Newsroom Management and Economics of Journalism

Journalism and the mainstream media have become highly commercial activities in Western democracies, many of them struggling for survival and even public TV and radio can hardly escape from the developments on the market place. The past ten years, in particular, have been characterized by a huge economical crisis that has impacted harshly on media companies and newsrooms. Despite this complex and challenging scenario, this period was also a time of innovation and many companies and news outlets experimented new editorial and financial strategies. In parallel, new challenges arose in the relationship between journalism and technology, in particular when it comes to the role of big digital platforms, disinformation and power distribution on the Internet. The course participants will explore strategies to secure and improve journalistic quality and some of the most innovative approaches to the economics of journalism and its future.