Earlier today I had a very interesting telephone conversation with Brian Stelter of the New York Times about the current state of journalism education. He asked me my thoughts on the current state of j-schools and my own person experience being a journalism major at Rowan for an article he’s writing.
The conversation got me thinking about what should be changed in journalism departments to help things move from the older, paper way of thinking to a newer, more Web 2.0 way of thinking and most importantly to teach journalism in a way that speaks to students. (Don’t worry I’m not going to go all Alana Taylor on you!)
Require internships. My journalism department doesn’t require them and I’ve had friends graduate from college, confused as to why they’re getting beat out for jobs. I’ve had two internships so far and I’m still petrified about finding a job when I graduate. I can’t imagine how naive you have to be to think you can get a job without one. Requiring internships would at least ensure that students will have something on their resumes besides experience on their college newspaper.
Have a regulated selection process. Greg Linch mentioned this on his blog and it was honestly something I never had considered before. He said that, “there should be a multi-dimensional, more personalized interview process for students applying to an academic journalism program.” My professor Kathryn Quigley always retells the horror story of a freshman student being unable to answer the question “Why are you a journalism major?” Having a more personalized selection process in place would ensure that students picked would be, as Linch says, “open minded and willing to evolve.”
Establish connections with alumni. Let’s face it: the job market right now is TOUGH. We need all the help we can get. If that means being connected with former j-students who would serve as mentors, then that would be great! Who wouldn’t want to learn from someone who was once in your shoes?
Require students to start blogs. Luckily, the journalism department at Rowan has caught onto this. (Thanks to our new, required Online Journalism I class.) Today Brian Stelter and I were discussing the importance of being Google-able. What comes up when people Google you? Anything to do with journalism?
Stop requiring us to bring newspapers to class! I thought this was a Rowan thing until I read Alana Taylor’s article on MediaShift. She wrote, “Back in class, Quigley [Note: Funny enough we both have a journalism professor named Quigley — No, it's not the same person] tells us we have to remember to bring in the hard copy of the New York Times every week. I take a deep sigh. Every single journalism class at NYU has required me to bring the bulky newspaper. I don’t understand why they don’t let us access the online version, get our current events news from other outlets, or even use our NYTimes app on the iPhone. Bringing the New York Times pains me because I refuse to believe that it’s the only source for credible news or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism and it’s a big waste of trees.” Believe it or not, we know what newspapers look like.
Every class should start a blog or Web site. I consider myself one of the more ambitious people in my journalism department, and even I don’t try as hard as I normally would on an article I know only my professor will read. Also, having to explain to sources “Oh, it’s just for class. Really! Nobody is going to see it!” is a little awkward when they e-mail you repeatedly asking when it will appear in print. Make it real. Allow others to see it.
Require students to get a certain amount of clips each semester. It’s a scene that my college newspaper The Whit sees every spring semester; seniors suddenly swarming editorial meetings, taking assignments for the sole purpose of getting their FIRST clips before entering the job market.
Of course, as Brian and I were discussing today, most of this can not be blamed on journalism professors or departments. Some of the blame has to be placed on students. Some students just don’t extend themselves and refuse to accept the difficult job market we are all entering. :-/
Well YOU know what newspapers look like. But many students don’t. Plus, newspapers will still exist in paper form for some time. It’s helpful for my students to see how they are put together.
It is hard for us to REQUIRE internahips since we have no control over their availability. We don’t control the job market.
We ARE going to put a portfolio requirement in place for seniors to insure they have clips.
Believe me, we professors think about all this stuff too.
@Kathryn Quigley: “But many students don’t”? I doubt that students don’t know what newspapers look like. I think it would be are more credible argument to say that members of the lower class who are not fortunate enough to afford an education might not be as familiar with newspapers.
However, I see your point about it being helpful for students to see how newspapers are put together. But using the same logic, won’t knowing how to maneuver media through the web be just as important and useful to them? Just because newspapers will still exist in paper form for some time does not necessarily mean that they will be the primary source for news in the near future.
Just my thoughts. Don’t want to go all “Alana Taylor on you” though, because I seem to have a reputation of doing so hahah.
Overall, Emily I think your points are great. Internships and real-world experience is fantastic. Don’t forget to do things on your own as side projects too! You can never be too ahead of the crowd. And networking is essential to life.
Well YOU know what newspapers look like. But many students don’t. Plus, newspapers will still exist in paper form for some time. It’s helpful for my students to see how they are put together.
It is hard for us to REQUIRE internahips since we have no control over their availability. We don’t control the job market.
We ARE going to put a portfolio requirement in place for seniors to insure they have clips.
Believe me, we professors think about all this stuff too.
@Kathryn Quigley: “But many students don’t”? I doubt that students don’t know what newspapers look like. I think it would be are more credible argument to say that members of the lower class who are not fortunate enough to afford an education might not be as familiar with newspapers.
However, I see your point about it being helpful for students to see how newspapers are put together. But using the same logic, won’t knowing how to maneuver media through the web be just as important and useful to them? Just because newspapers will still exist in paper form for some time does not necessarily mean that they will be the primary source for news in the near future.
Just my thoughts. Don’t want to go all “Alana Taylor on you” though, because I seem to have a reputation of doing so hahah.
Overall, Emily I think your points are great. Internships and real-world experience is fantastic. Don’t forget to do things on your own as side projects too! You can never be too ahead of the crowd. And networking is essential to life.
Happy Thanksgiving