Creation Nets Model as a Technique for Teaching Innovation in Journalism Schools: Lessons from the Innovation Incubator Project

Innovation Journalism Vol.8 No.3  Oct 15 2011.

by Sam Chege Mwangi


http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/injo-8-3.pdf


Disruptive innovations in media technology are reshaping journalism and mass communications forcing many schools to rethink the way they train future journalists. Some schools have gone beyond teaching multimedia skills to creating innovation centers for new media technologies. This study reports on a project that brought together students from seven journalism schools to create cutting edge innovations to help media organizations re-engage their audience. The process used the creation nets model that is popular in the business world but is rarely used in journalism. The paper teases out important lessons from the project that can be used in teaching innovation in journalism schools.

Reporting on the Reporters: Facebook and the journalists

Innovation Journalism Vol.8 No.2  May 17 2011.

Ronald K. Raymond and Yixin Lu

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/injo-8-2.pdf

This article addresses results of a pilot study on the use of Facebook by journalists. The goal of the project was to acquire information about how journalists use Facebook and whether the results coincide with expectations. A secondary ethical issue reviewed in this study was whether or not journalists are concerned with maintaining professional distance on a social networking website. Uses and gratifications theory suggested the expectations of journalists are largely met on the social networking site. Social and business issues intertwine, with journalists generally split over ethical concerns. This pilot study introduces the subject and could be used as a foundation for further research.

The Dimensions of Trust – Building Confidence through Innovation Communication

Innovation Journalism Vol 8(1) May 3 2011
Bettina Maisch, Jochen Binder, Beat Schmid, and Larry Leifer

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/injo-8-1.pdf

The aspect of trust is critical to the success of the communication of innovations, particularly in the context of the introduction of a new product. Due to the characteristics of innovations – especially those with a high degree of innovation – the target groups often view them with uncertainty or even fear. Since negative feelings have a stronger effect than the desire and interest in the new, (potential) customers are often reserved or even rejectful of the innovation. In order to help alleviate uncertainties and to build trust, companies must communicate their innovation to the target group by means of targeted trust communication. This study examines the aspect of trust using user participation in Web 2.0 innovation communication in the concrete example of the introduction of the hybrid vehicle Chevrolet Volt on the private social networking platform, Facebook. The results of the study allows the identification of four different levels of communication of trust: the level of relationship or communication, of the innovation, of the company and of the innovative product.

Theorizing Innovation Journalism - Notes from the classroom

 Innovation Journalism Vol. 7, No. 10. 30 Dec 2010
By Oddgeir Tveiten

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/injo-7-10.pdf  

 

Innovation Journalism may be understood as a reorientation of basic assumptions underlying the study, practice, research and education in journalism. The concept of Innovation Journalism denotes an idea of a ´beat´or a ´category´, but underlying the Stanford University variant of Innovation Journalism is a more comprehensive understanding ´a communication ecology´ where ´innovation´ seems to be taken for granted as something good for societal development, organizational development, and business development.

Reflecting the profoundly cultural meaning of innovation as an idea, a key question is whether social innovation and business innovation can be understood as two pieces of the same stick, or not? One might understand the term ´ecology´ to denote harmony and balance – or society seeking it. Journalism, on the other hand, was born and bred with a focus on conflict and conflict narrative within a framework of democratic publicism. Hence, one aspect of theorizing Innovation Journalism is to clarify its applied understandings of innovation as a content theme in the news. Another is to clarify innovation as a term relating to the role of journalism in societal changes more macroscopically. A middle ground is to critique the notion of innovation as a guideline to the challenges now facing journalism and its narrative forms.

Innovation Communication in Virtual Worlds: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Second Life

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 9,  29 Nov 2010
By Bettina Maisch and Katrin Tobies

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-9.pdf

Innovations help to ensure a company’s success if they are communicated appropriately in their innovation ecosystems. Virtual worlds offer interesting possibilities in this context. On the basis of a multiple case study analysis, this paper examines the fields of use, the potential and the limits of innovation communication in the virtual sphere. The area of study was the 3D online world “Second Life”. It is characterized by its high profile, a realistic design and far-reaching business opportunities and has, moreover, already provided first examples of how companies have used such online communication in innovation management processes. With the help of case studies of eight companies from different industry sectors, the potential for innovation communication available in virtual worlds will be illustrated: these include the identification of trends, the generation of ideas, marketing new products and positioning the organization behind these products as an innovator.

Innovation Journalists, Null-Hypothesis and the Forgotten H0 Heroes

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 8,  21 Nov 2010
By Göte Nyman, Jyrki Kaistinen & Jari Takatalo and Jukka Häkkinen

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-8.pdf

Null hypothesis (H0) is not an inviting theme for innovation and science journalists. But when it is not adequately described, the logic of the innovation or science story can become weak and the readers cannot evaluate the theoretical importance and novelty of the reported findings. This invites them to entertain false beliefs of what is new, what scientists actually know, what they see as possible and what they think about the reported issue. In the social and human sciences this can introduce false beliefs about our identity and about us as human beings. Here we analyze the journalistic relevance of H0 and give examples of its use and misuse. Paradoxically, we argue that in the expanding information space, there is a significant increase in the intellectual value of the best theories that fail in their scientific predictions.

Who Are The Tech Press Darlings?

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 7,  21 Nov 2010

By Morten Bay

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-7.pdf
 

Who Are The Tech Press Darlings? 
An Empirical Stidy of Coverage of Innovation-Driven Tech Companies in US Newspapers.

This paper contains a small study of empirical data collected between April 19, 2010 and May 19, 2010. The data is the five largest newspapers’ coverage of the ten largest innovation-driven technology companies in the US. The study is presented as a description of the current state of the presence of Innovation Journalism in American mainstream media. Newspapers have been chosen due to the fact that even though they are losing ground to web, mobile, tv and radio, newspapers still produce the vast majority of news stories proliferated through other media in the US.

The study shows an significant imbalance in coverage. There is a tendency towards coverage of two specific companies, Apple and Google. The difference between their presence in the newspapers, and the amount of coverage given to their competition is quite substantial, with the closest competitor, Microsoft, only obtaining approximately half of the coverage that the two companies get.

In the study, network mapping analysis is used to link journalists to companies in order to find out whether there are certain groups of journalists (e.g. specialized tech reporters) that help create imbalance by focusing on only a few innovators, or if –as is the case – it is a widespread tendency among all the journalists to cover Apple and Google more than others. The network mapping analysis is useful for identifying hubs, nodes in the network that are more connected than others, in this case either documenting that one journalist covers tech on a regular basis, or whether one journalist writes more positive stories about a company than negative stories.

The study also shows that positive stories are dominant. There is an approximate 20-30 percent difference in favor of the positive stories, sometimes even more. It is discussed whether this lack of balance and critical journalism is actually good for Innovation Journalism or not. Some argue that a positive slant works to build social capital for innovation in general, while others argue that not following ethical guidelines in Innovation Journalism actually diminishes coverage of the innovators and innovations that aren’t necessarily fashionable or popular at a given time – which creates an imbalance like the one we see towards Google and Apple.

Finally, it is discussed what creates an imbalance like the present one, and how to find a solution to the problem. It is argued that it is the success of building an effective reputation and a lovable brand through non-traditional PR and advertising that gives Google and Apple the edge. Towards the end, this paper criticizes journalists for not trying to even out the balance, and seeks to find a reason why a more balanced coverage is not available to the public. It is argued that a self-reinforcing media hype, which stems from the effective attention work of Apple and Google, also has a blinding effect on journalists, creating the illusion that Apple and Google are all the public cares about – giving the editorial decision-makers a reason to cover them more.

How Silicon Valley Journalists Talk About Independence in Innovation Coverage

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 6,  20 Nov 2010

By Kirsten Mogensen and David Nordfors

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-6.pdf

Silicon Valley has become known for innovations that have led to substantial changes for citizens around the world. In 1960s’-80s’ the innovation had to do with computers and electronics, 1990s-00s’ it was on Internet and Web services. Since the later part of the 00’s, clean tech has emerged as a keyword. The valley culture is known to stress the value of trust-based personal contacts. This applies also to journalists and their access to sources. This article discusses how this relates to traditional journalism norms that stress journalists’ independence from sources. Based on explorative, semi-structured interviews with journalists who cover the innovation economy in Silicon Valley, the article seeks to understand the professional challenges the network structure create for journalists and the strategies they apply. Comparing the results with previous research in journalism norms, this study suggests that as access to powerful sources becomes scarce and controlled journalists tend to be more innovative and diverse in shaping professional norms to balance access to sources with their readers’ mandate. The continued development of this diversity of norms, and its impact on society needs to be further explored.

Key words: Journalism practice, innovation, journalism ethics, qualitative interviews, Silicon Valley, ecosystem.

Innovation Journalism as Futures Journalism

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 5,  18 Nov 2010

By Sofi Salonen

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-5.pdf

It has been argued that futures orientation is one of the central aspects of innovation journalism. Reporting on technological innovation is especially seen to benefit from the scenario approach. This is to avoid an inherent sense of determinism present in much of the technology journalism. Moreover, the demand for horizontal, multidisciplinary analysis and the adoption of the systemic approach connect innovation journalism with the field of futures studies. The study at hand analyses the interconnections between innovation journalism and futures studies as regards values, goals, and applicability of methods. Along with theoretical considerations, a two-round Delphi is used to gather Finnish media experts’ notions of futures orientation in media. Emphasis is placed on analysing how journalists see writing about futures topics as well as on possible drivers and obstacles that either promote or restrain journalists’ adoption of a stronger futures approach into their work. The study combines theoretical arguments with the realities of the newsroom in trying to draw insights from futures studies to develop innovation journalism more into the direction of “futures journalism”. 

Keywords: innovation journalism, futures studies, Delphi method, narratives of innovation, newsroom perspective 

IJ-7 Academic Track

Innovation Journalism Vol.7 No.4,  5 Nov 2010

http://ij7ac.innovationjournalism.org/

IJ-7 Academic Track, the academic part of the Seventh Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University 9 June 2010. The Academic Track mission statement, conference themes and program is available on the Web and can as from now also be referred to through the Innovation Journalism Publication Series.


Program Committee:

• IJ-7 Chair: David Nordfors, Executive Director, VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism.
• IJ-7 Academic Track Chair: Kirsten Mogensen, Visiting InJo Researcher, Stanford University and Associate Professor, Roskilde University.
• Turo Uskali, University of Jyväskylä, Finland and Senior Research Scholar. VINNOVA Stanford Center.
• Marc Ventresca, University Lecturer in Strategy, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; Senior Research Scholar, VINNOVA Stanford Center; and Research Faculty, Global Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School
• Bettina Maisch, Doctoral Student at Institute for Media and Communication Management at University of St.Gallen and Visiting Researcher, Center for Design Research at Stanford University

IJ-7 - the Seventh Conference on Innovation Journalism (Main Conference)

Innovation Journalism Vol.7 No.3, 5 Nov 2010

http://ij7.innovationjournalism.org

IJ-7, the Seventh Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University 7-9 June 2010. The conference materials have since then been available on the conference website. They can as from now also be referred to through the Innovation Journalism Publication Series.

IJ-7 had two main parts - the main conference and the academic track

Main Conference (June 7-9 2010)

MISSION STATEMENT: The world is driven by creative destruction, when entrepreneurs introduce innovations that change societies and drive economic growth. How can journalism survive, while successfully telling the stories about it and facilitating public discussion? Is journalism+innovation a key to collective intelligence in the innovation economy? IJ-7 is a conference for everyone who thinks journalism and innovation is important. We welcome all journalism and innovation stakeholders: journalists, industry, policy-makers in media and innovation, PR, academic researchers, faculty and students in related areas of study, other professionals connected to the news industry, as well as individuals with a special interest in journalism and innovation.

Conference Committee:

• Conference Chair: David Nordfors, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism
• Academic Track Chair: Kirsten Mogensen, Visiting Professor at the Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism
• Event Planner: Johanna Mansor, Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism
• Conference Web Editor: Fatima Akhtar, InJo Fellow 2010, based at the Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism
• InJo Fellowship Program Coach and Copy Editor: John Joss

Intangibles & Innovation: The Role of Communication in the Innovation Ecosystem

Innovation Journalism Vol. 7 No. 2,  4 Nov 2010

By Vilma Luoma-aho and Saara Halonen

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-2.pdf

As innovations are established in ecosystems of dynamic multi-channel networks of researchers, funders, entrepreneurs and experts, the question of what and who keeps this ecosystem thriving is central. Intangible assets are central for innovation through concepts such as trust, communication and social capital, though little previous research has focused on them. In this paper we look at the role of intangible assets for innovation through a literature review, and suggest that communication is vital, and that the different attention workers maintain the innovation ecosystem by brokering intangible assets, creating a shared language and setting the agenda for the future.

Welcome - you are visiting our new web address!

The address of the Innovation Journalism publication series is now here at this site. (http://journal.innovationjournalism.org)

The earlier site http://www.innvoationjournalism.org/journal is no longer active.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
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MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE INTERNET:AN ACCULTURATION STRATEGY FOR PRESS OF RECORD?

Innovation Journalism Vol.7 No. 1
By Chloë Salles

http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-7-1.pdf

This paper is part of a wider doctoral study focusing on the acculturation of press of record to the Internet. The article presents evidence persuading us that the on-going crisis that the Press is enduring (and has for a while), though raising constant concern on questions of survival and democratic mechanisms, also sees the formation of small areas in which experiences are run, while symbolically and economically strong companies continue to function normally (i.e. according to historical norms). Here we describe localized areas based on coverage newspapers provide regarding their relation to innovation, perhaps a place to mediate two cultures: ‘old,’ traditional newspaper culture and the Internet. These suggestions are based on interviews at Le Monde with different hierarchy practitioners and the analysis of diverse entities in articles covering innovation, especially those mentioning ‘crisis’ and ‘blogs’.

IJ-6 THE SIXTH CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.6 No.8 Nov 2009


IJ-6, the Sixth Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University 18-20 May 2009. The conference materials have since then been available on the conference website. They can as from now also be referred to through the Innovation Journalism Publication Series.

The picture above is linked to a movie with the keynote speech by Vint Cerf. (On picture from right to left- Vint Cerf, Doug Engelbart, David Nordfors)

DIGITAL IDENTITIES AND JOURNALISM CONTENT - HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND JOURNALISM MAY CO-DEVELOP AND WHY SOCIETY SHOULD CARE

Innovation Journalism Vol.6 No.7
By Noam Lemelshtrich Latar and David Nordfors

Link: http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-6-7.pdf

Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are changing professional journalism and related academic research dramatically. AI is penetrating journalism’s pillars: content (through automatic content analysis in all formats), and advertising (by scientific measurement of real consumer attention and targeting ads per user personality). Both content and advertising will change significantly.

The interactive nature of the new media will permit, for the first time, accurate measurement of the real attention consumers of media give to journalistic content, employing scientific methods. Advertisers will demand full validation of consumer ratings. Existing measuring methods will vanish. Advertisers ROI (Return On Investment) will determine the fate of advertising funded journalism companies across all media formats.

New ways to measure consumer attention and behavior, such as ‘engagement’ and ‘behavioral targeting,’ are becoming the new buzzwords describing deeper consumer involvement with content across multiple personal dimensions. New AI algorithms are being created that will allow automatically deciphering and tagging content to enable search engines to seek new, practical knowledge. Video, audio, images and texts are being converted to mathematical formulations that lend themselves to automatic ‘knowledge discovery analysis’ without human intervention.

AI engines will be used by media companies to search customers for content interests, automatically. Dependence on gaining measurable consumer attention can be expected to induce journalists in all media platforms to adjust content to maximize consumer attention and advertising dollars. New business models will be needed to reduce the intrinsic risk to journalistic freedom that the new methods will induce.

In this paper we shall describe the global efforts in devising universal standards for the management of digital identities and how artificial intelligence will be used to automatically annotate journalistic content. We shall describe the new concepts being used to increase consumer real attention to media content and describe the architecture of an AI engine that will target content according to consumer personalities. The consequences of these developments will be discussed.

WEAK SIGNALS IN INNOVATION JOURNALISM – CASES GOOGLE, FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Innovation Journalism Vol.6 No.6 1 June 2009
By Turo Uskali

This article illuminates the news flows of three Silicon Valley companies – Google, Facebook and Twitter - particularly during the start-up ‘early’ phase. The article presents The News Evolution Model for better understanding the evolution of innovation news.

IT AND DEMOCRACY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE POWER OF DIGITAL IMAGES TO STRENGTHEN THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Innovation Journalism Vol 6 No 5, 1 June 2009
By Larry Pryor

Virtual Environments (VEs) open new possibilities for journalism. The advanced technology, which still resides mostly in laboratories, only requires adaptation and the imagination that can enable journalists to think with technology. The literature of VE theory shows the possibility exists to create alternative worlds that invite the public to share knowledge necessary for rational policy decisions. Our research has looked at using head-mounted displays to tell news stories, and we have worked with a multi-user 360° panoramic display. A project is now under way to use immersive techniques to model port expansions in Southern California. We will also seek to find ways to distribute this visual information across individual, community and institutional audiences.

PITFALLS OF ATTENTION WORK IN THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

Innovation Journalism Vol 6 No 4, 1 June 2009
By Vilma Luoma-aho, Turo Uskali and Alisa Weinstein

In this study we concentrated on the pitfalls of attention work in the innovation ecosystem of Silicon Valley by interviewing 20 journalists, analysts, entrepreneurs, investors and PR practitioners in the fall 2008. The major outcome of the research was that attention work has become harder for both professional groups of journalists and public relations practitioners in recent times. After observing the many difficulties in communicating the innovations and innovation ecosystems, what requires more extended examination here is the concrete advice of helping the flow of innovation information. This does not only mean new tools or new types of media, but new types of collaboration between the different attention workers.

FOCUS ON GROWTH: INNOVATION, THE MEDIA AND PUBLIC INTEREST

Innovation Journalism Vol.6 No.3, 1 June 2009.
by Carl-Gustav Linden

Innovation Journalism (InJo) has been promoted as a new type of media work that can be of value to stakeholders in the innovation eco-system, which means that it is mainly catering to particular interests. In some parts it resembles the “public sphere model” of Habermas. It is also presented as a business model in itself with strong links to the dominating “market model” of the media. This is limiting the scope of potential influence. Economic growth through innovations in social and physical technology is of interest to the society as a whole. This paper deals with the issue of how public interest in a larger perspective can be related to InJo. For this purpose possible stakeholders are mapped and discussed. The suggestion is that InJo can be framed as journalism dealing with long waves and the most important sources of economic growth and societal renewal.

ATTENTION AND REPUTATION IN THE INNOVATION ECONOMY

Innovation Journalism Vol. 6 No. 2 May 13, 2009
By Vilma Luoma-aho and David Nordfors

The paper suggests that attention is a success component in today’s innovation economy, but that it must be connected to the formation of reputation to translate this success to the players in the ecosystem. The paper studies the roles of the different attention workers in creating reputation for innovations and inventions, and explains how attention and reputation contribute jointly to success. Attention and reputation are central topics related to innovation journalism, as well as innovation communication and public relations.

INNOVATION JOURNALISM, ATTENTION WORK, AND THE INNOVATION ECONOMY. A Review of the Innovation Journalism Initiative 2003-2009

Innovation Journalism Vol. 6 No. 1 May 1, 2009

By David Nordfors

Full article here: http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/injo-6-1.pdf

This article presents a review of the innovation journalism initiative so far. The novel concepts of innovation journalism, attention work and innovation communication systems are present

ed and put into context, explaining why journalism and communication may be considered important components of the innovation economy, as well as how this may benefit society. The need for a new definition of ‘journalism’ is discussed, suggesting a definition based on the relation between journalism and its audience, rather than on its relation to the medium it uses for communicating with the audience. The role of journalism in the innovation economy is a novel academic research field. The rationale for this research is presented together with examples of plausible research topics. Innovation journalism initiatives are emerging in several places around the world. The seminal VINNOVA Stanford initiative at Stanford University is presented together with the national initiatives in Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, Pakistan, Mexico, and the EU.

IJ-5 THE FIFTH CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.5 No.1 July 1 2008
IJ-5, the Fifth Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University 21-23 May 2008. The conference materials have since then been available on the conference website. They can as from now also be referred to through the Innovation Journalism Publication Series.

IJ-4, THE FOURTH CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.4 No.3, July 1 2007

IJ-4, the Fourth Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University 21-23 May 2007. The conference materials have since then been available on the conference website. They can as from now also be referred to through the Innovation Journalism Publication Series.

THE INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AT STANFORD 2007 - KICKOFF WORKSHOP PROGRAM

Innovation Journalism Vol.4 No.1, Apr 13 2007

The final program from the kickoff workshop for the Innovation Journalism Fellowship Program at Stanford Feb 26- Mar 2 2007.

PR AND THE INNOVATION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Innovation Journalism Vol.3 No.5 Oct 25 2006

By David Nordfors.

Public relations in innovation companies can strengthen brand value by communicating innovation processes and add value to innovation by developing narratives for new products and services in parallel with technological and business development. The development of innovation communication and PR will benefit from the emergence of independent innovation journalism. Some new concepts are introduced: Communicators and journalists can be seen as “attention workers”, driving the “innovation communication system”, a subset of the innovation system, focusing on the flows of communication and attention. (This essay was written for the 10th SKOJ conference in Slovenia.)

INNOVATION JOURNALISM GETS ACADEMIC RESEARCH FUNDING

News Flash Oct 4 2006

How does journalism link innovation with the public interest? How do innovation ecosystems engage journalists? These questions are at the heart of a research initiative recently funded by VINNOVA, the Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems. The project will set the agenda for an international research workshop scheduled for February 2007 at Stanford University. The academic research study is led by Professor Marc Ventresca of Oxford University (PI, coordinator) and Dr. David Nordfors at Stanford University and VINNOVA (Program Director), with Dr. Turo Uskali from the University of Jyväskylä, visiting scholar in innovation journalism at Stanford, and Dr. Antti Ainamo at the Helsinki School of Business. The group of researchers standing behind the mission, which includes faculty and expert practitioners from leading U.S. and European universities, convened in April 2006 for a workshop hosted by the Innovation Journalism program run by Stanford and VINNOVA. They recently co-published an essay identifying ‘Innovation Journalism’ as a useful theme through which to explore the interplay of journalism in innovation ecosystems .

THE THIRD CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM - PROCEEDINGS

Innovation Journalism Vol.3 No.4, May 29 2006

The conference papers presented at The Third Conference on Innovation Journalism, April 5-7 2006 at Stanford University.

THE THIRD CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM - PROGRAM/ABSTRACTS/BIOS

Innovation Journalism Vol.3 No.3, May 29 2006

The final conference program of the Third Conference on Innovation Journalism, as it happened on April 5-7 2006 at Stanford University. Includes abstracts of presentations and links to powerpoint presentations, archived on the IJ website. Includes also bios of the 88 participating speakers and panellists.

INNOVATION JOURNALISM: TOWARDS RESEARCH ON THE INTERPLAY OF JOURNALISM IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

Innovation Journalism Vol.3 No.2, May 28 2006

By D.Nordfors, M. Ventresca, A. Hargadon, T. Uskali, A. Ainamo, S. Jonsson, S. Grodal, A. Weinstein, M. Kennedy, P. Svensson, F. Reid.

This essay suggests Innovation Journalism as a useful theme through which to explore the interplay of journalism in innovation ecosystems. This involves investigating how journalism plays a part in connecting innovation with public interests and how innovation processes and innovation ecosystems interact with public attention, with news media as an actor. It may also be of interest to study in which ways journalists cover innovation processes and innovation ecosystems, the incentives that may drive innovation journalism and how news organizations may be organized to perform the task. We outline examples of research project topics to illustrate how this approach can inform studies of innovation, studies of journalism as practice, and possible scipes for the research theme.

THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION JOURNALISM DVD NOW AVAILABLE ON GOOGLE VIDEO

News Flash Apr 2 2006

The DVD “The Future of Innovation Journalism” (Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.12) is now available on Google Video. This DVD presents a roundtable discussion about the future of journalism with the “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf (Google /ICANN), Whitfield Diffie (Sun Microsystems), Amy Bernstein (Business 2.0), Lee Bruno (Red Herring), Dan Gillmor (Bayosphere), Anders Lotsson (Computer Sweden), Frances Mann-Craik (Tornado Insider, Addison Marketing), Harry McCracken (PC World), Tony Perkins (AlwayOn Network), Jan Sandred (Biotech Sweden), Richard Allan Horning (Tomlinson Zisko LLP), Charles Wessner (National Academies) and Stig Hagström (Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning). Producer and moderator: David Nordfors (Stanford / VINNOVA)

INTRODUCING THE 2006 INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWS

News Flash Feb 14 2006

The fellows represent influential newsrooms in Sweden and Finland: Helsingin Sanomat, Affärsvärlden, Aftonbladet, Elektroniktidningen, Entreprenör, Göteborgsposten and Rapidus. The Innovation Journalism Fellows are this year being hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Red Herring, Business 2.0, CNET News.com, PC World and the San Francisco Chronicle.

THE INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AT STANFORD 2006 - KICKOFF WORKSHOP PROGRAM

Innovation Journalism Vol.3 No.1, Feb 13 2006

The final program from the kickoff workshop for the Innovation Journalism Fellowship Program at Stanford Feb 6-10 2006.

THE THIRD CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM. STANFORD UNIVERSITY 5-7 APRIL 2006.

News Flash Jan 18 2006

Invitation for papers and participants to The Third Conference on Innovation Journalism at Stanford University, April 5-7, 2006. Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist of Google, and the “father of the Internet” will be the opening speaker.

We have already enlisted speakers and delegations from the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Pakistan, Germany, Taiwan and Slovenia. The main conference themes include: * Practicing Innovation Journalism * Publishing Innovation Journalism * The Role of Journalism in Innovation Systems * Innovation Communication * International Initiatives for Innovation Journalism * The Future of Innovation Journalism and the Emergence of New News Media. Registrations to the conference can be made via the Internet. See the News Flash for details.

PAKISTAN JOINS INNOVATION JOURNALISM PROGRAM AT STANFORD

News Flash Nov 11 2005

Omar Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Finance, in his keynote address at The Competitiveness Institute 8th Annual Conference in Hong Kong, announced that Pakistan is joining the Innovation Journalism Program at Stanford University. Innovation Journalism Fellows from Pakistan will participate in the program starting in 2006. The Pakistani Innovation Journalism Program will be organized by the Pakistan Competitiveness Support Fund.

THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION JOURNALISM - DVD - 120 MINUTES - ALL REGIONS

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.12, Oct 31 2005

By David Nordfors.

It’s innovation time for journalism! Traditional news media are being challenged by innovative sources of news on the Internet, such as blogospheres, or citizen journalism. Traditional journalism struggles when covering innovation as a topic. While innovation pivots society it is not a key news word. Traditional news beats – such as technology, business or politics – chop up innovation processes to fit their news slots, missing the bigger picture.

How can journalism report on innovation, following the cross-boundary interactions driving today’s society? Who can do it? This DVD presents a roundtable discussion about the future of journalism with the “father of the Internet” Vint Cerf (Google /ICANN), Whitfield Diffie (Sun Microsystems), Amy Bernstein (Business 2.0), Lee Bruno (Red Herring), Dan Gillmor (Bayosphere), Anders Lotsson (Computer Sweden), Frances Mann-Craik (Tornado Insider, Addison Marketing), Harry McCracken (PC World), Tony Perkins (AlwayOn Network), Jan Sandred (Biotech Sweden), Richard Allan Horning (Tomlinson Zisko LLP), Charles Wessner (National Academies) and Stig Hagström (Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning). Producer and moderator: David Nordfors (Stanford / VINNOVA)

See a sample from the DVD (click here for Quicktime movie)

The DVD can be ordered from Amazon.com or VINNOVA (UPC 837101387)

FINLAND LAUNCHES NATIONAL INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

News Flash Oct 28 2005

Finland has launched a National Innovation Journalism Fellowship Program. It has nominated three people to the Innovation Journalism program at Stanford.

THE FIRST HANDBOOK ON INNOVATION COMMUNICATION

News Flash Oct 09 2005

The first innovation communication handbook "Neue Ideen erfolgreich durchsetzen. Das Handbuch der Innovationskommunikation" was recently released by the publishing house of Germany’s renowned newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). It has been edited by Prof. Dr. Claudia Mast and Dr. Ansgar Zerfaß, who has been elected “PR Head of the Year 2005” by the German-speaking Public Relations community last month. The book is so far available in German only. It presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of the field of Innovation Communication and encompasses the basic concepts as well as numerous best practice examples from companies such as ThyssenKrupp, Siemens, IngDiBa or IBM. The handbook includes a special chapter on Innovation Journalism by Dr. David Nordfors.

FINLAND LAUNCHES WORLD'S FIRST COURSE IN INNOVATION JOURNALISM FOR STUDENTS

News Flash Sep 12 2005

On September 9 the journalism group at the department of communication at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland launched the world’s first Innovation Journalism course for university students. It will be running intensively during September-October 2005. The pilot course has 20 participants. It includes 12 h lectures, practical work and a feed-back session. The students will get three credit points from the course. During the intensive course, September-October, every student will write one or more innovation journalistic articles. The grades of the course will be based on the quality of the articles. One aim of the course is also to publish the articles in various Finnish newspapers and magazines. The lecturer of the course is Dr. Turo Uskali, who took part in the first Finnish innovation journalism research and education program 2004–2005. The course will collaborate closely with Dr. David Nordfors at Stanford University and others interested in innovation journalism education.

PAYING ATTENTION TO WEAK SIGNALS – THE KEY CONCEPT FOR INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.11, Aug 30 2005

By Turo Uskali.

Business journalism often misses to predict major happenings and frequently plays a part in inflating economic bubbles. Journalism seems to lack good methods for handling “weak signals”, the first written signs or hints of a coming change - a key concept for future-oriented journalism. The author has shown in previous work on business news that weak signals are mainly detected at the end of the news stories and from reporters´ personal comments. Business news often allows no more than one scenario of the future per story, which is not sufficient for discussing weak signals. This tends to promote mainstreaming which can inflate bubbles. Innovation journalism is future-oriented and needs to discuss weak signals. The paper proposes some guidelines for innovation journalists on how to cover weak signals without repeating the mistakes of business journalism. Traditionally, scholars have looked for weak signals in news headlines. But news headlines mostly focus on strong signals. The paper proposes some future directions for weak signal research.

INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIPS: SWEDISH CALL FOR APPLICANTS

News Flash Jun 24 2005

VINNOVA, the Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems, is issuing a call for applicants for their third round of Swedish sponsored Innovation Journalism Fellowships. The fellowship program is run together with the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning at Stanford University.

THE ROLE OF INNOVATION JOURNALISM IN SCIENCE NEWS MEDIA

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.10, Jun 21 2005

By Marie Granmar.

During the past decade there has been an important worldwide trend in which more research is conducted in private companies or research departments with high ambitions of spin-offs. The science journalism tradition of mainly giving perspectives on recently published peer reviewed articles is no longer sufficient. Innovation journalism increases the possibilities of covering key factors driving scientific development. This paper describes how a few different science media have chosen to approach the challenge of integrating innovation journalism. It discusses the challenges for the modern science journalists, their work environments and editorial organizations.

HOW TO DO ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.9, Jun 7 2005
By Birgitta Forsberg.

http://innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-2-9.pdf

The purpose of this paper is to give other journalists ideas of how to do environmental innovation journalism and to define the field of environmental innovation journalism. The paper gives some examples and partly describes what is happening with companies’ environmental work. It is the hope of the author that readers will find interesting threads that will become embryos of new stories. As this paper is aimed at journalists, the reader is expected to have journalistic skills and to know how to do research, how to be critical, balanced and accurate and how to handle ethical dilemmas. Basic journalism is beyond the scope of this paper.

INNOVATION READINESS - A FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING CORPORATIONS AND REGIONS BY INNOVATION COMMUNICATION

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.8, May 23 2005

By Ansgar Zerfass.

The industrial reality does no longer match the traditional understanding of innovation based on the assertiveness of creative scientists and entrepreneurs. Nowadays, an integrative approach is necessary. The concept of “Innovation Readiness” takes into account the relevance of internal as well as external stakeholders within the innovation process (stakeholder orientation) and considers the relevance of regional and branch-specific innovation systems (cluster development). It also highlights the importance of communication for the implementation of new ideas, products, and services. Following this line of argumentation, the article explains the strategies and measures of Innovation Communication. Several case studies illustrate how communication may foster the ability to innovate and thus strengthen competitiveness in a fundamental way.

INNOVATION COMMUNICATION - OUTLINE OF THE CONCEPT AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FROM GERMANY

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.7, May 13 2005

By Claudia Mast, Simone Huck and Ansgar Zerfass.

Innovation Communication poses particular challenges for communicators and requires special routines. INNOVATE 2004 is the first nation-wide study on Innovation Communication, based on answers from German journalists and communication experts from companies, agencies, research institutions, universities, politics, and administration. The survey’s results provide first indicators for the field of Innovation Communication in Germany

INTRODUCING AN INNOVATION JOURNALISM INDEX - BENCHMARKING THE SWEDISH MARKET

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.5, May 4 2005

By David Nordfors, Daniel R. Kreiss and Jan Sandred.

Although Innovation Journalism is not a common label of a beat or of a type of publication, it is possible to benchmark the media landscape, using an innovation journalism index based on the results from a simple questionnaire, which measures the integration of technology and business reporting.

THE SECOND CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM: PAPERS

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.4, April 25 2005

The conference papers from The Second Conference on Innovation Journalism, held at Stanford University on Apr 4-6 2005.

THE SECOND CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM: PROGRAM

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.3, April 20 2005

The final conference program from The Second Conference on Innovation Journalism, which was held at Stanford University on Apr 4-6 2005. The conference was arranged by the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL) and the Swedish Innovation Journalism Fellowship Program, and co-sponsored by the Stanford Graduate Program in Journalism and the Finnish Innovation Journalism Initiative.

INNOVATION JOURNALISM INITIATIVE TO CONTINUE FOR THIRD YEAR

News Flash Apr 15 2005

Following the success of the first two programs, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) and Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL), are pleased to announce that the initiative to grow a community of “innovation journalists” – media professionals who cover the technical, business, legal, political and social aspects of innovation – will be funded for a third year by VINNOVA.

THE SECOND CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM – UPDATE: REGISTRATION AND PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

News Flash Mar 3 2005

Updated information about The Second Conference on Innovation Journalism. Preliminary conference program with times, topics and speakers/panellists. Link to conference registration on the Internet.

THE RISE OF ANALYSTS AS SOURCES IN INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.2, February 4 2005

By Niclas Lilja.

Reporters increasingly use analysts as sources in innovation journalism. By using analysts, the reporters get access to knowledge, resources, insight and industry access. The reporters stay neutral on the surface of the article by quoting analysts instead of expressing personal beliefs. The potential confusion happens if readers and or journalists believe analysts to be neutral experts when they could be pursuing their own agenda.

THE SECOND INNOVATION JOURNALISM CONFERENCE - STANFORD UNIVERSITY, APRIL 4-6

News Flash Jan 24 2005 2:00 am

Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL) in cooperation with VINNOVA, the Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems, is pleased to call for papers and invite participants to The Second Innovation Journalism Conference at Stanford University.

A BUSINESS MODEL FOR INNOVATION JOURNALISM: BIOTECH SWEDEN

Innovation Journalism Vol.2 No.1, January 17 2005

By Jan Sandred.

Innovation systems offer readerships and commercial markets for innovation journalism. Editor Jan Sandred identified in 2001 a business opportunity for a magazine covering the Swedish biotechnology innovation system. The Swedish business-to-business magazine Biotech Sweden was created for the biotech market by IDG Sweden, a subsidiary of International Data Group. This paper describes the business model and the steps involved in setting up Biotech Sweden as an innovation journalism publication..

FINLAND LAUNCHES INNOVATION JOURNALISM PROGRAMME

News Flash Jan 4 2005 4:00 pm

FINLAND LAUNCHES INNOVATION JOURNALISM PROGRAMME
- joins the Second Innovation Journalism Conference at Stanford April 4-6

The University of Tampere in Finland has launched an Innovation Journalism Research and Education Programme.

THE ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN INNOVATION SYSTEMS

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.7, November 8 2004

By David Nordfors.

Innovation Journalism can strengthen the competitiveness of innovative clusters and national innovation economies. Innovation systems can offer readerships and commercial markets for innovation journalism. Journalism is an actor in innovation systems and it’s role needs to be investigated.

WHEN TECH MEETS BUSINESS IN JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.6, October 11 2004

By Adam Edström.

A suggestion for how to mix business and technology journalism in a publication aiming at entrepreneurs and startups that insults neither the engineers nor the economists, based on a comparison between personal experiences from Fortune Magazine and the Swedish electronics magazine Elektroniktidningen.

COMPONENTS OF INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.5, September 17 2004

By Magnus Höij.

In order for text to be “innovation journalism”, it has to cover both the invention and the market. While these two elements are sufficient and necessary for calling it innovation journalism, other elements can be added to make the text even more useful or enjoyable for the readership.

INVESTIGATING THE REPORTING OF RESEARCH COMPANIES - A REPORTING EXAMPLE ON DeCODE Genetics

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.4, August 15 2004

By Marcus Lillkvist.

The sparse journalistic coverage of innovation-based startup companies could be explained by a lack of methods and tools for journalists striving to cover these companies. This paper describes new journalistic methods for covering startups.

APPLICATIONS: INNOVATION JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM 2004

Newsflash, June 9, 2004

About the 2004 Innovation Journalism Fellowship Program and how to apply for it. In Swedish only. External link to VINNOVA’s website.

THE FIRST CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM – CONFERENCE PAPERS

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.3, May 3 2004

Papers presented at the First Conference on Innovation Journalism, held at Wallenberg Hall, Stanford University, April 14-16 2004.

THE FIRST CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.2, May 3 2004

Program for the First Conference on Innovation Journalism, held at Wallenberg Hall, Stanford University April 14-16 2004.

THE CONCEPT OF INNOVATION JOURNALISM AND A PROGRAMME FOR DEVELOPING IT

Innovation Journalism Vol.1 No.1, May 3 2004

By David Nordfors

Reprint of VINNOVA Information VI 2003:5 ISSN 1650-3120, October 2003

“Innovation Journalism” is the intuitive name for journalism covering innovation. It is valid as a concept, but there is no such journalistic discipline or community today. Therefore, a programme has been designed to develop the concept and test the possibilities for Innovation Journalism as a journalistic discipline, a new reporting “beat”.