Media entrepreneurship: Preparing students for work in a creative profession

Abstract

One of the key questions students and parents ask journalism and communication educators is, ‘where are the jobs?’. Additionally, every few years news outlets recycle stories on how journalism and communication schools are over-enrolling students in programmes with difficult job prospects. How can educators prepare students to work in a precarious media environment? And how can we embed that preparation in a practical understanding of creativity and creative practice? During 2014–16, I conducted a research project that examined how alternative media producers are telling their stories online. The project consisted of 28 semi-structured interviews with bloggers, broad/narrowcasters, website producers and online magazine publishers and set out to answer questions about the skills, business models, technologies and success of these entrepreneurial journalistic enterprises. Each of the respondents was also asked if they had any advice for students who wanted to work in the online space. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed six key themes: the importance of networking; developing a broad skill base; finding a niche; engaging with your audience; ‘success won’t happen overnight’ and ‘love what you do’. Employing theoretical models of creativity and cultural production from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who both contend that creativity and cultural production emerge from a creative system in action, discussion of these themes demonstrates how to prepare students for entering a changing and precarious journalism workforce.