Title: How to Teach Media Entrepreneurship:
A Primer for Building a Media Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Instructor: Jan Schaffer, Executive Director, J-Lab; Entrepreneur in Residence, American University

A growing number of journalism, advertising and public relations students are starting their careers either in media startups launched by others or in entrepreneurial ventures they are starting themselves. What do they need to know? How do they identify a promising entrepreneurial activity? What should they expect if they work in a startup? What skills will they need to run their own startups? How can they create a business and not a hobby?

This course will provide fresh teaching ideas and resource links to journalism programs seeking to grow their media entrepreneurship offerings and to professors already teaching media entrepreneurship courses. Jan Schaffer has taught Media Entrepreneurship courses to graduate students at American University and graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Memphis.

Handouts:
- Sample syllabus and resource lists

Who should take this training:
- Professors teaching entrepreneurship classes or courses
- Deans and directors of journalism programs
- Those interested in developing online media entrepreneurship offerings

Note: If you can’t attend the live session, you can still register and see the archived video and ask questions of the instructor. Registration for BigMarker is required.

About the Instructor:

As J-Lab executive director, Jan Schaffer has run one of the nation's most successful incubators for news entrepreneurs and innovators and is a leading thinker on the emerging new media landscape. A Pulitzer Prize winner for the Philadelphia Inquirer, she left daily journalism to lead pioneering initiatives in civic journalism, interactive and participatory journalism and citizen media ventures. She launched J-Lab in 2002 to help newsrooms use digital technologies to engage people in important public issues. The center has since funded more than 100 startups and pilot projects.