Flemish journalism students’ perception of and preparedness for entrepreneurial job profiles in their future careers
Flemish journalism students’ perception of and preparedness for entrepreneurial job profiles in their future careers

Summary/Abstract: Digitalization and failing traditional revenue streams have led to some news companies blurring the lines between commercial, technological and editorial departments to sur- vive the digital transformation, innovate and remain financially sustainable. Future jour- nalists will enter news companies that stimulate this cross-functional approach to tackle challenges and fuel innovation, but we know less about how journalism students expect to navigate the blurring lines between technology, business and journalism. Moreover, entre- preneurial journalism has focused on studying innovation, individualization and capital- ization to understand journalists’ part in creating the future of journalism. Still, it is less clear how future journalists perceive these aspects. We surveyed 150 Flemish journalism students (bachelor's and master's level) to understand how they perceive this cross-func- tional trend and the different aspects of entrepreneurial journalism. Flemish journalism students believe journalists should innovate to help journalism survive, and a large portion of journalism students also anticipates becoming journalism innovators or entrepreneurs. However, innovation is still largely perceived as technological and multimedia and not as entrepreneurial. We did see a convergence of commercial and editorial skills to respond to the changing news context (native advertising, the audience turn) and journalism students gave some importance to business skills. We also noted pull and push dynamics towards freelancing. Finally, Flemish journalism students seem to have a realistic understanding of job opportunities. In response to job scarcity, some prepare to become a freelancer, while others look at career opportunities in other industries.

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