This document summarizes the findings of an online survey of 62 media management educators from 14 countries. It identifies the key themes, pedagogical approaches, and challenges in media management education. The top themes taught are strategic management, business models, and market structure. Active learning principles are commonly applied, including case studies, group projects, and online communication tools. Educators perceive staying up to date with industry dynamics and addressing interdisciplinarity as the greatest challenges. International experience and approaches increase with factors like age, experience, and teaching load.

1. media management education:
challenges, key themes and pedagogies
Kati Förster & Ulrike Rohn
EMMA Pre-conference June 11, 2014 in Tallinn, Estonia

2. „Media are undergoing tumultuous change, and media education
needs an equally profound reinvention. […] Educators need to
transform media education at every level, from the nature and work of
a media professional, to the content, organizational, and financial
structure of media and their relationships with the public.”
(Pavlik, 2013, p. 215 )

3. media in transition > implications for media education
transformations through technology, globalization and changing audiences
(Chan-Olmsted, 2009)
the three big Cs:
Convergence – Consolidation – Conglomerates
(1) interdisciplinarity
(Pavlik, 2013)
(2) internationality
(Albarran, Chan-Olmsted, 1998; Demers, 1999; Gershon, 1997, 2000, 2006; Hollifield, 2001)
(3) innovations and dynamics
(e.g. Compaine, Hoag, 2012; Gershon, 2013; Sylvie, 1995; Sylvie, Weiss, 2012; Vukanovic, 2009; Yoo,
Yang, Kim, Heo, 2012)
3

4. pedagogies - towards an active learning approach
• three sources of demand in mass communication education
(Hoag, Brickley, Cawley, 2001)
• active learning as teaching paradigm in communication education
(Shelton, Lane, Waldhart, 1999)
• instruments: discussions, team learning, problem-based learning and case
methods
• from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered approach
(e.g. Smart, Witt, Scott, 2012; Ortiz, 2012)
• evaluation through self- and peer-assessments
(e.g. KWL approach; Szabo, 2006)
4

5. the current state of media management
teaching: framework
what is taught?
• media econonomics
• media management
• industries, methods
key themes
how is it taught?
• settings
• communication
• evaluation methods
pedagogical
concepts
which issues are seen critically?
• interdisciplinarity
• internationality
• dynamics
perceived
challenges
personal
variables
institutional
conditions
5

6. methodology & sample
• online-survey (dec 2013 to feb 2014), emma membership list (N = 190)
• sample: n = 62 (33 %); Mage = 43 (SD = 8.4); 14 different countries
• educational background
• degree in business administration (33%), communication science (19%), media studies
(19%), economics (8%) >> 32 percent hold more than one degree
• work experiences in the media industry and teaching experiences
8
14
11
35
32
for more than 20 years
10 to 15 years
5 to 10 years
less than 5 years
never
35
46
19
10 to 20 years
5 to 10 years
up to 5 years
6

7. institutional conditions // teaching load
All courses
(in %)
Media mgmt./
media ec.
(in %)
Average number
of courses per
term
None 2.3 7.0
One 11.6 16.3
Two 25.6 34.9
Three 23.3 18.6
Four 20.9 14.0
Other 16.3 9.3
All courses
(in %)
Media mgmt./
media ec.
(in %)
Teaching hours
per week
Two or less 4.7 17.1
Three to six 25.6 48.8
Seven to ten 44.2 24.4
Eleven to 14 18.6 4.9
15 to 18 7.0 4.9
 courses at B.A. level mostly introductory, media economics and rather
large
 more specific themes in M.A. courses
7

8. courses taught at M.A. level
8

9. key themes taught (top 5)
media economics %
market structure 50.0
media convergence 46.8
media conglomerates 38.7
media concentration 37.1
media consolidation 29.0
Note. n = 62 persons (40 %, n = 25, did not mark one of the topics given). min = 9. max = 35. med = 19
industries %
television 50.0
newspaper, magazine 46.8
internet 40.3
social media industries 37.1
movie 29.0
media management %
strategic management 51.6
business models 50.0
media innovations 41.9
crossmedia 41.9
media value chain 38.7
 no impact by personal variables or institutional conditions
 but: the more degrees a participant holds, the more topics are addressed in
teaching; Spearman r = .78; p = .00
9

10. pedagogical concepts // settings and
communication
• settings:
• case studies, cooperation with media companies, group research projects, simulations,
project-based teaching, off-site seminars, workshops
• communication:
• f2f: classroom lectures/seminars, office hours, consultations, individual/group tutoring
• online:
8
8
17
19
25
33
75
92
Wordpress or other blogs
Google+
Wikis
Twitter
Skype
Facebook
E-learning platforms
Email  use of online
communication tools
decreases with teaching
experience
10

11. pedagogical concepts // evaluation methods
17
21
25
25
27
short essay assigments
project products
written exams
final papers
oral presentations
assigment type
1
18
23
28
28
feedback from industry
partners
peer feedback among
students
written feedback
oral feedback
marks/grades by course
leaders
type of evaluation
n = 37 n = 37
11

12. pedagogical concepts // internationality
3
6
6
6
20
21
double/triple degrees
mutual lectures
mutual projects
summer/winter schools
English-speaking lectures
to invite international guest
speakers Internationality increases ..
 with age
(r = .51; p = .01),
 with teaching experience
(F(26,2) = 4.16; p = .03),
 with teaching hours per
week, in general
(r = .52; p = .01) and related to
mm/me courses
(r = .56; p = .00).n=27
12

13. perceived challenges
M SD < 43y ≧ 43y
To stay up to date to the dynamics of media markets. 1.9 1.14 (3) (1)
To cope with the interdisciplinarity in the field. 2.4 1.44 (3)
To include the role of social media. 2.5 1.17 (2)
To predict future professional career outlines for the students. 2.6 1.32 (1)
To consider the internationality of media industries. 2.6 1.07 (3)
To teach financing, accounting or statistics. 2.6 1.16
To generalize across different media industries. 2.7 1.42 (2)
To teach about different media industries. 2.9 1.32
To teach soft skills. 3.0 1.10
To teach ethical guidelines. 3.1 .97
To teach the public role of media. 3.1 1.17
To teach multilingual or to teach in a foreign language. 3.2 1.18
Note. n = 37. 1 = strongly agree. 2 = agree. 3 = neutral. 4 = disagree. 5 = strongly disagree.
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14. lessons learned
• what is taught in mm?
• top 3 themes: strategic management, business models, and market structure
• top 3 industries: television, newspaper, and Internet
• not much affected by personal variables or institutional conditions
• how is mm taught?
• active learning principles applied in media management education
• pedagogies and internationality affected by personal and institutional variables
• which critical issues are seen?
• dynamics and interdisciplinarity perceived as most challenging
• gender, age, teaching load and prior work experience affect perceived challenges
14

15. media management education:
challenges, key themes and pedagogies
Dr. Ulrike Rohn
University of Tartu, Estonia
ulrike@rohn.as
Dr. Kati Förster
University of Vienna, Austria
kati.foerster@univie.ac.at