Lecture 5 - Tue Sept 17 (13-15) - Jönsson

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Time & Place: Tuesday September 17 at 13-15 in lecture hall Q33.

Guest lecturer: Martin Jönsson, Deputy Director, Programs, Swedish Radio (SR).

Title: Can you charge for content/quality?

Talk: On the challenges of serious journalism in a new media context.

About: Martin Jönsson has worked at several different newspapers and magazines as well as been a guest professor at the department of journalism, media and communication at the University of Gothenburg. Martin is active in the public debate about digital journalism and is responsible for the development of digital media at Swedish Radio since the spring of 2013. 

Literature: 

- Grueskin, Seave & Graves (2011), "The story so far: What we know about the business of digital journalism". Read chapter 5, "Paywalls: The price tag for information". Available online.

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Lecture 4 - Mon Sept 16 (13-15) - Bergson

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Time & Place: Monday September 16 at 13-15 in lecture hall B1

Guest lecturer: Lottis Bergson, Digital Director, IDG Sweden.

Title: Changing business landscape of specialized media

Talk: The audience migration from print to online/mobile has created an urgent need for change that includes all parts of a media house (editorial, sales, marketing, business models...) Lottis will tell the "IDG story" - how we act right now and what we are going to focus on in the near future based on IDG's experience from 97 countries.

About: Lottis started her career in media as an editor in chief of print newspapers and magazines. During 25 years within the media house IDG, she has held several different positions in publishing: editorial print and online, business, circulation etc. She is currently the Digital Director of IDG Sweden as is deeply involved in ongoing transformations of the company.

Literature: 

- Grueskin, Seave & Graves (2011), "The story so far: What we know about the business of digital journalism". Read chapter 2, "Traffic patterns: Why big audiences aren't always profitable". Available online.

- Grueskin, Seave & Graves (2011), "The story so far: What we know about the business of digital journalism". Read chapter 3, "Local and niche sites: The advantages of being small". Available online.

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Lecture 3 - Thu Sept 12 (8-10) - Abrahamsson

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Time & Place: Thursday September 12 at 8-10 in lecture hall E2

Guest lecturer: Sofie Abrahamsson, CEO trainee at Eniro and former KTH Media Technology student.

Title: Local news in a flash - media houses, trends and classifieds

Talk: Sofie will give an overview of the situation for local newspapers in Sweden - findings and conclusions based on her mater's thesis (written during the spring of 2013). The talk will also briefly cover the connection between her master's thesis and her current position at Enrio.

About: Sofie graduated from KTH in the spring/summer of 2013. During her time as a student she also ran her own company as a communication strategies and graphic designer. Since August 2013, she is the executive trainee to the CEO of Eniro, Johan Lindgren.

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Lecture 2 - Wed Sept 11 (13-15) - Springfeldt

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Time & Place: Wednesday September 11 at 13-15 in lecture hall B1

Guest lecturer: Gunnar Springfeldt, Springfeldt Media AB. Ex-Vice President of Development at Stampen Media Group.

Title: International trends in news

Talk: Gunnar Springfeldt will cover mobile technologies in emerging markets. These are, especially in the case of Africa, considered to be a driver behind a healthy GDP growth. Gunnar will give examples of how media is starting to use mobile services in both editorial and commercial activities.

About: Gunnar left his position as VP Development at Stampen Media Group in April 2013. He has travelled extensively in Asia and Africa and has made several presentations on the topic of mobile media. Gunnar has also participated as a judge in international juries for media awards. One of his present assignments is consulting on media strategies for an Asian media company.

Literature: 

- Communities dominate brands (blog), (2013), "Why is everybody obsessing about mobile now? From Starbucks to Tesco, from Visa to Budweiser beer". Blog post, available online.

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Instructions for seminar 1 (Sept 13)

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We will have our first seminar next week on Friday (Sept 13 at 8-10 in Q33). Here are the instructions for the seminar.

1) Read the assigned literature that is available in Bilda (5 different texts, all in all around 50 pages). 

2) Prepare answers to the questions below and be ready to discuss your answers in class. Do note that you might personally be asked about your proposed answer to any of the questions below. We thus suggest that you prepare for the seminar by not just reading the texts, but by also taking down some notes to the questions below.

Fuller, "A new rhetoric for news": 

• What measures should be taken to reinvent news and the rhetoric of news, according to Fuller?
• What are Fuller’s main thoughts about the future of news, and what challenges we are facing?
• Do you agree with Fuller? Why or why not?

Rosenberry & St. John III, "Public journalism values in an age of media fragmentation":

• How does Rosenberry think that journalism fits into the future of news?
• What is meant with the expression “fourth branch of government” and how is the general view of news media and journalism changing?

Schudson, "Defining journalism" and "Does news matter?"

• Do you agree on Schudson’s definition of news and journalism? Explain why or why not?
• What is Schudson’s main point when it comes to the power of media?

Van Dijck, "Social media platforms as producers":

• Explain what van Dijck means with that the producer of social media is no longer a singular entity but is distributed among various levels.
• Do you agree with him?

Shirky, "The collapse of complex business models"

• What is Shirky’s main point?
• What are the implications for news in terms of a) newspapers, b) radio, c) television and d) Internet?
• Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

3) Finally, choose your one most interesting and insightful thought, idea, question or reflection - based on your reading of these five texts. Please write around 200 words (half a page of text - 150-200 words are also ok), print your text on paper and bring it to the seminar. Remember to write your name on the paper as your submission is proof of your attendance at the seminar! 

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Lecture 1 - Mon Sept 9 (13-15) - Melesko

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Time & Place: Monday September 9 at 13-15 in lecture hall B1

Guest lecturer: Stefan Melesko, Associate Professor, PhD. in Media Economics. The International Business School at Jönköping University.

Title: The challenges facing legacy media companies

Talk: Stefan Melesko will talk about the changing economic environment for the media companies. This implies new, different or adjusted business models and a set of other actions. Other dimensions that will be covered at least briefly are:
- Why the nordic media system requires a different kind of applied analysis concerning media development in comparison to the US market and US experiences. 
- Mergers & acquisitions, the different sources for funding media companies and the gradual change to digital publishing. 
- Which are the editorial items that will increase the WTP (willingness to pay), and exactly where is the value creation?

About: Apart from my academic career, Stefan has had a long experience as a chief executive in several media companies: Dagens Nyheter, Saxon & Lindström and Bonnier Business Press. He also held and presently hold positions as a non-executive board member in several media and media related companies. He am a frequent contributor/columnist in the trade press. Stefan's present research focus is on the restructuring of the Swedish regional press.

Literature: 
- Grueskin, Seave & Graves (2011), "The story so far: What we know about the business of digital journalism". Read chapter 1, "News from everywhere: The economics of digital journalism". Available online.
- Schudson, (2011), "The sociology of news". Read chapter 6, "News in the market place". Read the chapter before the lecture (if you have the book). Otherwise read the chapter afterwards, when you get the book.

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Essay 1 - instructions

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You have to write an individual essay twice during the course; one in the beginning and one more right when the course ends. Writing these essays are compulsory. Below are the instructions for the first essay.

Please download and use the template that is available in Bilda (Bilda/DM2571 fmed13/Documents/130906 FoM essay 1) when you write your text. Use your family name when you designate a name your file ("Pargman essay 1") and upload it to the "drop box" that has been created exclusively for this purpose in Bilda. Do note that you can only upload the file formats .doc, .docx (MS Word) or .pdf to the drop box.

If you have any practical or other questions about this task, please ask them in the form of a comment to this blog post (I subscribe to blog post comments and will answer in the form of a new comment).

Deadline for handing in the essay is Friday Sept (23.59). This task is neither very comprehensive nor time-consuming.

Instructions

1A. "Expectations and apprehensions". 

This is the 11th time the course is given. Some students have previously seen one or several final presentations and have furthermore perhaps talked with older students about the course - while others know very little beyond the course introduction that was given yesterday. In both of these cases, it is important for us teachers to avoid misunderstandings, to adapt the course according to the participants' preferences (where possible) and to explain why that is impossible in other instances.

Please write 200-600 words (0.5 - 1.5 pages) about your hopes and expectations, or your fears and apprehensions about the course as it now starts - based on whatever information you have available right at this moment. Perhaps you have opinions about the form or the content of the course that you would like to voice?

1B. "My relationship to news". 

Please write 400-1000 words (1 - 2.5 pages) about your personal relationship to news. What does news mean to you? How do you consume news (on paper or through gadgets or screens)? What kind of news interests you (and what kind doesn't interest you)? In what context do you consume news (for example in terms of times of the day and daily routines and/or in terms of physical locations)? Have your news habits changed lately or at some earlier point in your life? If you don't read/consume/are interested in news, why do you think that is? Have you ever been involved in making (writing, editing, producing) news? Are there already now some news-related issues that you find particularly interesting and that you would like to immerse yourself in (or suggest that someone else should immerse themselves in) during the project phase of the course?

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