Teaching the business of media and journalism matters. Here’s how I’m doing it.
“Too few journalists care about media business models. Every week a senior journalist or editor tells me: it’s not my job to care, I trust our commercial teams, I just want to get on and do my words. The business of media, it seems, is none of their business.”
These words, written by my friend Dan Williamson, back in 2015 when we worked together at TheMediaBriefing (RIP) are at the heart of my journalistic and research interests, and something I have also tried to bring into the classroom.
I believe that it is fundamental for anyone graduating from J-School (whatever their specialism) to not just possess great craft skills and a sense of ethics and media history, but they also need to understand how the industry is changing and the strategic pressures — and decisions — their prospective employers are facing.
Aside from that the fact that understanding changing revenue models, evolving patterns of content consumption, and the potential afforded by new storytelling tools and platforms, is fascinating; time and again, I’ve also seen students with an understanding of these principles securing…
