Innovation Journalism is journalism covering innovation. It covers innovation processes and innovation (eco)systems.
In 2008, Innovation Journalism was listed by the World Economic Forum as one of seven key dimensions for discussing the redefinition of the media and its roles in a global, interconnected society. [1] Innovation Journalism was included in the Sage Encyclopedia of Journalism in 2009. [2]
The concept of Innovation Journalism was first suggested by David Nordfors in 2003. [3]
Birgitta Forsberg published in 2005 a guide to how to research and write innovation journalism stories. [4] In 2009, Samaa TV in Pakistan was awarded the National Corporate Social Responsibility Award for social initiatives it achieved through Innovation Journalism. [5] Established in February 2007, the Finnish Society for Innovation Journalism acts as a link between people interested in innovations, the way they are covered in the media, and how better stories could be written about them. Each year, the Finnish Society for Innovation Journalism hands out the Innovation Crystal, a Finnish innovation journalism prize awarded for a particularly well-written innovation-related story published during the previous year in Finland. [6]
In 2009 futurist researchers Inkinen and Kaivo-Oja suggested that the rise of innovation journalism as a key notion and research field revealed that the significant role of journalistic practices had not been taken into consideration in the traditional innovation models. [7]
In 2009, Nordfors published a summary of concept development, academic research and the ongoing innovation journalism initiatives around the world [8]
Kauhanen and Noppari suggested the definition of Innovation Journalism should have a stronger focus on social aspects. [9]
In 2005, Uskali proposed that detecting weak signals could be important practice for innovation journalists. [10]
Innovation Journalism is based on a systemic view, with an inherent focus on connecting different stakeholder groups in the innovation economy in a shared public narrative. This connects Innovation Journalism to a discussion about society by for example Gerber. [11]
The idea of "newsbeats" as originally set forth by Gaye Tuchman [12] and Herbert Gans among others, was understood as an aspect of newsroom socialization, of media economy, of gender, of time and other constraints on resources. But it did contain an idea of news journalism as an aspect of an ecosystem.
Designing business models for innovation journalism has been considered non-trivial. [13]
Sandred demonstrated a successful business model for innovation journalism with Biotech Sweden, the first International Data Group publication to systematically identify and target a sectoral innovation system as its market and audience [14]
The Innovation Journalism Initiative hosted by Stanford University started in 2004 as a collaboration with VINNOVA, resulting in the creation of the VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism in 2009 (renamed in 2010, the Center for Innovation and Communication at Stanford University). The activities included starting up innovation journalism as academic research, an international Innovation Journalism Fellowship program, [15] with participants from several different countries, a yearly global innovation journalism conference.
The core 'innovation journalism' concept is to consider two specific facets of journalism: innovations in journalism, e.g. the use of the Internet or other digital media in addition to traditional print, and journalistic treatment of innovation in various disciplines such that the 'vertical' consideration of specific innovations, for example their technological, business, sociological or political influences, could be embraced on a 'horizontal' basis that would more completely explain to audiences the relevance of such advances. Almost all earlier journalism has focused on one or other of the 'vertical' areas of journalism, commonly found in the popular media. Innovation journalism thus makes much broader demands on journalists, in that their narrow specialties cannot adequately capture the full spectrum of influence brought about by innovations themselves. This, in turn, calls for new approaches to journalism education.
The purpose of the Stanford initiative was to co-develop the concept and community of innovation journalism, including the role of communication in innovation ecosystems, recognizing journalists and communicators (and other attention workers) as actors facilitating the creation of shared language across stakeholder groups in innovation ecosystems. [16]
There have been national innovation journalism initiatives including Fellowship program in collaboration with Stanford University in Sweden, Finland, [17] Slovenia, Mexico and Pakistan. [18]
Innovation journalism was introduced to Finns by Kimmo Ahola and Dr. Seppo Sisättö in spring 2004. University of Tampere organized the very first course on innovation journalism for the Finnish journalists and researchers (N=12) during Fall 2004 and Spring 2005. The first undergraduate course on innovation journalism was organized in University of Jyväskylä in Fall 2005 by Dr. Turo Uskali. [19] Later, 2011, Uskali also published the first text book about innovation journalism in Finland, [20] Finnish innovation journalism fellowship program started in 2006 and ended 2011, a year earlier than planned. It was co-funded by Helsingin Sanomat Foundation and Sitra. The experiences of the Finnish innovation journalism fellowships and innovation journalism courses were published in an article in Journalism and Mass Communication Editor in 2011. [21] In addition, the last two years of Finnish innovation journalism fellowship (2010-2011) were researched by Marko Lindgren in 2012. [22]
Atomium Culture, an international non-profit organisation of European universities, newspapers and businesses, announced in 2009 that their permanent platform program introducing innovation journalism to five hundred researchers per year would be expanded by seminars on innovation journalism throughout Europe [23]
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism schools in the world and the only journalism school in the Ivy League. It offers four graduate degree programs.
Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, is an independent public foundation which operates directly under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament. Its endowment was valued at 771 million euros in 2017. Its duties are stated in legislation: the objective of the foundation is "to promote stable and balanced development in Finland, qualitative and quantitative economic growth and international competitiveness and cooperation", by means of supporting "projects that increase the efficiency of the economy, improve the level of education or research, or study future development scenarios". Sitra functions both as a think tank and as an investment company. Sitra was founded in 1967 as a part of the Bank of Finland, on the country's 50th anniversary. However, most of the value of its current endowment comes from a donation of Nokia stock from the Finnish Parliament in 1992.
Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of organizations, which vary in size, aims, and beliefs. For-profit entrepreneurs typically measure performance using business metrics like profit, revenues and increases in stock prices. Social entrepreneurs, however, are either non-profits, or they blend for-profit goals with generating a positive "return to society". Therefore, they use different metrics. Social entrepreneurship typically attempts to further broad social, cultural and environmental goals often associated with the voluntary sector in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care and community development.
Electronic News was a publication that covered the electronics industry, from semiconductor equipment and materials to military/aerospace electronics to supercomputers. It was originally a weekly trade newspaper, which covered all aspects of the electronics industry, including semiconductors, computers, software, communications, space and television electronics.
Eric Newton is an American journalist, writer and media consultant.
The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school's Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. Wilson III. The graduate program in Communication is consistently ranked first according to the QS World University Rankings.
Aaron Glantz is a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist known for producing journalism with impact. Projects he’s led have sparked new laws that curtailed the opioid epidemic, improved care for U.S. military veterans, and kept the FBI’s international war crimes office open. They have also prompted dozens of Congressional hearings and investigations by the FBI, DEA, and United Nations. His reporting has appeared in nearly every major media outlet, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, NPR, NBC News, ABC News, Reveal and the PBS Newshour, where his investigations have received three national Emmy nominations.
Susan Carleton Athey is an American economist. She is the Economics of Technology Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Stanford, she has been a professor at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the first female winner of the John Bates Clark Medal. She served as the consulting chief economist for Microsoft for six years and was a consulting researcher to Microsoft Research. She is currently on the boards of Expedia, Lending Club, Rover, Turo, Ripple, and non-profit Innovations for Poverty Action. She also serves as the senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. She is an associate director for the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and the director of Golub Capital Social Impact Lab.
The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is a nationally accredited professional undergraduate and graduate level journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school, founded in 1950, is ranked competitively among the best journalism schools in the United States. The school offers undergraduate degrees in media & journalism as well as advertising & public relations. It offers master's degrees in journalism, strategic communication, and visual communication and doctoral degrees in media & communication.
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The Centre for the Public Awareness of Science is part of the Australian National University. In March 2000 it became an accredited Centre for the Australian National Commission for UNESCO.
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Teppo Turkki, a native of Finland has been working with his visions and insights into the future of many aspects of information society, culture, media and our daily lives. He is also a specialist for development of ICT, culture industries and economics and change in the societies in East Asia, especially in Japan and Korea. He works as the head of the Finland’s Trade and Innovation Office Finpro. In this post, he is effectively the de facto representative of Finland in Taiwan.
Marco Iansiti is a professor at the Harvard Business School, whose primary research interest is technology and operations strategy and the management of innovation. He is the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, heads the Technology and Operations Management Unit, and chairs the Digital Initiative. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Keystone Strategy, a consultancy focused on strategy, data sciences and economics for technology clients.
Atomium – European Institute for Science, Media and Democracy (EISMD) is an international non-profit organisation based in Brussels. The Institute convenes European universities, media, global businesses, governments and policymakers to develop innovative initiatives and frontier thinking based on scientific evidence to provide evidence-based analysis and advice in governmental and decision-making processes.
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