Unpacking Value Creation Dynamics in Journalism Education. A Covid-19 Case Study

Abstract

The physical closure of universities and university colleges due to Covid-19 has accelerated the digitalization of journalism teaching to a record speed. The pandemic, and the severe restrictions on-campus attendance, radically altered J schools’ value proposition to their students, turning the teaching of practical journalistic skills primarily into a forced blended learning experience. This study, through proposing a conceptual model for unpacking value creation dynamics in journalism education, explores this shift and how journalism students responded to it. We find, through applying the model to a multiplatform journalism course at the bachelor level, that the online teaching environment was experienced as being inferior to physical teaching, despite the availability of flexible digital learning resources that students could use at their convenience. Ample opportunities for online interaction between students and teachers were not a satisfactory substitute for physical campus teaching. This study questions how, based on this, face-to-face interaction between journalism students and teachers best can be replaced, especially in terms of creating a safe learning environment and facilitating students’ learning by doing.