Check out this post from Dan Gillmor, on the future of journalism education. He provides a great list of suggestions, and every J-school in the country would serve their students well by adopting the list. There's something that he didn't mention, though: How do you move a faculty entrenched in legacy media to change to adopt a modern approach?

Academia has four significant characteristics that bode agai… Continue

The Knight Digital Media Center, a great resource for digital journalists, has some upcoming training opportunities that might be especially useful for entrepreneurial journalists working on niche or hyperlocal venues.

Apply by the deadlines noted below and you could win fellowships to cover all costs of this training. Deadlines are coming up soon, so apply now. Here's what's on offer:

… Continue

The FCC recently announced a new "Future of Media" initiative, and they're seeking comments. This is a good opportunity for emerging hyperlocal and niche news outlets to influence national media policy. So if you want your voice heard, speak up by March 8.

I recently wrote a detailed explanation of this project for the Knight Digital Media Center at USC. See:… Continue

* Encouraging signs on the niche media front from Glam Media, notes Collaboratory manager Jane Stevens. The niche news network of hundreds of sites, and with a profitable women's division, has raised $50 million in venture funding. Why does it matter?

* New Collab member… Continue

In the new year, Orange County has seen the start of two different websites that aggregate local news using small community papers.

First, Tribune started The OC Now. Then this week, they cooperated with the Local News Network to launch The Orange County Local News Network. (Here's a local blogger's take on it.)

So now my commun… Continue

The shift to niche marches on. In addition to this investment, according to a MediaPost article, Glam Media is going to build a Digital Media Technology Center, and, by the way, their women's division is profitable.

Glam Media comprises about 1,100 niche news sites from fashion, beauty, living, celebrity & entertainment, lifestyle, health & wellness, shopping, t… Continue