innovation journalism

www.innovationjournalism.org

Innovation Journalism

David Nordfors, Ph.D.Program Leader Innovation Journalism

Senior Research Scholar, Stanford, Special Adviser to the Director General, VINNOVA

European Journalism CentreAMSU 25-27 July 2007

http://www.vinnova.se/main.aspx


THE BOTTOM LINE:

For the Innovation Economy to be part of Democratic Society, Independent Journalism Needs to Cover It.



THE BOTTOM LINE 2:

Journalism is an independent actor in innovation systems



Definitions

• Innovations IN Journalism => • Innovative Journalism

•Journalism ABOUT Innovation => • Innovation Journalism



Innovation Journalism Definition

Innovation Journalism is journalism covering innovation.

It covers innovation processes and innovation (eco)systems.



THE BOTTOM LINE:

Innovation IN Journalism &

Journalism ABOUT Innovation =

Good Match



SUMMARY OF THIS TALK

• Innovation in Journalism - Where is it heading?

• Why the Innovation Economy needs Journalism

• Definition of Innovation Journalism (InJo)

• Why is not InJo developing faster? Challenges & Facts of Life

• How to join the growing international community: The Stanford VINNOVA Innovation Journalism Program



INNOVATION IN JOURNALISM



Separation of Control over News and Media

• Until Now: The content and the delivery infrastructure are associated. (“I saw it on TV”)

• Until Now: Mass communication channels proprietary, content controlled by media companies. (“John is an important guy. He was on TV!”)

• As From Now: as Internet becomes ubiquitous, other infrastructures diminish.

• As From Now: Dissociation between news content and the infrastructure.



What Continues to Matter For News Industry?

• Distribution and access to audience is a diminishing challenge

• Controlling infrastructure and distribution chains will get less important.

• There will be more competition for attention and higher demands on credibility.

• Building a Brand is more important than ever.

• What makes readers Google your name or type your URL?



There is growing an innovation ecosystems around News 2.0!

• News Industry becoming a part of the Innovation Economy

• The News now sorts under Moore’s law



THE NEED FOR INNOVATION JOURNALISM



Innovation is More Than Invention

Innovation is the Process of Creating and Delivering New Customer Value in the Marketplace

(C. Carlson, W Wilmot)

• INNOVATION IS THE MAJOR DRIVER OF ECONOMIC GROWTH

• INNOVATION IS A KEY WORD IN ECONOMY (OECD ETC.)

• INNOVATION IS NOT A KEYWORD FOR NEWS (AP, REUTERS ETC.)



Innovation seen as straightforward:

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Innovation Is Complex – Not Linear.



Innovation is Sociology

• Innovation System: The flow of technology, information and capital among people, enterprises and institutions which is key to an innovative process.



Proposed Concept:The Innovation Communication System

• Innovation System: …the flow of technology, information and capital ….

• Subset: Innovation Communication System…the flow of attention …

Key Actors - Attention Workers: Journalists, PR & Communicators, Lobbyists, Marketers



The EU Challenge

• Shrinking part of world population

• Aging population

• Knowledge and competence spreading across world

• EU Labor Productivity Growth behind US - first time since WWII

• China, Korea - now 11% of EU ICT patent applications

• India is moving ahead

• EU not reaching Lisbon process benchmarks

• SOCIETY NEEDS ABILITY TO DISCUSS SOLUTIONS



Innovation Requires Language

• Innovation = introduction of something new

Introduction requires communication

Communication requires language

Something new needs a name in order to be discussed

The News spreads the new words so that new things can be discussed and introduced.



We need a language for innovation

• InJo gives language for discussing e.g.

How innovation happens

Who does what, and why, in the innovation ecosystem

Our ability to innovate and our competitiveness

What stops us or enables us from innovating

What we can do about it

Who wants to do what about it (politics of innovation)

Innovation trends and happenings



Developing innovation system is to make above efficient, e.g. to make investment in R&D profitable.

Identify bottlenecks and possibilities.

Research: Money Knowledge & Competence

Innovation:

Money Knowledge & Competence

Innovation EconomyTransfer & co-development of information in societyBuilding conciousness, creating discussion, forming decisions.

Q: How does society manage this?

A: News media isone dominant channel



Knowledge is not transferred but co-developed

Triple Helix

Government

SharedNews

(shared attention)

Business Academia

News media are main actors forCreating shared knowledge

Q: Which informationdo they share?

A: The News, for sure!



Private

Public

Academic

NEWS

ADDRESSING A BROAD READERSHIP



• DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Competition between ideas. Alliances, compromises, conflicts, fight for attention. Winners Implement Their Ideas on Society.

• Power is with citizens’ votes

Political Systems are recognized communities. Role of Political Journalism is recognized.

• INNOVATION SYSTEM:Competition between ideas. Alliances, compromises, conflicts, fight for attention. Winners Implement Their Ideas on the Market.

• Power is with citizens’ money

Innovation Systems not recognized communities. Role of Innovation Journalism needs to be recognized



Innovation Journalism Definition

Innovation Journalism is journalism covering innovation.

It covers innovation processes and innovation (eco)systems.



Innovation Journalism

• Is new as a concept and community

• Is not new as a practice

• Expression ”Innovation Journalism” coined in 2003 ”The Concept of Innovation Journalism…”

• Is a combination of business, technology, political and cultural journalism.

• Can discuss innovation from a system point of view (e.g, ”who depends on who in building the mobile IP market, and how?”).

• Evaluates progress of companies and societies by looking at the interaction between science, R&D, business development and public policy.

• Can assess the ability to innovate

• Scrutinizes the innovation systems and can act as a watch dog.



WHY IS NOT INNOVATION JOURNALISM

DEVELOPING FASTER?

CHALLENGES & FACTS OF LIFE



Challenge: Journalism Beat Structure

Science

Technology

Business & Finance

Politics

Culture

Innovation



Challenge: Lack of Language for innovation

Common Misunderstandings among the News Media:

• Innovation = Invention

• Innovation is a fuzzy concept

• Innovation is a bureaucratic buzzword

• Innovation Journalism = Technology Journalism

• Innovation Journalism = Science Journalism

• Innovation Journalism = Business Journalism



Challenge: Global vs National/Local

• The Innovation Economy is Global

• Most International Journalism is Political

• Most Business/Tech Journalism is National

• Need For International Journalism Reporting on Innovation and the Creation of Value



Fact of Life: Business Model

• Generic Journalism Business model:

1. Write news stories - collect readership attention

2. Sell part of readership attention to advertisers

• What is the Business Model for Innovation Journalism?

How identify readership? How identify advertisers?



Challenge: Lack of innovation Traditions

• Most news organisation

• do not have innovation departments

• do not understand the need for innovation.

• do not know how to set up innovation

• …but now they must do it to survive



PUBLIC POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Policy Objectives & GuidelinesProgram Model



Policy Objective: Form Triple Helix

•A Networked Global Professional Community for Innovation Journalism,

•Scholarly Research on the Interaction Between Journalism and Innovation

•Public Innovation Policy for Developing Innovation Journalism



Policy Objective: Quality-improving dynamics

• Help ethics & knowledge be competitive factors

e.g. support documentation of best practice, development of journalistic research tools, etc.



The VINNOVA/StanfordInnovation Journalism

Program

The Entrance to the International InJo Community



The InJo Fellowship Program

• Run by Stanford SCIL and VINNOVA

• Non-profit founded: IIIJ - The Internation Institute of Innovation Journalism

• Develops InJo as a Concept and a Community.

• Fellows: Top Tier Innovation Journalists

• Hosts: Top Tier World Press

• InJo Conference and Workshops @ Stanford each year



The Stanford InJo Fellowship Program 2007run by Stanford and VINNOVA

• Fellows from Sweden, Finland, Pakistan

• Feb: Kick-off Workshop at Stanford. Virtual Community Initiated

• Jan-Jun. Fellows Hosted by Top Tier Publications.

• Apr: Follow-up Workshp at Stanford

• May 21-23: The Fourth Conference on Innovation Journalism

Fellows present papers on InJo best practices

• Alumni Activities



Virtual Community of Fellows

The virtual community holds the Fellows together throughout and after the program



Intl. Innovation Journalism Fellowships 06

• US hosts:

Fortune

Red Herring

Wall Street Journal

CNET News.com

PC World

IDG News Service

Business 2.0

San Francisco Chronicle

• Swedish

Aftonbladet

Affärsvärlden

Elektroniktidningen

Entreprenör

Göteborgsposten

Rapidus

• Finnish

Helsingin Sanomat



Intl. Innovation Journalism Fellowships

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Stories By Fellows



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IDG world update:Read by 16000 Journalists and Marketers at 350Publications in 85 countries



THE THIRD CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM (2006)

88 speakers/panelists. ~200 part. 25 papers.

Delegations from Sweden, Finland, Germany, Slovenia, Spain

Opening Speaker: Vint Cerf, ”Father of the Internet”; Chief Internet Evangelist, Google; Chairman, ICANN

Foreword to Proceedings:Curtis Carlson, President SRI International



THE CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION JOURNALISM 2007



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2004:

6 Fellows + Program Leader

1800 postings on virtual comm.

~40 stories in host publications

8 conference papers

2005:

6 Fellows + Program Leader

500 postings on virtual comm.

~60 stories in host publications

14 conference papers

2006:

7 Fellows + Visiting Scholar +Program Leader.

800 postings on virtual comm.~120 stories in host publications.

25 conference papers



Roundtable Discussion on DVDRoundtable Discussion on DVDand VIDEO.GOOGLE.COMand VIDEO.GOOGLE.COM

Vint Cerf Chief Internet Evangelist, Google; Whit Diffie, CSO Sun ; Harry McCracken Editor-in-Chief PC World, Lee Bruno Senior Editor Red Herring, Amy Bernstein, Executive Editor Business 2.0, Dan Gillmor Founder Bayosphere, Tony Perkins Founder and Editor AlwaysOn Network, David Nordfors Program Leader Innovation Journalism Stanford University; Stig Hagström Co-Director SCIL Stanford University, Charles Wessner Program Director,The National Academies, Richard Allan Horning Partner Tomlinson Zisko LLP, Frances Mann-Craik Columnist Tornado Insider.



Innovation Journalism: Towards Research on the Interplay of Journalism in Innovation EcosystemsDavid Nordfors, Innovation Journalism, Stanford, VINNOVA; Marc Ventresca, Oxford; Andrew Hargadon, UC Davis; Turo Uskali Innovation Journalism /Stanford, U Jyväskylä; Antti Ainamo SCANCOR/Stanford, Helsinki School of Economics; Stefan Jonsson SCANCOR/Stanford, Stockholm School of Economics; Stine Grodal, Stanford; Alisa Weinstein, Innovation Journalism, Red Herring; Mark Kennedy, University of Southern California; Peter SvenssonInnovation Journalism/Stanford, University ofLinköping; Fiona Reid Oxford Science Enterprise Centre, Oxford



•‘Innovation Journalism’ - a useful theme for exploring the interplay of journalism in innovation ecosystems.

•how innovation processes and innovation ecosystems interact with public attention, with news media as an actor.

•how journalists cover innovation processes and innovation ecosystems: incentives that drive innovationjournalism and how news organizations may be organized to perform the task.



Thank You!More info:

http://www.innovationjournalism.org

Email: [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]

Phone: +1 650 804 5184



InJo Initiatives right now:

• Sweden - VINNOVA

• USA - Stanford, USAID

• Finland - SITRA, Tekes

• Pakistan - CSF/USAID

• Slovenia - TIA

• Holland - European Journalism Center


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