IJ-8 The Eighth Conference on Innovation Journalism

Innovation Journalism Vol. 8 No. 4  1 Nov 2011

IJ-8 The Eighth Conference on Innovation Journalism was held at Stanford University May 23-25 2011. It featured two tracks apart from the main conference - the Academic track, and the Communications track. 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.

http://ij8.innovationjournalism.org

With over five billion cell phones in use, over 100 million smart phones sold per quarter (Q4 2010), 600 million Facebook users (Jan 2011), one billion Google search queries per day (Mar 2011) journalism is no longer a gatekeeper of mass communication and knowledge dissemination. As the impact of print and broadcast diminishes, gatekeeping is evaporating, and the business of journalism has joined the innovation economy.

Understanding innovation is becoming more important. The innovation ecosystems are ruling the futures of all people on the planet. Innovation is not only offering people improvements in their lives, it is also posing a number of threats to both individuals and societies.

All people with an interest in the issue are welcome, journalists, communicators, academic researchers, innovation analysts, stakeholders in innovation ecosystems, and others.

Click here to listen to the IJ-8 opening address, presented on May 23 2011.

IJ-8 Conference Committee
Executive Committee:
David Nordfors, IJ-8 Chair; Kirsten Mogensen, IJ-8Academic Program Chair; Turo Uskali, IJ-8 Academic Review Publication Chair; Sven Otto Littorin, IJ-8 Communications Track Chair; Adelaide Dawes, IJ-8 Event Manager
Senior Advisors
Elizabeth Filippouli, Founder and CEO, GlobalThinkers - Main Track and Global Media; Jan Hedquist - Communications Track; Lou Hoffman, President and CEO, The Hoffman Agency - Communications Track; Marc Ventresca, Prof. Saïd Business School, Oxford, Senior Scholar SCIC - Academic Track
 InJo Fellowship Coaches 2011: 
Tanja Aitamurto; John Joss (also IJ-8 Conferencier)

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.