The following essay throws light on how the journalism jobs are changing in modern days and adapting entrepreneur roles. The report brings in the relationship between the journalism jobs and entrepreneurship. In recent days, the world of journalism has changed to a huge extent. Previously, a student of journalism aspired to become a reporter or editor of a newspaper house or electronic media. Modern days’ story is somehow different from the past years. Now a day, a reporter may start up a company himself/herself, open a page or launch an audio podcast, video reports, ad agency or a blog. A journalist can handle an editorial as well as business duty at the same time (Cohen 2015).
There have been various examples of the journalists who created their own business enterprises. Some of them are; John Marshall at TPM Media, Debra Galant at BaristaNet, Henry Abbott at TrueHoop and others. It is important for the journalists to understand the sustainability of a business, so that they work independently. Entrepreneurial skills are necessary and essential for the journalists in modern days. The overall number of self employed journalists and freelancers is increasing across the world. The crisis in the media houses have made it very difficult to gain permanent employees in the newsrooms. This is the reason, why most of the freelancers are trying to become entrepreneurs (Bögenhold, Heinonen and Akola 2014).
Majority of the journalists have found success as freelancers, by providing the news houses with their reports, photos, videos and others. For budding entrepreneurs, building an offline community site would prove beneficial. In modern times, journalists have gone into full force and discovered various ways of building ideas in the entrepreneurial field. Some still hesitate as they feel their background will not let them become a good entrepreneur. Studies have revealed the fact that having a media background bring in more success in the career of entrepreneurs. However, in order to build a prolific and successful career in the field of entrepreneurship, the journalists need to undertake certain strategies (Molyneux and Holton 2015).
It is important to market one-self as having a personal well defined brand can assist in boosting up the professionalism for the current as well as future clients. Moreover, setting up of a schedule, expectations and goals will help in meeting the deadlines and managing the expectations of clients. There is a popular saying, “Journalists become experts in the areas they cover.” However, having an understanding of the current market and knowing about the people involved, is immensely important as it leads to the business’ success. Majority of the journalists have this advantage as they have experienced several fields by reporting on those. Good journalists have the habit of learning and constantly observing new things and trends. Therefore, an individual belonging to media background would prove to be a better entrepreneur (Ladendorf 2013).
There are many entrepreneurs who have little knowledge and experience in the media line. It becomes difficult for them to get media coverage in general. Journalists have good networking skills, which helps them get media coverage easily. Along with this, journalists have good convincing power. In addition to this, they are good writers and editors. With such skills, any journalist can become an entrepreneur. Moreover, it is very easy for renowned journalists to gain exposure. Journalists have huge experience in seeking out the sources, as they have good communication skills. They may not know a person directly, but they are aware of the networks to reach them (Elmore and Massey 2012).
Some freelance journalists are amazed by the money; some are interested in being recognized by others. Some feel that the existing organizations lack the courage to do something different, on the other hand some do it to prove themselves. Journalists who are entrepreneurs experience in seeking out different sources. The journalists, who launch their online ventures, sell advertisements and at the same time write editorials. Debra Galant once mentioned that the conflicts which occur in such cases are real, but in order to deal with them, transparency and openness must be maintained. Most of the initiatives of entrepreneurial journalism offer niche product and are focused on creating content as well as attracting the attention of the audience (Deuze 2014).
There are also some major challenges of the entrepreneurial journalism which are directly related to the role performances. Journalistic start ups tend to have a slippery subject, as many news starts to fade away. In depth interviews with the entrepreneurs have revealed the fact that most of the journalists want to have something of their own. They want to express their opinions and views in their own way. Many of them decide to do freelancing because of the freedom they get in their jobs. They can choose their own working hours and the stories to cover. In addition to this, they are able to work from any area, which itself is an attraction (Rottwilm 2014).
In order to start up a company, journalists are now using the digital platform. With the advent of digital media, anybody having a high resolution camera and good writing skills can become a freelancer. Digital transformation has helped in bringing in huge innovation at national level. Digital economies, digital agendas, digitization strategies and ICT developmental strategies are the beginning of the digital world. This huge platform has opened the doors for the freelancers to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. They can even work together and more closely than before. With the usage of open digital ecosystem, the freelance journalists can leverage their strength of building symbiotic relationship in order to address uncertainties which lie ahead (Mathisen 2017).
Majority of the entrepreneurs from journalism background have been successful as freelancers and provided with various services like designing, writing producing, data mining and others. However, freelancers who aspire to become entrepreneurs need to have certain skills. Starting up a business is not an easy job. It requires huge amount of hard work and dedication as they have to go a long way in order to find success. It is important to market one-self in the beginning (Holton 2016). A journalist has a knack for designing and story-telling, but without proper personal branding, nobody will come to know about his/her business. It is immensely necessary to have a strong online presence, starting from public social networking sites’ accounts to personal websites. In this digital era, promoting one-self has become easier as anybody can open up a page on social networking sites and gain popularity (Rosenkranz 2016).
However, this does not end here as personal branding totally depends on the person’s convincing power. Good communication and networking skills would prove beneficial in this case. Having a good personal brand and a strong digital portfolio will help the journalist in boosting his/her professionalism for the current as well as future clients. Moreover, setting a schedule, expectations and goals will help him on the long run. It is immensely crucial for the freelancers to set up a deadline for their projects so that they can manage their clients’ expectations. Determining the final service, its appearance and when to deliver, will help the freelancers to maintain a pace and stay on it. Furthermore, it will help the clients to get an idea of what they are getting from the freelancers (Brems et al. 2017). In addition to this, the freelancers are their own boss. Therefore, they love the taste of freedom and work as per their choices.
A freelancer needs to keep a track of all the great ideas they come across. At some point, they may have to work for different projects; therefore, it becomes crucial for them to keep a track record of all the subjects. It also assists in keeping a track of all the inspirations and ideas associated with the subjects. Moreover, communicating effectively will build the foundation for the business’ success. Freelancers need to go an extra mile and communicate with others for eliminating the physical distance between them and their clients. This can be solved by being available on the internet, over phones and video conferences, so that they can directly interact with the clients (Fulton 2015).
To conclude, journalists love exploring new fields and become experts in the areas they cover. Gaining an understanding of the market is immensely necessary for the success of any business. Moreover, they are good researchers as well as connectors, which help them in experiencing and gathering knowledge from all fields. Building a good network would enable the freelancers to make good progress in their business. In addition to this, freelancers are their own boss and they love the taste of freedom. Hence, entrepreneurship is a good effort as they have the skills and abilities to form a balanced team. Therefore, the essay systematically shows how the budding journalists are becoming entrepreneurs and the necessary steps to be taken under consideration. However, it is to be kept in mind that starting up a business is not that easy, but the journalist’s toolbox can help him/her to build up a new venture.
References:
Bögenhold, D., Heinonen, J. and Akola, E., 2014. Entrepreneurship and independent professionals: Social and economic logics. International Advances in Economic Research, 20(3), pp.295-310.
Brems, C., Temmerman, M., Graham, T. and Broersma, M., 2017. Personal Branding on Twitter: How employed and freelance journalists stage themselves on social media. Digital Journalism, 5(4), pp.443-459.
Cohen, N.S., 2015. Entrepreneurial journalism and the precarious state of media work. South Atlantic Quarterly, 114(3), pp.513-533.
Deuze, M., 2014. Journalism, media life and the entrepreneurial society. Australian Journalism Review, 36(2), p.119.
Elmore, C. and Massey, B., 2012. Need for instruction in entrepreneurial journalism: Perspective of full-time freelancers. Journal of Media Practice, 13(2), pp.109-124.
Fulton, J., 2015. Are you a journalist? New media entrepreneurs and journalists in the digital space. Javnost-The Public, 22(4), pp.362-374.
Holton, A.E., 2016. Intrapreneurial Informants: An emergent role of freelance journalists. Journalism Practice, 10(7), pp.917-927.
Ladendorf, M., 2013. Freelance journalists’ ethical boundary settings in information work. Nordicom Review, 33(1), pp.83-98.
Mathisen, B.R., 2017. Entrepreneurs and Idealists: freelance journalists at the intersection of autonomy and constraints. Journalism Practice, 11(7), pp.909-924.
Molyneux, L. and Holton, A., 2015. Branding (health) journalism: Perceptions, practices, and emerging norms. Digital Journalism, 3(2), pp.225-242.
Rosenkranz, T., 2016. Becoming entrepreneurial: Crisis, ethics and marketization in the field of travel journalism. Poetics, 54, pp.54-65.
Rottwilm, P., 2014. The future of journalistic work: Its changing nature and implications.
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