Program Overview

Program Overview

The Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program is a 100-day online certificate program designed to help independent journalists develop newsletters, podcasts, local sites, and other niche news products. The program aims to provide a springboard for new ideas and support participants in identifying and sustainably filling gaps in the news ecosystem.

Program Curriculum

The program curriculum includes:

• Understanding market needs and revenue opportunities
• Product development
• Growing a community and building an audience
• Sharpening sustainability and survival skills
• Developing a revenue portfolio
• Entrepreneurial skills

Macro Courses

The program consists of macro courses that cover:

• Understanding market needs and revenue opportunities
• Product development
• Growing a community and building an audience
• Sharpening sustainability and survival skills
• Developing a revenue portfolio

Micro Courses

The program also includes micro courses on:

• Newsletters
• Podcasts
• Membership

Program Outcomes

Upon completing the program, participants will learn to:

1. Understand market needs and identify their niche by interviewing community members and stakeholders, and conducting market research.
2. Serve and grow an audience by applying tactics to build a product, grow a following, market a project beyond its initial user base, and engage with their community on an ongoing basis.
3. Develop a revenue portfolio by analyzing and testing potential monetization strategies for their new product or initiative.
4. Sharpen survival skills like sales and negotiation techniques, cultural competency, collaboration skills, personal finance, and self-care and resiliency.

Program Details

• The program is fully online and runs for 100 days.
• The program is designed for self-motivated, high-potential individuals who have shown a capacity for ingenuity.
• Applicants must have English fluency, a willingness and capacity to work independently on a niche media project, experience in journalism or media, and a tolerance for risk, uncertainty, and occasional failure.
• The program is not an ideal fit for someone developing a public relations project or a community service organization.
• Participants are expected to spend about four hours each week on live classes, three to four hours on learning materials, and a few hours each week on self-paced work on their own ventures.

Tuition and Scholarships

• The tuition for the certificate is $4,000.
• Multiple scholarships are available, including the Meta Journalism Project Scholarship, Substack Scholarship, and Center for Cooperative Media Scholarship.

Program Faculty

• Classes are taught by leading practitioners, professors, and industry experts.
• The faculty is guided by Jeremy Caplan, Newmark J-School’s director of Teaching and Learning.

Program Alumni

• The program has welcomed over 130 people from 37 countries since 2010.
• Many alumni have developed successful startup ventures, including Narrative.ly, Skillcrush, Coda Story, Emerging Market Views, How India Lives, NKNews, and many more.
• Others have gone on to work at leading media and tech organizations around the world, including the New York Times, Apple, Vice, Meta, NBC, BuzzFeed, and Quartz.

Testimonials

• The program has received positive testimonials from past participants, who have praised the program's structure, curriculum, and faculty.