From Student Journalists to Local News Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of Technically Media Abstract: This case study of Technically Media, a media consultancy and publisher of the local technology blog TechnicallyPhilly.com, seeks to gain a systemic understanding of key entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and behaviors demonstrated at an online news startup and to investigate how one particular group of young journalists developed those core competencies in their educational and work experiences. It also offers suggestions for how entrepreneurial values and practices might be incorporated into a journalism curriculum. It suggests that entrepreneurship is increasingly required for a career in the news industry and that journalism programs should establish more project-based opportunities for turning student-built projects into viable businesses. Mark Berkey-Gerard Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism Rowan University Bozorth Hall 105E 201 Mullica Hill Road Glassboro, NJ 08028 856-256-5478 Email:
[email protected] Student Journalists to Entrepreneurs 2 From Student Journalists to Local News Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of Technically Media In 2009, Christopher Wink, Sean Blanda, and Brian James Kirk – three aspiring journalists in their early 20s – faced a humbling reality: their undergraduate degrees, internships, awards, and news clips were not enough to land a full-time journalism job, at least not the kind of job they wanted. So the three Temple University graduates cobbled together $250 to purchase a few website domain names and a small-business license and launched their own online news venture. “It was shear desperation and fear,” said Wink. “All three of us saw ourselves as more above average journalists, more than above average writers, [and] above average in everything we did.