Transforming the J-School in an age of creative destruction

Abstract

In this thesis, I conduct a case study of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative to Transform Journalism Education. Through a naturalistic enquiry that engages multiple qualitative methods – including in-depth interviews with J-School leaders and textual analysis of J-School innovation initiatives – I seek to understand how J-Schools are transforming themselves, which innovation initiatives are working, and how, if at all, this transformation is changing what it means to be a professional in the new media landscape. I conclude that J-Schools are interdisciplinary hubs on campus, and that a new ethic of entrepreneurial journalism is emerging. Top J-Schools are radically transforming their curricula and are seeking to destroy silo and track systems of old while simultaneously creating new experimental approaches within convergence curricula. Successful change efforts are driven by strong feedback loops between the J-School and students, alumni, and institutional leaders both inside and outside of the Academy.