-
Spring 2011 Volume 41 Number 321 $7.00
Ethics Defines the Professional by Ginny Whitehouse Page 14
A Former Students Perspective: From J-School to Archeology,
Ph.D. by El izabeth Pierce Page 24
College Newspapers in the 21st Century: Nurturing a Passion for
News is the Most Important Job Facing College Newspapers by Lola
Burnham Page 21
Student Journalists Stick With Their O usted Advisor by Roy
Malone Page 29
gatewayjr.org
St. Louis Journalism Review Presents:Whats Next for
Journalism Educationby Jerry Ceppos
Page 10
-
Spring 2011 Vol. 41 No. 321 $7.00
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 3
10 What s Next for Journalism Educ ation by Jerr y Ceppos
12 Preparing Students for the Changing Media Landsc ape by D oug
A nderson
14 Ethics Defines the Professional by Ginny Whitehouse
16 In Defense of the Study of Journalism Histor y by El l iot
King
19 O verprotec ting Free Speech by Charles Davis
20 Why J-Schools Arent Doing the Job They re S upposed to Do by
Wally S parks
21 College Newspapers in the 21st Century: Nurturing a Passion
for News is the Most Important Job Facing College Newspapers
by Lola Burnham
23 A Former Students Perspective: J-Schools Cant Replicate
Covering a Beat by A ndrew S mith
24 A Former Students Perspective: From J-School to Archeology,
Ph.D. by El izabeth Pierce
25 A Former Students Perspective: Study at a Large University by
Jennifer Frehn
26 J-Schools Open O ther Doors by Erin Holcomb
27 Column from Scott by S cott Lamber t
This Issue:
J-School Education in the 21st Century
Published by School of Journal ismCollege of Mass Communication
and Media Ar ts
Dean: Gar y KolbSchool of Journal ism Direc tor: Wil l iam H.
Freivogel
Gateway Journalism ReviewMail Code 6601
1100 Lincoln DriveCommunic ations Building 1236
Carbondale, IL 62901
Board of Advisers: Frank Absher, J im Kirchherr, L isa Bedian,
Ed Bishop, Tammy Merrett, Don Corr igan, Michael Murray, R ita
Csapo -Sweet, Steve Perron, Ei leen Duggan, Joe Pol lack, Michael
D. Sorkin, David P. Garino, R ick Stoff, Ted Gest, Fred Sweet, Wil
l iam Greenblatt, Lynn Venhaus, Daniel Hel l inger, Rober t A.
Cohn, Michael E . Kahn, John P. Dubinsky, Gerald Early, Paul
Schoomer, Dr. Moisy Shopper, Ray Har tmann, Ken Solomon
To S ubscribe:618-453-0122gatewayjr.org/subscr ibe
S ubscription rates: $25 (4 issues). Foreign subscr iptions
higher depending upon countr y.
The Gateway Journal ism Review GJR (USPS 738-450 ISSN:
0036-2972) is publ ished quar terly, by Southern I l l inois
Universit y Carbondale, School of Journal ism, Col lege of Mass
Communication and Media Ar ts, a non-profit entit y. The off ice of
publication is SIUC School of Journal ism, 1100 Lincoln Drive, Mail
Code 6601, Carbondale, IL 62901
Periodical postage paid at Carbondale, IL and addit ional mail
ing off ices. Please enclose stamped, self-addressed envelope with
manuscript.
Copyright 2010 by the Gateway Journal ism Review. Indexed in the
Alternative Press Index. Al low one month for address changes.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes toGateway Journal ism
ReviewWill iam FreivogelSchool of Journal ism1100 Lincoln Drive,
Mail Code 6601Carbondale, IL 62901.
Charles KlotzerFounder
William A. BabcockEditor
Roy MaloneSt. Louis Editor
Mallor y HenkelmanCreative Direc tor
Wenjing XieMarketing Direc tor
Jason AllenEditorial Car toonist
William FreivogelPublisher
Scott Lamber tManaging Editor
Jennifer ButcherProduc tion Editor
S am RobinsonOperations Direc tor
Steve EdwardsCover Ar t ist/Car toonist
Aaron VeenstraWeb Master
6 Videotaping in Il l inois: Score One for Police Harassment by
Wil l iam H. Freivogel
7 Colorado J-School to be Axed? by S cott Lamber t
8 Let Them Eat Cheese: Media Weigh in on Wisconsins Labor War by
Chuck Q uirmbach
11 Journalists and Public Relations Professionals by Namara ta B
ansal
Features
29 Student Journalists Stick With Their O usted Advisor by Roy
Malone
31 Better Business Bureau Uses Ex-Journalists to Investigate
Problem Firms
by D on Corrigan
33 Media Knew in the 1930s: Tobacco is a Poison Column by
Charles L . Klotzer
34 Media Notes
SJR Spotlight
-
Editor Notes
The task of educators would be easier were j-school students
really gearing up for mass media careers in news editorial
journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, online
journalism, advertising or public relations.
But thats not the case. An estimated 65 percent of undergraduate
journalism students are in j-schools for the writing skills, never
anticipating working in the media.
They say they are studying journalism and mass communications
because they know thats where theyll learn good writing, editing
and production skills skills they know they will need in whatever
field they ultimately choose, and skills that seldom are adequately
stressed in most English departments.
As a result, j-school teachers educate students with a vast
array of intents and interests. Reaching such a diverse clientele
is challenging in good times, let alone during a time when media
jobs are at best changing and at worst, ceasing to exist.
In a world where theres really no such thing as a typical first
job, its impossible to craft a curriculum where every graduate will
have at his or her fingertips the media skills to shine in such an
amorphous first job. Sure, j-school teaches students online
writing, digital editing, web production, multi-faceted information
gathering, video streaming and modern information marketing
communication skills.
More importantly, j-schools, through a variety of academic
courses including media law, ethics and history, continue to teach
students how to think. Key skills change and new tech quickly
becomes old tech, but good, sound, logical, ethical thinking
remains the goal of any quality j-school.
To help us figure out what j-schools should be doing, weve asked
a variety of people for their opinions, including university
accreditors, administrators, teachers, students and former
journalists.
In particular, weve asked our cover story contributor, former
Knight-Ridder executive Jerry Ceppos, if he would recommend a
j-school education to Robin, his 18-year-old teenage daughter. He
replies that not only would he make
Page 4 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Were devoting a large chunk of this edition to an examination of
journalism schools whether or not theyre educating students
properly, providing students with the necessary academic knowledge
and professional skills, anticipating what sort of talent the mass
media might need now and in the future and dealing with the
necessary technological issues.
Will iam A. Babcock, Editor
this recommendation, but that he indeed did recommend his own
school to his daughter, and that shes now a first-year student at
the j-school in Reno, Nevada.
But did his daughter indeed make the right decision, and was his
advice sound? Is it best to learn the craft through an accredited
j-school program, or might an academic degree in political science
or economics provide a sturdier foundation? Is it really necessary
for budding journalists to take a plethora of skills classes when a
bit of practical professional experience might fill the bill just
as well or perhaps better?
Do j-school students ever ask why so many of their professors
never themselves majored in journalism or mass communications? Can
any professional degree realistically hope to infuse undergraduate
or graduate students with sufficient new-tech skills to really hit
the ground running in a first job?
Can a j-school education ever replicate covering a beat, day in
and day out? Is it possible for one required media law course to do
much more than suggest that students exercise caution when writing
a news story or a blog? Will journalism ethics courses ever help
make journalists, or journalism, more credible?
Recent news that the University of Missouri School of Journalism
has the lowest post-graduation placement rate of any academic
college at the University of Missouri, does not bode well, even
considering the uncertain state of the nations job market. Too, the
apparent shuttering of the University of Colorados School of
Journalism and Mass Communication has sent shock waves to all
j-schools across America.
And I wonder, as my own 17-year-old daughter Lillian nears
college age: Will I recommend a j-school education to her as Dean
Ceppos did to his daughter. Or would my Mandarin-speaking,
rock-climbing, environmentally conscious, water polo and violin
playing daughter be better off studying biology or English rather
than sitting in front of a computer screen in a journalism 101
newswriting lab. Hmm . . .
Li l l ian E. Babcock
-
Letter to the Editor
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 5
Dear Editor:
I was disappointed in your publication for running Margaret
Freivogels encomium to the St. Louis Beacon, and I suspect other
readers were too.
First of all, it is ordinarily not, as the French succinctly put
it, comme il faut, for a reporter to write about an institution in
which she or he is associated, especially when that association is
so intimate as it is in this case. Its an impropriety, a breach of
journalistic etiquette, a conflict of interest. There are
exceptions, which well come to momentarily.
If the Journalism Review wanted to run an article on the Beacon,
it should have assigned someone else to do it.
Second, the piece read like the kind of prose you see in a
corporate annual report (and sometimes on a sports page): immodest,
self-congratulatory and largely devoid of any disinterest,
objectivity or redeeming social value.
It is sometimes possible under special circumstances for a
journalist interestingly and usefully to write about his or her own
publication, but it requires an effort at detachment. A recent
example is Bill Kellers piece in the New York Times Magazine (Jan.
30) on the Times relationship with Julian Assange. Though Keller
allowed personal sentiments to intrude (he found Assange
repulsive), he was careful to label them as such, and he kept his
narrative at arms length as best he could.
Ive known Mrs. Freivogel for about 40 years and have found her
heretofore to be tough-minded, very intelligent and a competent
writer, with only a slight tendency to confound journalism with a
social mission. So Im disappointed in her, too.
THE EDITOR RESPONDS :
The first issue of Gateway Journalism Review contained a package
of five pieces on new/online-journalism initiatives, one of the
most timely topics in journalism. This package was geared to appeal
to the new, expanded circulation of GJR, which now includes some 16
states.
The centerpiece of this package was Margaret Freivogels article
on the online publication she founded, the St. Louis Beacon. By
having such a lead story, GJR made it clear that St. Louis is the
focus of whats newsworthy in Midwest journalism.
How often is it that a publication gets an exclusive on a
trend-setting organization by the CEO of that very company? Or, put
another way, passing on such a story would be like a new-tech
publication turning down the chance of having Steve Jobs write
about the company he founded.
In addition, GJRs publisher, William Freivogel, in his p. 5
column of the previous issue, recused himself from any coverage of
the Beacon, edited by his wife.
So now lets see: GJR has a hot, timely story written by the most
knowledgeable person possible, a related package of stories and a
prominent disclosure of any apparent conflict of interest. Sounds
to me like solid, ethical journalism dealing with a truly
trend-setting topic the very fodder that makes for an important,
readable story in the maiden voyage of a new journalism review.
Ver y Truly Yours, E .F. Por ter Jr.
Universit y Cit y, Mo.
-
FeaturesVideotaping in Illinois: Score One for Police
Harassment
At a time when millions of Americans have cell phones, with
video and audio capability, and when videotapes of police
misconduct often are the stuff of news reports, Illinois is leading
the nation in prosecuting citizens who tape officers in public.
Illinois has one of the three most restrictive eavesdropping laws
in the country, along with Maryland and Massachusetts. And Illinois
police and prosecutors are not shy about using the law to punish
the taping of arrests and interrogations. Chicago authorities
recently charged a street artist and a stripper for violating the
law. Both face 15 years in prison. The street artist, Charles Drew,
actually intended to get arrested in an act of civil disobedience
targeting a Chicago ordinance banning the sale of art without a
permit on the street. That would have been a misdemeanor, but he
ended up charged with a felony for arranging a tape
of his arrest. He is scheduled to go on trial in April. Tiwanda
Moore, the 20-year-old stripper, went to police headquarters to
complain about an officer she said had fondled her and left her his
personal phone number. An officer receiving Moores complaint tried
to dissuade her from pursuing it. She began recording the
conversation with her cell phone. When officers discovered what she
was doing, they charged her under the eavesdropping statute. In her
defense, Moore is relying on a exception to the eavesdropping law
that allows a conversation to be recorded surreptitiously if a
crime is about to be committed. She maintains that the officers
effort to discourage her from filing a complaint was committing a
crime. The ACLU in Illinois went to court to challenge the state
eavesdropping law as a violation of the First Amendment, but a
Chicago judge threw out the suit last month. The ACLU is appealing.
Most states, such as Missouri, allow conversations to be recorded
as long as one party to the conversation consents. That means a
newspaper reporter in Missouri, for example, generally can record a
telephone conversation without telling the person on the other end
of the line. Twelve states have two-party consent laws for
eavesdropping, meaning all parties must consent to an audio
recording. But Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts have the
toughest interpretation and enforcement. The other nine states have
an exception to the law that allows recording of public police
conversations. In Maryland, the state attorney general has issued
an opinion indicating that those taping officers in a way that does
not interfere with their work should not be prosecuted. Prosecutors
and police in Illinois, however, think the strict enforcement of
the law is important. The Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago said
audio recording of police on the street performing their duty could
affect how officers do their jobs. That is exactly what civil
liberties groups want. The public impact of the Rodney King tapes
is well known. Video and audiotaping of police is often the best
evidence of police misconduct. A recent surveillance video of
police officers in Houston beating a teenage burglary suspect has
resulted in criminal cases and discipline against the officers and
provoked a strong public reaction after it was released to the
media. The National Press Photographers Association sees the
prosecutions of those taping police activities in public as the
latest effort of authorities to harass photographers
W i l l i a m H. F r e i v o g e l
Page 6 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
-
Features
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 7
Huff ington Post on I l l inois case:w w w.huff
ingtonpost.com/2011/01/22/ar t ist- could-face
-15-year_n_812596.html
New York Times on I l l inois case:w w
w.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/us/23cnceavesdropping.html
St. Louis Beacon on I l l inois case:http://w w
w.stlbeacon.org/voices/blogs/law-scoop/107970-eavesdropping-prosecutions-in-i
l l inois
C o l o r a d o j - s c h o o l t o b e a xe d ?
The University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass
Communications is waiting on proposals from the Program
Discontinuance Committee and the Exploratory Committee to determine
the future of its journalism program after deciding that its
current course was not feasible. - Scott Lambert
performing their job. In a statement, the association said:
Despite consistent court rulings protecting the First Amendment
rights of both citizens and the media to take photographs in public
places, and despite many law enforcement agencies spelling it out
in their official policies, the officer on the street either doesnt
get the word or decides to act on his own in the name of security
or terrorism laws, often citing rules that dont exist and exerting
authority thats non-existent. And recently in some states police
have started citing old wiretapping laws that have been on the
books for decades as their excuse for ordering photographers to
cease videotaping officers as theyre doing their jobs in public,
either during traffic stops or street arrests
or while interfering with photographers who are breaking no
rules and who are posing no threats to safety.
William H. Freivogel is director of the School of Journalism at
Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a board member of the
St. Louis Beacon. He is a member of the Missouri Bar.
-
Features
Page 8 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Let Them Eat Cheese: Media Weigh in on Wisconsins Labor War
News media in Wisconsin take for granted that the state capital
city of Madison will be the site of medium-sized protests,
late-night legislative antics and accusations of gubernatorial
power grabs. While many of those fights over the last few decades
were over substantive issues, it was still not the type of doings
that energizes large crowds.
The dynamic and sometimes tragic Vietnam War protests in Madison
that many older reporters had covered early in their career and
middle-aged reporters studied in school had a remember when air to
them. Hearing about the Vietnam era in 2010 was like hearing about
the Great Depression in 1970. You got the importance, but looked
for current relevance.
Then, Wisconsins newly elected Republican governor, Scott
Walker, announced a budget-repair plan in February that would take
away many collective bargaining rights most public sector workers
around the state had held since before Vietnam. Reporters and
editors in Wisconsin pondered, Hmm . . . we bet this brings tens of
thousands of people out to protest.
This anticipation was bolstered by several strong possibilities.
The people affected would have the means and time to take on the
political powers of the day. There would likely be more unusual
legislative maneuvering. A bright national media spotlight would
shine on an ambitious new governor.
Wisconsin newspapers, blogs, radio outlets and television
stations, which usually stuff statehouse news deep into the
newscasts, immediately paid attention. A Milwaukee TV station,
which typically likes a title for its continuing coverage, called
it Capital Chaos.
Some national outlets, such as the New York Times and the
Associated Press, were also on the announcement right away, as
Walkers plan went beyond what other conservative governors were
proposing in their states. Reporters for Wisconsin Public Radio
started pitching and
filing to National Public Radio. NPR and other national media
sent in their own reporters, or more of them, as the number of
protesters inside and outside the State Capitol building did indeed
reach the tens of thousands.
For a few days, television networks led evening newscasts with
stories out of Madison. The evening cable talk shows paid
attention. The late night skewers of the news, including Jon
Stewart and Stephen Colbert, did their thing, often with a cheesy
Wisconsin flavor. On the social media front, the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reported people bonding, or breaking up their
relationships, depending on ones view of the collective bargaining
dispute.
Along the way, there were new questions for Wisconsin reporters
questions already dealt with by some media in other states. A quick
list:
What to do when some key players leave? When 14 Democratic state
senators left Wisconsin to slow down Republican discussion of the
budget repair bill, were the lawmakers on the lam as some reporters
called it, or were the senators simply meeting in another state?
How closely should the media pursue lawmakers?
When a blogger from Buffalo, buffaloed Gov. Walker into thinking
Walker was talking to billionaire businessman David Koch, a large
financial donor to Walkers 2010 campaign, electronic media wrestled
with airing audio of the discussion, because Walker apparently
didnt know he was being recorded. Some outlets aired or posted
audio clips, some didnt.
Reporters for Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public
Television and other public broadcasters in the state decided to
disclose they would be affected by parts of the budget repair bill.
But how often do you repeat that disclosure before the audience
says, Yes, okay, we KNOW.
In the aftermath of the Tucson shootings, and threats to some
Wisconsin public officials, reporters in the state capitol faced
additional security requirements and wondered, how long will this
last?
When the Wisconsin State Assembly debated the bill for three
days, reporters, editors and others said, When and where do WE
sleep, and who will wake us should there suddenly be action?
Wholl take a bet on which Democratic senator will come
back to Wisconsin first?
C H u C k Q u i r m b a C H
When the Wisconsin State Assembly debated the bi l l for three
days, repor ters, editors and others said, When and where do WE
sleep, and who wil l wake us should
there suddenly be ac t ion?
-
Features
J o u r n a l i s t s a n d P u b l i c R e a t i o n s P r o f
e s s i o n a l s
I was taught in my graduate class that journalists and public
relations (PR) professionals share a love-hate relationship. I
experienced the validity of this statement when I myself worked as
a public relations professional in various capacities in India and
dealt with journalists.
I could feel how my relationship with them used to fluctuate,
ranging from a symbiotic relationship to a parasitic relationship.
Some days journalists would call me to get an exclusive story or
for that special interview, and other days the same journalists
would not even take my call.
An incident that happened in India recently had wide impact
across the Indian bureaucracy, corporate world and Indian media,
and confirmed my knowledge of the relationship between journalists
and PR professionals.
A PR professional of a large Indian PR agency tried to influence
Indian journalists to write positive stories for her client. Two
journalists (one from a respected newspaper and one from a TV
channel) were featured prominently in the tapes. The conversations
were not limited to the benefits of the corporation alone but also
involved influencing decisions of portfolios in the Indian cabinet
ministry. The whole conversation was recorded by external sources
and published. Because of new media, the transcripts of the
conversations are now available in the public sphere for
consumption by the general public.
In the series of recorded conversations, the seemingly
influential PR professional gave directions to the journalists to
write the story favoring her client. The journalists were heard
asking for opinion and directions from the PR person on how to
write and proceed with their respective stories. The PR person
seemed to be in full control and one of the
journalists seemed more than willing to take directions from
her.
When these journalists were asked to clarify, they reported they
were simply doing their job of gathering information from a PR
person, and it was usual for journalists to pretend to be friendly
with PR persons to access inside stories and exchange information
in an informal setting. They nonchalantly dismissed it as part of
the love-hate relationship between journalists and PR
professionals. The indicted journalists tried to clarify their
position by writing articles, tweeting and using other social media
devices. But their clarification did not diminish the damage t to
their reputation and faced a lot of criticism because of their
alleged relationship with a PR professional and, more importantly,
for getting influenced.
This incident created quite a stir but the professionals in both
the industries know that this is how things function. The entire
journalists fraternity came under fire and many articles and
discussions took place on the growing deterioration of the Indian
media industry.
Since journalists cannot avoid interacting with PR
professionals, how much is too much? It is always a difficult
decision to draw the line on how far the relationship between a PR
professional and a journalist can go. When the actions and
conversations are always under scrutiny because of new media
technology and increased competition among media, it becomes
important for journalists to be careful in their relationship with
PR professionals.
Namrata Bansal is a first year Ph. D. candidate in Southern
Illinois University Carbondale. She worked for six years as a PR
professional in India.
N a m a r a t a b a N s a l
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 9
Going forward, there are additional questions; would any
lawmaker be recalled by angry voters; would State Capitol building
security ever go back to normal; would Wisconsins Governor become a
lasting national figure; would unions continue to protest at his
stops around the state; would a more financially balanced state
budget trigger the private sector confidence the governor promised;
whats the effect Wisconsin is having on the 2012 race for
president?
These may not be the life and death questions of the Vietnam
Era. But the state media, and national reporters who keep an eye on
Wisconsin, once again have plenty on their plate besides
cheddar.
Chuck Quirmbach has been on the news staff of Wisconsin public
radio since 1980. As employees of the University of
Wisconsin-extension, he and his fellow WPR reporters would be
affected by some of the changes Governor Walker proposed.
gatewayjr.org
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur yW h a t s N e x t f o r
J o u r n a l i s m E d u c a t i o n
As assignments go, this one was pretty easy: Would I, the editor
of this journalism review asked, recommend journalism school if I
had an 18-year-old daughter who was about to enter college?
The answer: Yes, I in fact did that very thing. Robin is a
sophomore at my journalism school, the Donald W. Reynolds School at
the University of Nevada, Reno. I recommended j-school because she
was interested after spending a lifetime (literally) listening to
me talk about how much fun a journalism career can be. But I also
recommended j-school because there still is no better way to learn
to write and think clearly and concisely, traits that are
shockingly rare in todays world.
I also recommended journalism school because the best of the
schools are going to improve in the following ways while Robin
still is enrolled, and afterwards.
1. Being famous for something
In 20 years on the Accrediting Council for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communications, I would guess that Ive read
more than 350 summaries of site teams that have visited schools
being considered for accreditation. Ive made nine visits myself.
Too often, Ive left a discussion thinking, This school has met the
accrediting standards (which is tremendously important), but I cant
come up with one really distinguishing characteristic that
separates it from schools one state away. Rude translation: Schools
that try to do everything end up doing nothing thats excellent.A
solution may be in sight: My guess is that tough curricular
reviews, prompted by budget crises in many states, will result in
the best schools belatedly making difficult solutions about areas
to emphasize and, as a result, areas of less importance. Every
administrator and faculty member will come up with a different list
(I hope). My direction would be to ask a few obvious questions.
Does your location lend itself to a specialization? If not, is
there a broad underserved area in journalism that your school might
help? After the last election, Id say that rigorous public-affairs
reporting would be one area. I love Politifact.com and other
fact-checking services, but isnt
J e r r y C e p p o s
Page 10 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Robin Ceppos
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur yfact-checking what all
journalists are supposed to do?
2. Specializing
When I was the executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News I
hunted for an electrical engineer who could write or, at the very
least, a journalist who had studied electrical engineering. I never
found either but I still think that he or she could have covered
Silicon Valleys semiconductor industry better than we did with our
very bright but traditionally trained reporters. From the very
beginning, journalisms accrediting council had in mind the need for
broadly educated journalists who could cover anything, even
chips.
As a result, the council limited the number of journalism
courses that a j-major can take (which seems counter-intuitive to
academics in other, more narrow fields). Todays accrediting
standards require a minimum of 80 semester hours in courses outside
the major area of journalism and mass communications, with no fewer
than 65 semester hours . . . in the liberal arts and sciences. For
most students, that means a potpourri of interesting courses that
lead to a broad education a good thing but not a specialized
education.
However, the requirement leaves plenty of room for that
specialization a beefy minor or a second major in a specialized,
not broad, area. Writing about graduate education, Nick Lemann,
dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, recently said
that specialized courses provide the kind of intellectual grounding
that enables a journalist to delve deeper into a story, asking the
kind of questions an expert in the field might pose and evaluating
evidence. Ill bet the best schools will push, even in undergraduate
education, for more minors or double majors in unusual areas . . .
such as electrical engineering.
3. Learning to add
Our provost my boss recently asked me if journalists know how to
evaluate, say, the chance of a Category 5 storm hitting New Orleans
or the risk to the population when Ecoli is discovered in a very
small part of the food chain. I told him the truth most journalists
dont understand numbers. But I suspect the best schools will
encourage journalism students to study at least rudimentary
statistics and, depending on kids interests, maybe even basic
accounting.
If students complained, Id steer them toward one of my favorite
sites, 538.com, whose official goal is to accumulate and analyze
polling and political data in way that is
informed, accurate and attractive. What it really does is use
statistical analysis to measure all sorts of interesting subjects,
including the chances of clearing a heavy snowfall from the streets
of New York. Its a fascinating site. Stats or accounting would be
the perfect accompaniment to a good course in database
reporting.
4. Q uestioning news sources
Thanks to pioneering work at the State University of New York at
Stony Brook, the best journalism schools are teaching students how
to evaluate the news they are reading, whether theyre getting it by
phone, computer, print, television, radio or social media. To our
surprise, many of the students in our pilot news-literacy course
last semester didnt grasp the importance of evaluating the source
of news: A partisan site seemed as credible to many students as a
news site. For the spring semester, well emphasize specific
questions to ask about sources.
5. Writing long-form journalism
My newsroom friends will think that all of those ink fumes got
to me over the years when they see this idea. But the best
public-affairs reporting that I have read recently was long and
nuanced. Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, may have
had a lot of blind quotes, but it also had detail I read nowhere
else. Adam Nagourney in New York Times Magazine told me things I
didnt know about Harry Reid and I live in Nevada.
Almost everything Peter Baker writes in the Times and Times
Magazine, such as The Education of President Obama in October,
enlightens. The best journalism schools will match up the need for
better public-affairs reporting and long-form writing by using some
of these examples even if we are in the age of Twitter.
6. Working with journalism professionals
Collaborations flourish. More and more journalism schools are
working with professionals in all sorts of ways covering specific
neighborhoods, investigating subjects that havent been covered. As
Geneva Overholser, director of the journalism school at the USC
Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, writes, . . .
a great deal
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 11
Schools that tr y to do ever ything end up doing nothing that s
excel lent.
The best journal ism schools are teaching students how to
evaluate the news that they are reading, whether they re gett
ing
it by phone, computer, pr int, televis ion, radio or social
media.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur yof work is being done by
journalism schools in meeting the publics need for high-quality
information. Besides, students are learning to collaborate with
each other and with pros.
What could be wrong with that? Not much, but Id argue that
students should be paid and receive course credit, which implies
evaluation by a serious editor or faculty member. Overholser quotes
one of my colleagues at Reno, Donica Mensing, as adding a third
requirement: For this work to have value, the standards,
organization, editing and networking of new models must be
incorporated into the creation and distribution of the journalism.
We owe it to students and to the health of the discipline to push
for new skills and mindsets for the future, and avoid absorbing all
energy into reproducing work we know how to do.
7. Learning the right thing to do
At our graduation reception each spring and winter, I tell
students I have good news and bad news for them. The bad news is
that many other good journalists, in addition to our latest crop,
are out there. The good news is that few of them (at least thats my
argument) have received the mandatory ethics grounding that our
kids have received and that will distinguish them in an important
way in this unprincipled society.
Three years ago, our senior class decided that new graduates
should be offered a chance to pledge that they will practice
ethical journalism in their careers. Those who like the idea sign a
parchment ethic pledge that we display and receive a small copy for
themselves. Our daughter should put that on her resume, one happy
mother told me last year. The best journalism schools will push
ethics education.
I dont know what Tony Wagner of Harvard, author of The Global
Achievement Gap, had in mind when he wrote about the skills that
all students need. But heres how Tom Friedman paraphrased him:
There are three basic skills that students need if they want to
thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking
and problem-solving, the ability to communicate effectively, and
the ability to collaborate. To me, that sounds as if he is talking
about journalism education.
Jerry Ceppos is dean of the Donald W. Reynolds School of
Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. For 36 years, he
worked as an editor at the Miami Herald, as managing editor and
executive editor at the San Jose Mercury News and as vice president
for news Knight Ridder. He later was an adjunct professor at San
Jose State University and a fellow in media ethics at the Markkula
Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
Page 12 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
During my 34 years in journalism education, Ive seen many
changes. But I am as excited about what we do today as I was when I
took my first teaching job at Nebraska-Omaha in 1977; when I moved
to Arizona State in 1979; and when I assumed my current position at
Penn State in 1999.
After 10 years of full time in the classroom where I taught
media law, press freedom theory, in-depth reporting and editing and
24 years in administration at two major universities, I still feel
good about how we prepare our students for the changing media
landscape.
As I have noted on many occasions, we might look at faculty
composition and our curriculum differently than we did three
decades ago, but the mission of a journalism program remains the
same: to educate and prepare students for citizenship in a society
in which communication and information are major commodities that
constitute the heart of the democratic process.
At a time of profound change in structure, content and
dissemination patterns of media, the fundamental skills of
investigation, analysis and communications through written and
visual media remain.
The news business has changed at warp speed over the past decade
or so. Changes ultimately create opportunity and students continue
to see journalism as an attractive academic major and career.
We have more than 3,300 undergraduates in our College of
Communications at Penn State and with more than 700 junior-senior
majors, journalism remains our largest program. Advertising/public
relations is a close second, followed by telecommunications, media
studies and film-video.
I consistently contend and firmly believe that journalism is one
of the best undergraduate majors at universities because it helps
prepare students to work in the ever-expanding array of media
outlets, as well as to find success in multiple fields.
When students take technique classes such as news writing,
reporting, editing and convergence journalism along with conceptual
courses such as media ethics, media history and
The news business has changed at warp speed over the past decade
or so.
Preparing Students for the Changing Media LandscapeD o u g a N D
e r s o N
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
media law combined with extensive coursework deeply rooted in
the traditional liberal arts and sciences they are equipped to
gather information, exercise judgment, write and possess a broad
understanding of society.
This is one reason journalism is the seventh largest
undergraduate major, of nearly 200, on the 42,000-student
University Park campus of Penn State.
Yes, I feel optimistic about the future of journalism education
although, like the media industries we prepare our students to
enter, we face challenges.
Then again, we always have.
I noted in a speech 15 years ago: Indeed, the late 1980s and the
1990s, in many respects, have not been the best of times for
journalism-mass communication education. Mandated shotgun
reconfigurations of mass communication units and attacks from
within and outside the academy on the relevance of our field have
provided fodder for countless meetings, discussions, studies and
published articles.
I am not among the doomsday forecasters, though. Our students
are getting jobs in traditional media as well as in new,
interactive media - areas not dreamed about a few years ago.
Clearly, these are exciting times, an era filled with unique
challenges. I like our chances of succeeding.
Today, the greatest challenge facing journalism education as it
was 15 years ago is funding, particularly at public universities.
As is the case in most sectors, we must do more with less. States
are facing massive budget shortfalls and the foundations and media
outlets that, since the 1980s have contributed to our financial
well being, have
cut back. All of our revenue streams have slowed at a time when
our instructional hardware and software needs have never been
greater.
We continue, though, to hire superb faculty members many of whom
have significant journalism experience and wonderful new-media
expertise and to draw first-rate students who arrive on campus with
a thirst for knowledge, savvy technological skills and a desire to
be journalists.
We continue to be recognized and appreciated on our campuses for
our commitment to sound undergraduate education; for the role we
play in offering media literacy courses to non-majors who, more
than ever, given the multiplicity of voices in the marketplace,
need to be informed news consumers; and for preparing our students
to contribute intelligently to the discourse that powers our
democracy.
We have our hands full, but it is an exciting time to be
adjusting our curricula to respond to the needs of media
industries, the marketplace and our students all the while
remaining true to the rock-solid fundamentals upon which our
programs have been built.
Douglas Anderson is professor of journalism and dean of the
College of Communications at Penn State, the countrys largest
nationally accredited program. In 1996, The Freedom Forum named him
Journalism Administrator of the Year, the youngest person ever to
receive the award. He is author and coauthor of six books.
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 13
I l ike our chances of succeeding.
Wha
t to
ols
does
the
new
jour
nalis
t ne
ed?
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
A thorough understanding of ethics is what will separate
professional journalists from someone with a lambasting opinion and
an internet portal. As more technology becomes available to a wider
audience, journalists will capture their market and define their
distinctiveness through their integrity. Knowing how to make
ethical decisions will be the skill set that sets professional
journalists apart.
Emerging media markets and a crumbling economy have forced
journalism administrators, rightly, to re-evaluate their priorities
and re-think curriculums.
In a 2004 study, one-half of journalism programs included a
freestanding ethics course as either a required or an optional part
of the curriculum, and more than 80 percent reported teaching
ethics modules in skills or conceptual courses. Faculty in that
study said a primary learning goal for ethics courses and modules
was to foster moral reasoning skills. In other words they wanted to
teach students how to identify ethical problems and come up with
viable solutions. Both journalism administrators and faculty
described ethics as essential to the curriculum.
But that was 2004, before a host of crises hit the industry. The
actual impact on media ethics education is yet to be clear due to
rapid change, so let me make the case for continued focus in
journalism schools on ethics.
Ethics instruction must be an integral part of j-school
curriculums or we will end up with Enrons in our own profession
that will make the New York Times Jayson Blair look like a minor
blip. Without systematic and deliberate media ethics teaching,
students will end up adopting the ethical constructs of their
corporations and fail to learn how to ask important questions.
Or, they will fly as solo entrepreneurs fighting to keep their
small media businesses afloat and not even have a corporate boss to
provide ethical guidance. Things wont quite feel right but they
wont know why or what to do about it. Without systematic and
deliberate ethics education, they wont have the critical reasoning
skills as technology advances to apply ethical codes or see gaping
holes where new ethics codes are needed.
Page 14 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Knowing how to make ethical decisions will be the skill set that
sets professional journalists apart.
E t h i c s D e f i n e s t h e P r o f e s s i o n a lg i N N y
W H i t e H o u s e
More thancogs
Students must have extensive multi-platform technical skills to
compete in the ever-emerging media market. But without a solid
foundation in ethics they will become little more than automatons
operating without mind, heart or soul. Its not enough to be able to
write an inverted pyramid lead and know how post it on Twitter.
Professional journalists must know what those 140 Twitter-allowed
characters have to do with privacy, conflict of interest, truth,
fairness, promises, etc. Knowing ethics and being ethical is part
of doing the job well, regardless of whether objectivity remains
part of the mainstream media business model.
Making sense of the complexities
The New York Times ethics code has more than 10,000 words, a
treatise far too complex to ask a newbie to operationalize. But
nowhere in all those words are there instructions on how, when or
whether to quote directly from a Facebook status update. (Chances
are pretty good your mother didnt teach you that either.)
Ethics instruction involves learning how to ask questions from
multiple viewpoints: What are the standards that might be in play
here? Who might get hurt? Is this really the only way to achieve
some greater good? Is my quest for truth trampling on other things
I value? Media ethics classes can help students know what questions
to ask.
Good teaching needed
Clifford Christians and Edmund Lambeth, in 2004 and in their
three previous studies of media ethics instruction, called for
better training of ethics professors. As the newly laid-off
veterans of the media industry enter the classroom, they need to
bring with them more than war stories. They need a solid foundation
of ethical theory to give their students an arsenal of tools for
problem solving. And, professors need some understanding of the
advances in brain research that show how and why the human race
tends to make ethical decisions in certain ways.
Just as reporting professors need to know how to best help
students learn to conduct an interview, media ethics professors
also need to know to how to best train their students to do the
good in addition to knowing the good.
Deliberate teaching needed
As curriculums focus on new skill sets, the temptation will be
great to just say media ethics will be folded into other courses.
Media ethics should be taught across the curriculum and in
conjunction with law, history and media literacy.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 15
Yet the free-standing course remains the best way to present
media ethics skills with necessary concentration lest it become
after-thought or add-on. Ultimately, the ethos of news
organizations and those who produce the news will depend on their
ability to show integrity in how information is presented.
Perception of ethics then holds as much weight on the bottom
line as speed of delivery and ease of access. Ultimately, ethics
courses offer the best financial hope for
the future of the journalism because it is by ethics that
journalists will separate themselves from everything else clamoring
for public attention.
Ginny Whitehouse, Ph.D., is an associate professor of
Com-munication Studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash.
She is co-director of the AEJMC Media Ethics Divisions annual
Teaching Media Ethics workshop, and is former chair of the AEJMC
Media Ethics Division and the SPJ National Journalism Education
Committee. She teaches and researches in the areas of media ethics,
social media and intercultural communication.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Almost by definition, journalists are forward-looking people,
always on the search for whats new. One of the most damning
criticisms in the trade is that an article is yesterdays news, and
yesterdays news, as most journalistic graybeards will tell you, is
only fit to line the bottom of a birdcage or wrap fish.
Consequently, the fact that the history of journalism currently
doesnt play a prominent role in journalism education, and probably
never has, should come as no surprise. History, by definition,
requires looking backward rather than looking forward and frankly,
the study of history cuts against the ethos of journalism.
But the mismatch in temperament is only one of the reasons
journalism history has played such a small part in journalism
education. From its inception, journalism education has been a
subset of the larger trend toward professional education coming
into its own at roughly the same time universities began to offer
curricula in business, teaching, agriculture and other professions
and mechanical arts.
Given those roots, the focus has been primarily on the
acquisition of skills professional journalists need to succeed and
it has been hard to make the case that knowing the history of
journalism will help aspiring reporters write better leads or ask
more penetrating questions. Not a few journalism educators have
expressed downright hostility to the idea that students should
waste precious time studying anything about the history or social
role of journalism itself. Their mantra has been to teach students
to report and write professionally and have them study other
academic subjects so they have something to write about.
Journalism historians have had trouble offering compelling
counter-arguments. The idea that we stand on the shoulders of
giants or those who dont know history are bound to repeat it or any
other clich in the defense of learning history simply seem
unconvincing to students.
And, despite journalism educator James Careys plea nearly 40
years ago to broaden the scope and depth of journalism history,
much of the scholarship in the area is just not engrossing. Many
professors report getting students interested in journalism history
is challenging.
Finally, as with so many other aspects of journalism, the
emergence of the Internet and its associated applications has
perhaps dealt a coup dgrace to teaching journalism history in the
academy. To be current, journalism programs have to address
convergence, backpack journalism, blogging, Twitter and so on. With
so much new to teach, something old has to be eliminated. As the
American Journalism Historians Association has documented, the old
is often
journalism history. That is the wrong direction to go.
The tsunami of the new flooding journalism is precisely the
reason why the role of journalism history in the curriculum must be
enhanced. The established forms and institutions of journalism are
being swept away. The days of a crusty ex-professional instructing
students to read the New York Times and do it like that or see how
it is done on the CBS Evening News are over. You may have noticed
that the readership and viewership of the mainstream media are
eroding rapidly.
With the forms and institutions that defined journalism for the
last 50 years crumbling, what is left? The answer is that the
culture of journalism is what remains the way journalists view the
world and understand their role in it. And the culture of
journalism cannot be understood indeed it makes no sense without
knowledge of the history of journalism. In some way, a common
thread connects the colonial newspapers published prior to the
Revolutionary War to the Huffington Post. The form is different,
the subject matter is different, the delivery vehicle is very
different and the business model is different. But they are
linked.
Many in journalism think that how the craft has been
traditionally practiced is the only way to do things. They are
factually wrong. In just one example, throughout much of the 19th
century, editors felt their primary role in American politics was
to lead public opinion, not just objectively report on the back and
forth between the parties.
Understanding the history of journalism leads to an
understanding of the changing nature of society over time and the
role news plays in its organization. Understanding history of
journalism leads to an understanding of how new media such as
newspapers (newspapers were new once), television and now the
Internet, change what is reported by whom to whom and with what
effect.
Karl Marx argued that the working class allowed itself to be
exploited because it did not have world-consciousness, that is it
didnt truly understand its role in economic production. Without
knowledge of the history of journalism, journalists and journalism
students lack the professional consciousness and context they need
to participate fully
Page 16 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Yesterdays news, as most journalistic graybeards will tell you,
is only fit to line the bottom
of a birdcage (or wrap fish.)
I n D e f e n s e o f t h e S t u d y o f J o u r n a l i s m H
i s t o r ye l l i o t k i N g
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur yin the debates and
experiments that will shape and define journalism in the decades to
come.
There is a maxim that says if you dont know where you are going,
any road will get you there. But as any video game player knows,
where you can go depends, at
least in part, on where you came from. A knowledge of the
history of journalism is the starting point for the creation of
journalisms future.
Elliot King is professor and assistant chair of the Department
of Communication at Loyola University Maryland. He is the author of
six books including Free for All: The Internets Transformation of
Journalism (Northwestern University Press: 2010) and The Online
Journalist (with Randy Reddick) (HBJ; 1995, 1997, 2000). He is the
immediate past head of the History Division of the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and served as the
conference chair of the Joint Journalism Historians Conference from
2001 to 2010.
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 17
Many in journalism think that how the craft has been
traditionally practiced is the only way to do things.
They are factually wrong.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Page 18 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 19
Change is nothing new to media law scholars. In fact, many of us
were drawn to the study of law because it can, and often does,
change. The normative tradition of legal scholarship is based
entirely on the notion that legal doctrine can be improved through
the reasoned critique of judicial reasoning.
So it comes as little surprise that the field of media law, like
the broader media world, is undergoing transformative change,
raising new legal questions and reframing old ones. Topics of
interest to media law scholars are in constant flux, with the
time-honored fields of inquiry such as libel, privacy and
newsgathering law developing new wrinkles.
Anonymity is a fine example. Long protected by the First
Amendment and with roots stretching back to the American
Revolution, its an article of faith. Yet the rise of online comment
boards and the absolute protection from ISP liability ushered in by
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act have many serious
First Amendment scholars re-examining their once-axiomatic defense
of the right to anonymous speech. The medium, it seems, is altering
the message.
A new book from Harvard Press on the subject, The Offensive
Internet, edited by Saul Levmore, the William B. Graham Professor
of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, and Martha C.
Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and
Ethics at the University of Chicago, offers a provocative look at
online speech.
What is remarkable about this volume is that a group of free
speech stalwarts are tackling free speech issues in a critical way,
and often concluding that, as privacy expert Daniel J. Solove, John
Marshall Harlan Research Professor of Law at the George Washington
University Law School says in a riveting essay, that the law is
hampered because it overprotects free speech.
The Internet poses new problems, and offers new veins of
research. Indeed, the issue of net neutrality alone ushers in a
host of meta-questions for media law scholars. Tim Wu of Columbia
Law School raises many of these systemic First Amendment issues in
The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of
Information Empires, a book that has me rethinking much of what
I do and how I teach it.
Wu takes apart the infrastructure of American telecommunication
historically and legally, raising all sorts of issues ripe for
further study, not the least of which is whether or not the First
Amendment (gasp!) is the future determinant of free expression.
In the United States, Wu asserts, it is the industrial structure
that determines the limits of free speech. The First Amendment
limits Congress, he points out, not the titans controlling the
channels in which we speak and receive information. And it is
control of that channel that will shape the future of online
communication. Wu the creator of the term net neutrality writes
that each major new medium unleashes optimism and innovation, only
to consolidate into an empire that seeks to monopolize the master
switch, as Fred Friendly at CBS once called it.
Wu demonstrates this, over and over again, by using history as
his guide. The telegraph monopoly was undone by the telephone.
Broadcast oligarchs who sought dominance of the public airwaves
replaced the tinkerers of early radio. These men, in turn,
succeeded in squelching the upstart television for 20 years. Then
the television execs put their energies into strangling the cable
innovators in their cribs.
On and on it goes, Wu writes, in an anecdote-rich book that
should be on every media scholars reading list this year.
Its just this sort of historical-legal work that should inform
the media law scholarship of tomorrow. Media law is more critical
to the undergraduate journalism experience than ever before, but
its curriculum must be expanded even further, examining issues of
ownership, media diversity and consolidation along with traditional
First Amendment doctrine.
Charles N Davis is an Associate Professor at the Missouri School
of Journalism. He teaches graduate seminars in media law, as well
as the Schools introductory survey course, Principles of American
Journalism.
O ve r p r o t e c t i n g F r e e S p e e c hC H a r l e s D a
v i s
In the know . . . in the now. gatewayjr.org
-
I fell in love with journalism when I was 21. I stumbled onto
the paper at my university after taking my first news-writing
course as an elective. The smell of the ink and cigarette smoke,
the clack of typewriters and a few keyboards (just arriving), along
with the serious, likeable and intelligent students that worked
there immediately grabbed me. I had only recently discovered I
could be a decent writer, and I had always been interested in
history and current events. Maybe most importantly, I had a chip on
my shoulder and a problem with authority.
Many of these people toiling were misfits and mutants, fiercely
dedicated to an ideal. That whole mystique of the press as an
institution struck something deep in a young person looking for a
calling. I loved the tradition of its people standing up and
telling truth to power after being clever enough to ferret it out.
I wanted to be one of them.
So, I went to journalism school and became a reporter. I worked
as a journalist for 15 years. I kept striving to be one of those
clever, plucky reporters I had admired in college. I risked my life
a few times, going to very bad places and talking to people who had
guns. I was threatened a few times and every mayor hated me. I
learned public documents, the art of the interview and how to tell
a good story in an economical way. I won awards and at some point
along the way I realized I was the real thing a newspaper
reporter.
I also realized it was time to get out. I realized my news
judgment, as well as everyone in the news business, is biased. I
also witnessed a distinct tilt to the left among many of my
colleagues. I remained firmly rooted in my right-leaning views,
which I kept to myself while making every effort to remain
objective as a newsman.
And then the business hit hard times. The business end began
intruding regularly into our news calculations. My company bought
and sold papers. One day I woke up and found theyd sold mine. The
business of news is not the same thing as being a news reporter.
They dont teach you that in journalism school, you learn that on
your own.
I loved my journalism education and on most days, I wouldnt
trade it for anything. But would I send one of my children to a
journalism school now?
I dont think so, at least if they want to be a journalist. A
political science degree would do a much better job of enriching
their knowledge of politics, even if those in political science
also tend to lean too far to the left. A degree in business or in
engineering would certainly give my children a better chance of
securing a job in journalism because it would give them a specialty
that they could cover as a journalist.
And how will a journalism school address the main issue facing
journalists today that of lost credibility? Journalism may be
suffering financially, but it suffers far more from a growing lack
of credibility and intellectual honesty. The big institutions, can
no longer get away with ignoring the issues of bias, context and
inaccuracy in their news pages.
Pew research indicates that over the years there has been a
growing disconnect between the public and the extent to which it
believes what the media reports. The disconnect is even greater
when split among political parties. Journalism is changing to a
more advocacy-based model. New forms of media follow this new
outline. It seems that much of the public, especially those who
lean to the right politically, have decided to cash the new medias
credibility checks, after having so many of the old medias
bounce.
What can journalism schools do to address the perception that
they teach journalists a liberal bias? How many journalism schools
have at least one professor who hammers home the theories of Karl
Marx in his or her classes? How many journalism professors preach
objectivity out of one side of their mouth and then openly campaign
for liberal politicians, often professing their personal opinions
in class? How many journalism professors look at the financial
success and rising ratings of conservative media and dismiss it out
of hand as biased and not real journalism?
Point-of-view and advocacy journalism may not completely be the
future, but it will most definitely be a part of the new media
landscape. And until journalism schools take a deep look at
themselves and examine how they prepare their students for this
landscape, until they teach that a news story, no matter how
objective, is just one persons understanding of how the news is
presented, they will continue to send out students unprepared for
the media landscape they face.
Journalism schools should teach students how to gather
information, how to think critically, how to conduct an
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Page 20 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
The business end began intruding regularly into our news
calculations.
How will a journalism school address the main issue facing
journalists today that of lost credibility?
Why J-Schools Arent Doing the Job Theyre Supposed to DoWa l l y
s p a r k s
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 21
interview and how to do the research necessary to tell a good
story. They need to teach their students how to recognize their
biases and live with them. Stories need to be researched, balanced
and fair. Leave the bias out of it.
Right now, I dont think enough journalism schools are trying to
do that. And until they do, I dont think I could tell
my child to go to journalism school, no matter how much I
enjoyed my experience.
Wally Sparks is the pseudonym of a professional journalist who
worked over 15 years in the news business as a reporter and editor.
Sparks currently has a public relations connection to a
University.
For the foreseeable future, college newspapers will continue to
play the two roles they have played since their start: chronicling
life on campus while providing a training ground for aspiring
journalists.
If that seems like old news, think again. Today, the college
newspaper must accomplish those tasks while working with
undergraduate students who often have not been raised to be
newspaper readers, much less reporters.
The college newspaper now also plays a third role: It must
nurture a passion for news in its staff members.
Though there are exceptions to the generalizations I am about to
make, for many students today, following the news means following
their sports team or the latest celebrity scandal or, the latest
sports-celebrity scandal. Journalism schools
and college newspapers must focus on teaching students to view
the world as reporters and photographers and provide them with
the
skills and knowledge they need to chronicle that world, but the
college newspaper has the special task of training student
journalists to make their coverage relevant under
real-world conditions.
If we hope to produce reporters and photographers who will
sustain journalism, we must teach them to produce
newspapers that people want to read. We also need
to teach our readers that newspapers still have a vital role to
play in American society. If the college newspaper does its job
well, it can train students to become news consumers who will turn
to newspapers throughout their lives.
How do we teach students to make coverage relevant? Student
journalists must be taught to recognize all the possible ways to
cover stories that will have meaning for their readers. Newspaper
advisers must have a constant, boundless enthusiasm for the
possibilities of news coverage and must pass that enthusiasm on to
their students, many of whom cannot see those possibilities when a
story idea is broached. Students covering their first budget,
speech or meeting story are often overwhelmed just by the
reporting.
The adviser (aided in large part, it is hoped, by the journalism
faculty) must teach student journalists to show their readers how
they will be affected by the story.
College Newspapers in the 21st Century: Nurturing a Passion for
News is the Most Important Job Facing College Newspapers
l o l a b u r N H a m
The Problem with Teaching Current Events to J-School
Students.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Page 22 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
Advisers must teach students to think beyond the surface, to ask
questions that will lead to the kinds of stories that will pull
readers in and help them understand whats what. Advisers must teach
students to be thinkers and diggers, not just stenographers. We
have to ground our student journalists in the basics of
newsgathering and story-telling and then give them the opportunity
to practice, until those basics become second nature. Through that
practice, reporting improves, organization improves and
storytelling improves.
The college newspaper has lately been expanding its definition
of the basics to include online reporting. Good reporting is good
reporting whatever the medium, but good online reporting requires
additional technical skills as well as the ability to think of
alternative ways to tell a story. Some students today resist
learning online skills.
Another large part of the advisers job is to help students
recognize the importance of those skills, both to expand the
newspapers coverage and to give students additional qualifications
for their first jobs after graduation.
For us, online-only is not an option, nor will it be until our
online news site produces income. College newspapers that want to
break news online and follow it with print the next day also have
to accommodate students class schedules. When students are working
for little or no pay, how demanding can the newspapers publication
schedule be?
College newspapers also face the question of whether or when to
remove content from the Web site. Such requests come from former
students who were the subjects of arrest stories but also from
former staffers who want to have poorly written articles removed.
Our policy is not to remove online content because we are the paper
of record for our university. If we would not remove a
less-than-flattering story about a former student who was not
connected to the newspaper staff, should we consider removing
less-than-flattering examples of a former staffers work?
These are only some of the issues unique to the online age that
are facing the college newspaper. But just as 25, 50 or 100 years
ago, the college newspaper must set the standard for reporting for
the public good. In teaching our students to see journalism as a
public service, we help to ensure that good journalism will have
both practitioners and an audience throughout the 21st century.
Lola Burnham is an assistant professor of journalism and the
editorial adviser to the Daily Eastern News at Eastern Illinois
University.
The college newspaper must . . . [work] with undergraduate
students who often have not been raised to be newspaper readers
For many students today, following the news means following
their sports team or the latest celebrity scandal or . . . the
latest sports celebrity scandal.
The college newspaper must set the standard for reporting for
the public good.
What a great gif t ! Give a subscr iption, get a discount.
gatewayjr.org
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 23
A Former Students Perspective: J-Schools Cant Replicate Covering
a Beat
a N D r e W s m i t H
Almost 25 years ago, when I emerged from the S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communication at Syracuse University with a shiny
new journalism degree, there was a debate in the business about
whether a reporter needed such an education to succeed. Some things
never change.My first job was at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
After a couple of stops in California and Syracuse again, Ive been
at Newsday on Long Island for the past 18 years. In addition to
many co-workers educated at various journalism schools, Ive also
worked with math majors, English majors, law school grads and a few
with no college education at all. Its been clear to me that you can
be a terrific reporter or editor without a journalism
education.
That said, I wouldnt trade my education at all.
I went to a journalism school because even before I got into
high school, I knew I wanted to be a reporter - and nothing else. I
was going to do anything I could do to make that happen at a high
level as quickly as possible. I didnt consider applying to any
university without a respected journalism school.
Like those without journalism educations, many of the most
important things Ive learned I picked up on the job. There is no
substitute for just doing it. However, a good journalism school
makes you do actual journalism. In my sophomore year, I covered a
presidential primary and got my work published. By the end of my
junior year, I was working more than 20 hours a week at the
Post-Standard in Syracuse. That grew out of an internship I got
through the Newhouse school. Without the experience and clips from
that part-time job, there is no way I would have started my career
at the Times-Picayune.
Besides practicing journalism, the main advantage students have
is they learn why theyre making the choices they make and examine
what they do before, during and after they do it. They routinely
get the kind of guidance they might get from an excellent editor,
if she or he had time on a particular day to talk about the craft.
You learn the trade faster in a j-school.
When I walked into the newsroom in New Orleans, I knew how to
write a lead. I knew how to mine the clips and fully report a
story. I knew how to make use of public records. I knew how to get
people to talk to me. I knew how to observe details and use them. I
knew how to function on deadline. Sure, I could have learned all
those things on the job, and many people do. But I didnt have to. I
was already a reporter.
However, I didnt learn everything. Theres no way for a
journalism school to replicate covering a beat day in and day out.
Its difficult to teach how to develop sources. Those were things I
had to figure out on my own.
J-school isnt for everyone. My belief in the value of journalism
school is probably best expressed by the fact that I teach at the
one at Stony Brook University. I see there that students who are
focused on being journalists get value from such an education and
get a head start in the business, just as I did in the 1980s. But I
also see that those who drift into the journalism school, unsure of
what they want, get washed out quickly.
Those students would be even more unlikely to see the inside of
a newsroom with a degree in anything else.
Just as you go to engineering school if you know you want to be
an engineer and just as you go to medical school if you know you
want to be a doctor, you go to journalism school if you know you
want to be a reporter. If youre not sure, a liberal arts education
is perfect. Journalism school is for journalists.
Since graduating from Syracuse Universitys S.I. Newhouse School
of Public Communication in 1986, Andrew Smith has worked at several
newspapers, including Newsday, for the last 18 years. He was part
of the staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting on
the crash of TWA Flight 800, and he won a White House
Correspondents Association prize for national reporting for his
work on a series about nuclear waste. He also lectures at Stony
Brook Universitys School of Journalism.
I could have learned all those things on the job, and many
people do. But I didnt have to. I was already a reporter.
Even before I got into high school, I knew I wanted to be a
reporter, and nothing else.
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Page 24 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
I first came to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis
because of its reputation for having a good journalism school and a
good swimming team. The people were friendly and it was located
relatively close to home. I had been active in high-school
journalism, and I knew without a doubt that I wanted to study
journalism in college.
The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were themselves a media
draw. Few other cities in the country could boast of two major
daily newspapers, a large alternative publishing community that
included magazines such as the Utne Reader, the literary influence
of Garrison Keillor and a plethora of public radio stations that
could raise thousands of dollars in 15 minutes of a pledge
drive.
This rich media market also had another benefit: Many of my
instructors at the University of Minnesota were current or former
journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winners.
Because of the size of the university, the journalism program
was able to offer specializations such as broadcast or written
media, advertising or mass communications.
Courses included news-writing, magazine publishing, page
lay-out, photo-editing, and classes that required us to read some
of the great literary journalists of the past and present. Most
importantly, there was a heavy emphasis on the quality of writing,
a skill that is useful no matter the profession in which we
ultimately ended up.
A news-writing course that included twice-weekly quizzes on the
A.P. Style Book and Libel Manuel certainly paid off when I passed
the A.P. test only three months after graduation. I had not heard
about wire services in journalism school, but was instead
introduced to the A.P. because the local bureau shared an office
with my hometown newspaper (where I worked at the time), and I was
invited by the bureau chief to take the test.
Working for the A.P. was a challenge and a great deal of fun.
Because of the wider scope of its coverage, I was able to cover
everything from the South Dakota Legislature and
the landing of Air Force One during a presidential visit to the
heart-breaking stories of drought-ravaged communities, which had
been overlooked by government officials.
Eventually, I decided to leave journalism and have since pursued
a Ph.D. in medieval archaeology at the University of Glasgow in
Scotland.
The change of discipline did not make my journalism skills any
less relevant. Proper writing skills made writing my dissertation
much faster for me and less painful for my supervisor, as she had
to spend much less time editing my grammar and could concentrate on
the content.
In addition, the research skills gained through years of working
in journalism made finding sources and hunting down information
much easier than for those with less experience. I have not
abandoned journalism all together but plan to continue in some form
in the future, perhaps by writing about archaeology or doing other
freelance work. Writing skills are like riding a bike they may need
to be polished after a period of disuse, but the right training
guarantees that these skills will stay with you forever.
Individuals serious about pursuing a career in journalism should
study at a large university with a journalism program that will
allow them to specialize in a particular interest area and to
intern with a well-respected media outlet.
The generic English or mass communication degrees offered at
smaller colleges, which may offer only one news-writing course
among a variety of media classes, do not always give students the
strict instruction in writing and production they will need if they
hope to succeed in larger media markets.
Journalism can be incredibly fun and allow a person to see a
side of society normally hidden from everyday life. For many it
becomes a passion as much as a profession, and that is something no
university can teach.
Elizabeth Pierce is a 2001 graduate of the University of
Minnesota and worked for several years as a journalist. She is
currently finishing her Ph.D. in medieval archaeology at the
University of Glasgow in Scotland.
A Former Students Perspective: From J-School to Archeology,
Ph.D.
e l i z a b e t H p i e r C e
Writing skills are like riding a bike they may need to be
polished after
a period of disuse, but the right training guarantees that these
skills
will stay with you forever.
Proper writing skills made writing my dissertation much faster
for me and less painful for my supervisor
-
My interest in journalism started when I was around 8 years old
and I read a childrens story about muckraker Nellie Blys undercover
reporting from Bellevue Mental Hospital. I was amazed that someone
could effect such important changes by investigating an issue and
writing about it. As the years went on, I was convinced being a
journalist was one of the best jobs on the planet. In 2002 I began
college at California State University, Long Beach, and, to no ones
surprise, majored in journalism. Upon graduation, I was accepted as
a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Copy Editing Intern, and completed my
internship at The Fresno Bee. I went on to be a copy editor and
city editor for the Los Angeles Times Community News, a subsidiary
of the Los Angeles Times. In 2009, I served as a volunteer English
teacher in Peru.
I now work as an editor/writer for a long-term health study and
sonn will return to school to study public health, with a special
interest in the role media have in fostering positive behavioral
health changes in society.
While attending j-school at CSU Long Beach, I received an
excellent education in the foundations of what makes ethical,
intriguing and useful journalism. A large focus was placed on a
journalists responsibility to be accurate, responsible and unbiased
- to not just follow stories, but to be a news leader by
investigating overlooked angles. We were encouraged to think
critically about our coverage and ensure it was fair and legal.
The fact that the school had three on-campus student
publications meant there were several venues for students to
practice skills learned in the classroom. Undoubtedly, the most
valuable part of j-school was being heavily involved in these
publications. This is where I learned the inner workings of a
newspaper/magazine, including how to generate interesting stories,
how to collaborate with an array of clashing personalities, and
most importantly, how to meet deadline.
If there is any area of j-school I might have benefited from
that was not present, it would be evaluating recent historical data
on attempts to gain readership. As newsrooms struggle to entice
readers of all ages, more of an emphasis should
be placed across the board (in and out of j-school) on the
question, Is this the best use of our time and resources? Just
because the New York Times is doing something edgy does not mean
that (1) it is actually catching on, and (2) it is right for your
readership. Tactics for distinguishing
predicted value for readers should be a key component of every
j-schools curriculum.
To those considering j-school, I would offer up three bits of
advice. First, gain as full of an understanding of the industry
that they can
obtain to ensure journalism aligns with their skills and areas
of interest. I met many students who said they got into journalism
because they loved to write. However, they were not passionate
about going after stories. A love of the written word is important,
but this will not carry someone through a career in journalism.
Students need to make sure they have enthusiasm for informing
others.
I also advise those considering j-school to double major.
Students should develop expertise in an area outside of journalism.
This gives students an edge when they are reporting (especially if
reporting on science and technology).
Finally, once students have enrolled, I advise them to be open
to every job at the student newspaper. Do features, hard news,
write opinions, design a front page spread, copy edit, take photos
and ask for more work. Not only will
this exploration help you decide which areas you excel in, but
it will give you an appreciation and understanding of the roles of
each department of a publication. As someone who has a passion for
educating the public, I am
very happy I was able to attend a j-school. I learned what
constitutes worthwhile journalism, and just as I suspected as a
child, the power it has for lifting society. I plan to take these
lessons with me in future roles, and I am grateful for the
opportunities my j-school education has given me thus far.
Jennifer Frehn lives in Southern California. She is currently a
project editor for the Adventist Health Study-2, a long-term study
funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute exploring the links
between lifestyle, diet and disease.
I received an excellent education in the foundations of what
makes ethical, intriguing and useful journalism.
I learned what constitutes worthwhile journalism
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 25
J e N N i F e r F r e H N
A Former Students Perspective: Study at a Large University
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Page 26 Gateway Journal ism Review Spring 2011
I chose to enter the journalism school for my bachelors degree
at Southern Illinois University Carbondale because it felt like my
element. I was hired at the student-run newspaper, the Daily
Egyptian, before I had even stepped foot on campus more than a
couple times. Now, as a senior nearing graduation, Ive done enough
time in the news writing world to know that yes, I am cut out for
it, but it just might not be in my heart to love doing it.
I realized this new, exciting world I had jumped into
interviewing new people every day, communicating with advertisers,
meeting deadlines, and mastering the plethora of multitasking that
encompasses it I wanted to stay. That is, at least for a while.
At the Daily Egyptian, I began writing at least three stories a
week; all as a full-time student. I still loved it. I loved the
journalism classes even more. Everyone involved in the journalism
school and the newspaper had that never back down passion, and we
all fed and still feed from that. I have never walked out of a
journalism class feeling uninspired. I have never turned my ears
off when a journalism professor or fellow journalist speaks.
However, I burned out (as did my grades) and I became too
frustrated my second semester to want to work for the campus
newspaper the next year. The one thing I learned specifically about
news writing is that the news always needs a journalist and a
journalist can never turn it down. I wasnt too sure I wanted it to
be that way. It was a its not me, its you break-up situation.
I doubted I would be able to continue battling and quelling this
never-ceasing, magnificent monster that is the news, at least while
attending college. Someone suggested changing my major. Thus begins
that classic mid-college crisis where the student asks him or
herself, What the hell am I doing here?
I howled back, Journalism! This year is when I realized I made
the right decision in not changing my major to what? English?
Art?
I have learned so many things in my journalism education that I
would not have learned in any other major. I was never able to
communicate with such ease, write quality work under pressure or
feel so accomplished every day. The greatest thing I learned is
that all of my abilities are vital for any professional career. Im
looking at graduate programs in mass communications, and
internships and careers in public relations, where I find myself on
the backwards end of the journalism spectrum. Still, I will proudly
carry the title of Journalist after earning my bachelors degree
even if I never find myself working for a newspaper.
J-Schools Open Other Doorse r i N H o l C o m b
-
J-School Educ ation in the 21st Centur y
Spring 2011 Gateway Journal ism Review Page 27
When Southern Illinois University became the host of the St.
Louis Journalism Review, now the Gateway Journalism Review, we had
a few goals in mind.
The first was to expand the coverage area of the original St.
Louis Journalism Review. That led to the change in name. The most
important thing we wanted to do was add a Web site that we felt
would give us the opportunity to expand our coverage. Without the
Web site, the Gateway Journalism Review wont survive.
Our first attempt at a new Web site didnt work. We just didnt
like it. So we talked with Aaron Veenstra, an assistant professor
at SIUC, and ask