photojournalist in Los Angeles
- PhotoJournalism - blog by London photographer Dominic Tyler, with tips and examples of his work
Videojournalism sites
- Cyndy Green’s blog – words of wisdom from a pro, with the tagline “thinking visually”
- IM Video Journalism – commentary and work from ex-BBC videojournalist David Dunkley Gyimah
- Mindy McAdam’s blog – a “no-fear guide to multimedia”
- Multimedia training and visual journalism - avant-garde look at the interactive potential of videojournalism
- Demotix - this “street wire” really is journalism for the entrepreneurs of the 21st century, with a mix of videos, photos and multimedia-based resources
Audiojournalism sites
- Hipcast - an online audio and podcasting service, with free software to create embedded content
- Griffith Audio Journalism - audio news from students at Australia’s Griffith University
- Living on Earth - a great example of the use of “sound journalism” (of the noisy kind) to publicise and popularise a specialist topic: here, the environment
- Z Audio - an audio-journalism based resistance movement, running on radio waves
- AudioBoo - the popular iPhone-based blogging application: an innovation directed at citizen journalists
And the rest…
- Campfire Journalism – notes on interactive storytelling, treating journalism like a story which needs to be communicated to its audience in the most appropriate manner
- Silobreaker - an important news and current affairs aggregator enabling journa-preneurs to be even more up-to-the-minute than traditional search engines
- Sacred Facts - a personal blog by head of BBC Global news, Richard Sambrook: very au fait with developments in multimedia journalism
- TED - a nonprofit organisation dedicated to “ideas worth spreading”, which makes available talks, speeches and debates from big and little names around the globe
- Dipity - as featured in a previous post, this timeline-creator is a great adjunct to traditional print media
- Mapperz - maps news from various sources across Europe, the UK and the rest of the world
- Global Voices – with the slogan “the world is talking; are you listening?”, this citizen journalism network has a brilliant grasp of the importance of entrepreneurialism
That should be enough to get you started. There are hundreds more journa-preneurial websites, books and articles out there, so keep your eyes peeled. For now, let me just leave you with two things. The first is linked to the Campfire Journalism site mentioned above – the title comes form the writings of educator James Carey, who thought of journalism as a kind of collective campfire storytelling that begins in conversation. “Conversation not only forms opinions; it forms memory,” he wrote. “We remember best the things that we say, the things the we say in response to someone else with whom we are engaged. Talk is the surest guide to remembering and knowing what we think.”
So if we are to become real-life journa-preneurs, it makes sense to see journalism as a type of interactive, collaborative storytelling – one that should be conveyed not only through words, but also through a selection of multimedia tools which available, for free, at our fingertips. And we, as entrepreneurs, are the ones who need to create, assemble and put this multimedia to use – understanding the business models we’re working with along the way. Are you a journa-preneur?
Copyright http://business-science.blogspot.com/
The second thing I wanted to include seems apt to mention now. It’s a pledge – from me as a citizen journalist to you – that I, too, will start practising some of what I preach. So far in my blog I’ve adverted to and used the great skills of other citizen journalists to accentuate what I’ve had to say. But I think it’s about time to show you some of my work: to get out there and take some photos, make some audio, shoot some videos, whatever it takes to get the story across. I can’t promise it’ll be good – but giving it a go is what this whole thing is about. This accidental journalist is about to become a real citizen journalist. Get ready for a scoop or two coming your way..
To answer your question: yes I am. 32 years in the belly of the MSM beast at Time Inc., most recently as top human interest writer at People Magazine, where I wrote for a weekly audience of 43 million. 2 NYTimes bestsellers, 7 Time Inc. mastheads, etc. etc.
After a story in earthquake-ravaged Azad Kashmir in ‘06 (shades of Haiti), I got fed up with MSM’s refusal to run ongoing human interest content on real people in the developing world. (I know the power of what that can spur. A single story that I did on a California pediatric hospice 4 years ago brought in $1 million in unsolicited donations.)
The result is MiWorld.com, now in beta– the first humanitarian portal to feature real stories on real people in even the most remote parts of the so-called third world.
Our method? Putting MiWorld Flip Mino digicams in the hands of as many backpackers, journalists, and 1.6 million NGOs as we can. All raw content uploaded to and produced at NYC edit headquarters, the same way that Time and People are put together every week.
The business model? “Not-for-MY-profit.” Advertiser-monetized. Users will be able to one-click wholesale goods and services (Target.com baby shoes, college educations, Caterpillar tractors, Procter & Gamble diapers, Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid milk, etc.) around the world. Advertiser monetized (we also highlight corporate CSR efforts globally). All after-tax profits to schools and hospitals. Phase Two: our social networking component, TBD by users themselves.
(The market? Small donors whose median $50 contributions make up $220 billion in annual charitable donations every year in the US alone. Blue State Digital will be handling our IT.)
If you want to help, here’s the beta: http://www.miworld.com/
Your e-mail address will help us prove demand to one-time philanthropic start-up funders (guarantees editorial independence). Hundreds have already subscribed– even when the alpha was password-protected.
Everyone’s talking about social innovation. Here’s the chance to make it happen in the first global storefront.
Thanks for the platform,
susan@miworld.com
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by jeffjarvis: Let it be known: I did not coin “joura-preneur.” She did: http://bit.ly/7TYxOz @sarahrainey4…
So you’ll forever be known as the one who coined the word “journa-preneur”. That’s pretty cool… Would have been even cooler if you had invented “cabbagerama”!
UPDATE: To add to my list of miscellaneous journa-preneurialism sites, check out http://www.drawnalism.com/ – cartoonists Matthew Buck and Alex Hughes use visual reportage to bring a whole new dimension to journalism and communication. And as for coining journalism-related words to fit their modern context, “drawnalism” is ingenious! Here’s to getting both it, and journa-preneur (TM), into the OED..
My thoughts on how entrepreneurial journalism can revolutionise the news agenda:
http://abgv790.portfolios.cutlines.org/2010/01/journa-preneurialsm-revolutionising-the-news/
I’m having a little bit of trouble viewing your site in Firefox, but it may just be my computer. Apart from that, I love your site. I plan on browsing around and reading some more posts!
Hello. This is kind of an “unconventional” question , but have other visitors asked you how get the menu bar to look like you’ve got it? I also have a blog and am really looking to alter around the theme, however am scared to death to mess with it for fear of the search engines punishing me. I am very new to all of this …so i am just not positive exactly how to try to to it all yet. I’ll just keep working on it one day at a time Thanks for any help you can offer here
Hi there,
My blog is designed with the “Modern Style” theme, which I just downloaded free from wordpress.org. The menu bar comes with it, and you can customise it as you wish. Hope that helps!
Keep reading blog – thanks,
Sarah
Hi Judson,
I’m trying to iron out the problems with my blog display in Firefox – thanks for pointing that out. Bear with me and it should be up and running fine soon.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah
Your website looks really good. Being a blog writer myself, I really appreciate the time you took in writing this article.
Could you recommend any specific resources, books, or other blogs on this topic?
Hi Oliver,
Yes, I can certainly recommend some more resources for you to have a look at. A great starting point is Dan Gillmour’s We the Media – it’s a brilliant book detailing the emergence of citizen journalism and the powerful role it will play in the future of news. Online resources include journalism.co.uk (for news and developments in citizen journalism), the Poynter Online website, and Jeff Jarvis’ blog http://www.buzzmachine.com – all of which look at different aspects of and roles for citizen journalism.
Let me know if you need any more recommendations – there are hundreds of resources out there. Hopefully that will get you started for now. Thanks for reading the blog!
Sarah
I love this site, is it updated often? Added to favorites
Hey, I tried to email you involving this blog post but cannot seem to contact you. Please email me when get a minute. Thank You.
Yet another Apple patent has been uncovered showing that Apple has been looking into the use of solar energy to supplement battery life for their mobile devices, including both their portable computers, iPhone and iPod touch. The patent shows various ways of integrating solar cells that collect energy from light to help power the device.
Less may be the new-fangled more
As this page still seems to be the most popular one in my blog so far, I thought I’d update it with a link to a really interesting workspace I happened to come across today.
Check out http://entrepreneurialjourno.pbworks.com/FrontPage for an exciting snapshot of what journalism schools across the world are currently doing and thinking in the way of entrepreneurial journalism. There are snapshot views from all the big names in the emerging genre – Dan Gillmour, CJ Cornell, Jay Rosen, Jeff Jarvis, and City University’s very own George Brock – all brainstorming about where entrepreneurial journalism is going, what their ideas are, and what we should be doing to implement them.
I assume it’s part of an ongoing project, or the draft of something that’s going to be published sometime soon – but the workspace is continually being updated with exciting news and views on my favourite topic, journa-preneurialism. Have a look for yourselves.. Oh, and if anyone is able to tell me more about what the workspace is for/who set it up/what it’s all about, I’d be very grateful. Will be keeping an eye on it for developments in the evolving world of entrepreneurial journalism.
Excellent post. If you need to listen to BBC Radio on the iPhone – I strongly recommend BBC Streams – it is easily the best way to listen to BBC Radio on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and it’s free at BBCStreams.com.
The only problem is that your RSS is not responding properly with the google chrome browser
Thanks for the comment Erica – I think I’ve fixed the problem. Let me know if you have any more difficulties with my RSS feeds.
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