Media and Technology Management Selected Issues:  Digital Journalism - Consumer Behaviour and Entrepreneurship

(Master - WS '20/'21)

C. Wellbrock

2 SWS, 6 CP

Fridays, 8:00 – 12:00 pm, selected session dates see below

Location: Online Teaching via Zoom due to Corona!

Start: Nov. 6, '20

Held in English

Mandatory Pre-Assignment due Oct. 21, '20, 11:00 am - see below

Course Description and Background
During the last 25 years, online news are discussed as an upcoming trend for the future of journalism. Entrepreneurial journalism is often considered to have the potential to partly close the supply gap in democracy relevant journalism. Nevertheless, considering apparent difficulties in generating revenues in spite of competition from big tech companies and a lack of innovativeness in traditional media organizations, this proposition is increasingly debated (Chyi and Tenenboim 2019). But are there ways for digital journalistic entrepreneurs to succeed in this market?

In this seminar, we will deal with these developments and the following questions: Who consumes digital journalism, and who is willing to pay for it? How do current technologies influence usage and production of journalism? And what role does entrepreneurship and startups, originating in smaller entities, play at this “new” frontier?

During the course, students will receive a research question regarding preferences, production of online news and/or media entrepreneurship; they will be asked to answer this question in the form of a graded presentation and a graded short academic paper. Methodologically, students will be asked to answer their research question by conducting systematic literature reviews, applications of established theories and concepts on digital journalism, or empirical analyses. To this end, in this course the students learn how to answer an academic research question on their own. This includes the identification of an appropriate research method, carrying out the research and presenting it both orally and in written form.

Dates
Nov. 6 (mandatory kick-off), Nov. 27, Dec. 11 - all '20 -, Jan. 15, Jan. 29 - both '21; max 4 sessions

Mandatory Pre-Assignment due Oct. 21, '20, 11:00 am

Briefly present and discuss one research paper of your choice that deals with either the consumer side or the entrepreneurial side of digital journalism, and that you find particularly noteworthy. The paper must have been published in an academic journal.
Topics covered can include willingness to pay, use behavior for digital journalistic products, entrepreneurship in(digital) media companies, digital journalistic startups and strategies for the production and distribution of digital journalistic products.
In your discussion, briefly summarize the research question, the method(s) applied and the main findings of the paper in your own words. In a second step, explain why you find this paper interesting and/or relevant.

Formal requirements:
- No more than 750 words (excluding references), Times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 line spacing
- Send your pre-assignment as an e-mail attachment (pdf file) from your sMail-account to both christian.wellbrock <at> uni-koeln.de AND d.obrien <at> uni-koeln.de.
- Please make sure that you include your name and your matriculation number on the top of your document.
- The file name should be Lastname_DCE_PA .
- Cite your sources in a proper scientific way, add a reference list (not included in 750 word limit).

Grading
- Pre-Assignment (10%, individual) – due Oct. 21, '20, 11:00 am via eMail from your sMail-account to both christian.wellbrock <at> uni-koeln.de AND d.obrien <at> uni-koeln.de.
- Graded (group) presentation (40%, individual grade) on Jan. 29, '21
- Graded (group) paper (50%, individual or group grade), paper due on Feb. 19, 11:00 am – details in the Kick-Off session
All grading elements have to be passed in order to pass the course.
"Alle Prüfungselemente müssen mindestens bestanden sein."

Required Course Registration until Oct. 21, '20, 11:00 am

A successful registration for the examination requires

(1) an MTM-Master-Account [Additional Privacy Policy],

(2) online registration HERE [Additional Privacy Policy] for THIS course.

On Oct. 21, '20, we will forward the participant list to KLIPS / WiSo-PA, which will allow you (only those registered for the course) to register for the examination. After that you can and must register for the examination by Oct. 29, '20. We will send those of you registered a reminding eMail to your sMail account.

Notwendige Veranstaltungsanmeldung bis 21. Okt. '20, 11:00 Uhr

Eine erfolgreiche Anmeldung erfordert

(1) einen MTM-Master-Account [Zusätzliche Datenschutzbestimmungen],

(2) Online-Anmeldung [Zusätzliche Datenschutzbestimmungen] für die Veranstaltung.

Am 21. Okt. '20 leiten wir die Teilnehmerliste an KLIPS / WiSo-PA. Daraufhin können und müssen Sie sich selbst bis zum 29. Okt. '20 für die Prüfung anmelden. Wir werden den für die Veranstaltung Angemeldeten eine Erinnerungsmail an ihr sMail Account senden.

Required Handing in the Pre-Assignement by Oct. 21, '20, 11:00 am (see above) and subsequent exam registration until Oct. 29, '20 on KLIPS / Notwendige Abgabe des Pre-Assignments bis 21. Okt (11:00 Uhr) UND folgende Prüfungsanmeldung bis 29. Okt. '20 auf KLIPS (only for those who registered in time for participating in the course).

For registration-related questions, please contact christian.wellbrock <at> uni-koeln.de from your sMail account.

© Department of Media and Technology Management