Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurial Journalism

The Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurial Journalism program prepares students to start their own media-related businesses or bring innovation to legacy media organizations. It emphasizes knowledge of business fundamentals, marketing, advertising and public relations strategies for new businesses and creating digital, multimedia content for media products or promotions.

Objectives of this program include:

• To prepare students for today's media landscape, which is undergoing unprecedented disruption as new digital technologies and changing economic realities have upended the practices and the business models of traditional media organizations. Students need to be able to understand this upheaval and be equipped to recognize opportunities for new businesses and ways traditional organizations can evolve to meet evolving demands.
• To equip students with the skills they need not only to start their own media-related businesses but also to work as "intrapreneurs" within existing companies and to initiate and sustain change initiatives. They will learn startup fundamentals such as how to turn ideas into business plans, assess customer needs, pitch investors and develop marketing, public relations and advertising strategies. To help students hone their abilities to use social media and a variety of cutting-edge digital tools necessary to market and create content for new media businesses.

Requirements

The graduate certificate in Entrepreneurial Journalism requires 12 credit hours.
Students are required to take JRSM 7100 Entrepreneurial Media (3 hours) and JRSM 7330 Social Media and Community Engagement (3 hours), and to select six credit hours of electives from the following:

ACCT 7412 Legal/Accounting Aspects of Entrepreneurship (3 hours)
FIR 7648 Evaluating/Finance New Projects (3 hours)
MGMT 7270 Venture/Bldg/Sustaining a Successful Enterp (3 hours)
UNIV 7110 Launch Memphis 48-Hour Launch (2 hours)
UNIV 7110 LaunchMemphis BarCamp, SocialCamp, MobileCamp (2 hours)
UNIV 7110 Business Plan Boot Camp (1 hour)
UNIV 7110 Launch Memphis ad hoc mentoring (3 hours)
JRSM 7350 Advanced Multi Media Reporting (3 hours)
JRSM 7410 Advanced Crisis Communication (3 hours)
JRSM 7412 Analytics and Evaluation (3 hours)
JRSM 7414 Audience Analysis&Segmentation (3 hours)
JRSM 7422 Writing for Strategic Media (3 hours)
JRSM 7510 Information Design (3 hours)
JRSM 7650 Startup Journalism Practicum (3 hours)

How to apply

Applicants for the entrepreneurial certificate program must satisfy all the requirements of the University Graduate School as set out in the Graduate Bulletin.

The Graduate School collects your application, transcripts, goal statement and resume, and when complete, forwards them to the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media to consider for admission to the journalism certificate program. 

All other admissions requirements are the same as for the regular program (see above).

Continuing beyond the certificate

All of the classes taken in the certificate program will count toward your Master's degree if you are admitted to the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media's master's degree program. You will have up to eight years to complete the program. The time starts the semester that you take your first graduate course.