Interesting New Degree!

From New York Times:

New Journalism Degree to Emphasize Start-Ups

By TANZINA VEGA

The Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York wants to capitalize on some of the shifts that have rocked traditional journalism — and traditional journalists — with the creation of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and a new master of arts degree in entrepreneurial journalism, which the school will announce on Monday.

Entrepreneurial journalism, broadly speaking, simply refers to pulling journalism, business and technology closer together. CUNY already offers a course in entrepreneurial journalism, and this new master’s program will extend the traditional degree program to two years from 18 months. The courses in the program will focus on the business of managing media, and the study and creation of new media business models, and it will offer students apprenticeships at New York City start-ups.

“We’re all very concerned about sustaining quality journalism, and we think the future of journalism is going to be entrepreneurial,” said Stephen B. Shepard, the founding dean of the school and a former editor in chief of BusinessWeek.

The school will also offer a certificate in entrepreneurial journalism for midcareer journalists “who have worked in traditional mainstream media, who understand they need new skills and will come back to get them,” Mr. Shepard said.

The journalism school offers a converged curriculum in which students are able to study media across all platforms, including digital, broadcast and print. Students also choose a subject of concentration in arts, business, urban or international reporting. The center will be led by Jeff Jarvis, an associate professor and the director of the school’s interactive journalism program, and will reside in the school’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

The $10 million center will receive $3 million in funding from The Tow Foundation, $3 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and additional grants and contributions from the journalism school. The first degrees are expected to be awarded in the spring of 2012.