Check this out from New Hampshire:
http://media.www.tnhonline.com/media/storage/paper674/news/2008/10/21/Commentary/A.Wake.Up.Call.To.Journalism.Students-3496916.shtml
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
What do you think about your journalism education?
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9 comments:
I respect idealistic journalists like the one who wrote this article, but I think they're living in la la land. Most journalism programs are extremely traditional (including ours) because they focus on traditional (aka outdated) media. I understand the importance of a good foundation (knowing how to organize information and catering to specific clients), but c'mon! Show me how to build a website, let's talk about nontraditional media, etc. etc. Remember Darwin's Survival of the Fittest? Unless journalists learn to adapt and change, they're not going to survive. Journalists spend all their time trying to convince people to care about certain things instead of looking at what people DO care about. I could go on and on...
Any influence this article could have is destroyed by poor journalistic writing. The piece proves the exact point it tries to make! Learn the basics, perfect the simple skills before you move on to bigger, more exciting journalism skills. This journalist needs to go back to "J202" before writing another piece of commentary. I guess I have learned something from J202, because it seriously pained me to read this article.
I also believe that journalism isn't entirely a learned skill. Either you have what it takes to be a good journalist/writer, or you don't. Simple as that. Character has everything to do with it.
But I digress. The best part of this article was the last line..."(And seriously, come down to TNH, we need could probably use a writer like you.)CLEARLY!! Laughed out loud when I read that.
I agree that we need to come out with not only the basics, but an edge that will give us a boost in the job market. That said, there is NO way anyone from the J-school is going to get hired without first building a solid base. It sounds like we're a bit ahead of this school and I'm happy that we have at least a few opportunities to build sites and manipulate multimedia.
While I agree that an important part of class is learning basic journalism skills, I think UW could have more specialty classes that cater directly to student interest. For example, our sports program here is huge. Students who want to go into sports journalism could get so much hands-on practice covering the Badgers before applying for jobs at local newspapers and television stations.
If journalism students are interested in writing about sports, fashion, etc, there are TWO student newspapers on campus that allow students to fulfill those interests. AND there is a student run radio station on campus in which any student can try to get there own show to talk about these subjects. J202 is a building block to perfect these interests. By starting out at the basic level of news writing, everyone can get a feel of their own writing and know where they accelerate and where they do not.
I think having more specialty course work would be great. Looking from my point of view, I think I could benefit from course like that. Sometimes I find myself questioning myself and the class, but only because I am want to go into advertising and there seems to be more focus on news. However, I know that this will all help me become better at my craft, so I try to put any hard feelings aside and focus on what needs to be done.
You can learn to be a good writer, but it involves more than just what classes can teach. Sometimes you’ll have to go out there and do some real reporting. The school papers have lots of good opportunities. As for focusing on new media, do you want a course in blogging? Having old school knowledge can always help as good reporting is still a valuable skill. On Becca’s comment, I ASSURE you, both papers can always use more good sports writers. Just go to one of the offices and ask. Finally, to Natalie, how can journalism really be just about character? If you put a ton of effort into it, you can become a much better journalist. Learning is nice, but on the job training is key, and if you keep trying to get that on the job experience, it will pay off.
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