Just what are they teaching future journalists?
Friday, December 26, 2008
One of the biggest complaints about modern journalism schools is that they aren't equipping the next wave of journalists with the skills they need to compete in today's newsrooms. So what are they teaching students? The online course descriptions for several J-schools were run through Wordle. Here are the results:
More after the jump
UPDATE:
Here are a few more word cloud analyses from around the blogosphere:
Reynolds School of Journalism
created by Jessica Estepa
Boston University's JO540 Multimedia Journalism class
created by Steve Garfield
Medill Graduate School of Journalism
The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
More after the jump
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Asian College of Journalism
UNC Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communications
UPDATE:
Here are a few more word cloud analyses from around the blogosphere:
Reynolds School of Journalism
created by Jessica Estepa
Boston University's JO540 Multimedia Journalism class
created by Steve Garfield
Labels: news on the news
9 Comments
David Brake Says:
Seems to me Vadim you are reading what you want to read into these. It looks to me as if the central thrust of these j-schools is on issues and over-arching techniques (eg "reporting" or "writing") that are universally applicable - as indeed they should be doing.
Also, does anyone know how many openings there are in online journalism compared with "conventional" journalism? The latter may be in trouble but the former is as well and starts from a smaller base.
Also, does anyone know how many openings there are in online journalism compared with "conventional" journalism? The latter may be in trouble but the former is as well and starts from a smaller base.
NorCal Cazadora Says:
Couple points:
One, the catalog description of courses doesn't necessarily reflect what's happening in the classroom. For example, here are the course descriptions for the two main courses I teach at Cal State Sacramento:
JOUR 197A. Journalism Laboratory. Working as a staff member of the State Hornet Newspaper as a writer, photographer, graphic
designer or advertising salesperson. Note: Journalism majors are required to take either JOUR 197A, JOUR 197B, or JOUR 195.
Prerequisite: JOUR 30. Units: 3.0.
JOUR 197B. Journalism Laboratory. Working as an editor or
manager of the State Hornet. Responsibilities may include copy
editing, layout and design and/or staff management. Note: Journalism
majors are required to take either JOUR 197A, JOUR 197B or JOUR 195. Prerequisite: JOUR 30 and instructor permission. Units: 3.0.
Can you tell from those course descriptions that the web is so important to us that we have a second managing editor for online? That we have two video/multimedia editors? That three out of four sections have separate print and online editors? That every student in class is required to produce at least one multimedia piece each semester, and that many produce far more? That we won an ACP Online Pacemaker this year? Nope. Not even a hint of that in the course descriptions.
Nor can you see that we have a Digital Media minor that probably two-thirds of our Journalism majors are taking.
You might wonder why we don't just change the course descriptions - it's so simple, right? Not really. Journalism can move on a dime, but academia moves slowly, and changing course descriptions is an ordeal.
Second point, and this is very important: I believe - as do industry leaders I've met with - that emphasizing the fundamentals of journalism is still the most important thing. Knowing how to work an M-Audio, or a Flip video, or Final Cut Pro, means nothing if you don't have the basic journalism skills down. Same situation as 20 years ago: Knowing how to work a word processor didn't mean you knew how to report or write. The primary difference now is that multimedia requires a broader array of storytelling skills (a 2-minute video is structured differently than a 500-word story). But still, reporting skills and ethical standards are at the root of everything.
I actually agree that J schools probably aren't teaching enough online skills yet, and that's probably a reflection of a faculty that came largely from the typewriter (Boomer) generation. But we're teaching more than you'd think based on course descriptions. At least at my university.
One, the catalog description of courses doesn't necessarily reflect what's happening in the classroom. For example, here are the course descriptions for the two main courses I teach at Cal State Sacramento:
JOUR 197A. Journalism Laboratory. Working as a staff member of the State Hornet Newspaper as a writer, photographer, graphic
designer or advertising salesperson. Note: Journalism majors are required to take either JOUR 197A, JOUR 197B, or JOUR 195.
Prerequisite: JOUR 30. Units: 3.0.
JOUR 197B. Journalism Laboratory. Working as an editor or
manager of the State Hornet. Responsibilities may include copy
editing, layout and design and/or staff management. Note: Journalism
majors are required to take either JOUR 197A, JOUR 197B or JOUR 195. Prerequisite: JOUR 30 and instructor permission. Units: 3.0.
Can you tell from those course descriptions that the web is so important to us that we have a second managing editor for online? That we have two video/multimedia editors? That three out of four sections have separate print and online editors? That every student in class is required to produce at least one multimedia piece each semester, and that many produce far more? That we won an ACP Online Pacemaker this year? Nope. Not even a hint of that in the course descriptions.
Nor can you see that we have a Digital Media minor that probably two-thirds of our Journalism majors are taking.
You might wonder why we don't just change the course descriptions - it's so simple, right? Not really. Journalism can move on a dime, but academia moves slowly, and changing course descriptions is an ordeal.
Second point, and this is very important: I believe - as do industry leaders I've met with - that emphasizing the fundamentals of journalism is still the most important thing. Knowing how to work an M-Audio, or a Flip video, or Final Cut Pro, means nothing if you don't have the basic journalism skills down. Same situation as 20 years ago: Knowing how to work a word processor didn't mean you knew how to report or write. The primary difference now is that multimedia requires a broader array of storytelling skills (a 2-minute video is structured differently than a 500-word story). But still, reporting skills and ethical standards are at the root of everything.
I actually agree that J schools probably aren't teaching enough online skills yet, and that's probably a reflection of a faculty that came largely from the typewriter (Boomer) generation. But we're teaching more than you'd think based on course descriptions. At least at my university.
ksablan Says:
I don't see any (large-type) occurrence of terms related to searching, blogging, aggregating/curating, social networking or linking. All topics that I think journalists need to understand to cover most beats properly nowadays.
NorCal Cazadora Says:
Would that be Kevin from the OC Register? I agree with you. But here are the challenges:
One, how are we going to get the people who have those skills and are still hanging on in the business to take the massive pay cuts required to go into teaching? I lost $37k/year when I left the Register in 2006. Good thing I love teaching. This is one of the issues we face in academia: A lot of people being pushed out of the business right now are the ones who don't have these skills - there are plenty of luddites in the job market. Luring the remainder who do have these skills is a bit tougher. The benefits in public higher education are ridiculously good (thank you, taxpayers), but that initial paycut is extremely painful.
Two, you'd be astonished how much time it takes just to hammer the fundamentals into most students' heads. I know I was - I'd forgotten how little I knew when I was their age. At our campus newspaper, getting them to reach out and try things beyond the very basics can be like pulling teeth. Good lord, they have FREE full access to Lexis-Nexis, and few of them know about it or use it (and have no idea that it won't be a given should they be lucky enough to get jobs).
CNPA has had some industry-academia summits to discuss the future of journalism education (the first was held at the Register). If they have more in the future, would you be interested in participating?
-Holly Heyser (I figure my blog name wouldn't ring a bell with you)
One, how are we going to get the people who have those skills and are still hanging on in the business to take the massive pay cuts required to go into teaching? I lost $37k/year when I left the Register in 2006. Good thing I love teaching. This is one of the issues we face in academia: A lot of people being pushed out of the business right now are the ones who don't have these skills - there are plenty of luddites in the job market. Luring the remainder who do have these skills is a bit tougher. The benefits in public higher education are ridiculously good (thank you, taxpayers), but that initial paycut is extremely painful.
Two, you'd be astonished how much time it takes just to hammer the fundamentals into most students' heads. I know I was - I'd forgotten how little I knew when I was their age. At our campus newspaper, getting them to reach out and try things beyond the very basics can be like pulling teeth. Good lord, they have FREE full access to Lexis-Nexis, and few of them know about it or use it (and have no idea that it won't be a given should they be lucky enough to get jobs).
CNPA has had some industry-academia summits to discuss the future of journalism education (the first was held at the Register). If they have more in the future, would you be interested in participating?
-Holly Heyser (I figure my blog name wouldn't ring a bell with you)
Says:
Interesting post, though I'm curious how undergrad programs stack up against master's programs.
Ten years removed from my journalism degree at the nation's first J-school, I've found myself scouring the nation's graduate programs for one that could fill in the gaps of my experience -- most of which, incidentally, relate to online communication -- and position me better for a role five years down the road.
At a recent grad-school fair, I asked reps from four prominent grad schools how they could help me -- could they teach me what my current company's developers know?
Here's what I found:
Syracuse: Had a great "new media" program at Newhouse, from what I heard, but recently folded into the main program.
Columbia: Despite some Web-related emphasis in some of their classwork, I was told: "We show you what the 'gadgets' are but not necessarily how to use them. We want to teach you how to write."
Northwestern: The only Web-related coursework at Medill comes in the final quarter of a two-year program.
CUNY: Appears to have some valuable Web-related coursework, though the program itself is in its infancy.
Can anyone recommend a worthwhile master's program for someone who doesn't need to be taught how to write again -- but who would love to be able to come somewhat close to writing code?
Ten years removed from my journalism degree at the nation's first J-school, I've found myself scouring the nation's graduate programs for one that could fill in the gaps of my experience -- most of which, incidentally, relate to online communication -- and position me better for a role five years down the road.
At a recent grad-school fair, I asked reps from four prominent grad schools how they could help me -- could they teach me what my current company's developers know?
Here's what I found:
Syracuse: Had a great "new media" program at Newhouse, from what I heard, but recently folded into the main program.
Columbia: Despite some Web-related emphasis in some of their classwork, I was told: "We show you what the 'gadgets' are but not necessarily how to use them. We want to teach you how to write."
Northwestern: The only Web-related coursework at Medill comes in the final quarter of a two-year program.
CUNY: Appears to have some valuable Web-related coursework, though the program itself is in its infancy.
Can anyone recommend a worthwhile master's program for someone who doesn't need to be taught how to write again -- but who would love to be able to come somewhat close to writing code?
NorCal Cazadora Says:
Possibly Cal Berkeley? One of my former students is in that program, and from what I understand, there are a lot of mid-career journalists in that program - he's one of he few in his cohort who's straight out of undergrad. I know the program is very multimedia-oriented. You can find plenty of info on the Cal website, but if you'd like to talk to my student for the non-promotional view, email me here and I'll put you in touch with him.
donica Says:
Holly makes an excellent point that course descriptions don't really reflect what goes on in the classroom. We have writing courses that requiring blogging and use Twitter but you'll not see that reflected in the catalog descriptions. Last year students in an online journalism course created a Ning site for the j-school RSJ Soup that quite a few folks in the school use, but "social networking" doesn't show up in any course descriptions yet.
As far as master degree programs, you might take a look at our Interactive Environmental Journalism program, a three-semester master's degree that focuses on using new media to reach communities in new ways, focused on environmental issues. You can find more information here: Interactive Environmental Journalism program or email me directly.
As far as master degree programs, you might take a look at our Interactive Environmental Journalism program, a three-semester master's degree that focuses on using new media to reach communities in new ways, focused on environmental issues. You can find more information here: Interactive Environmental Journalism program or email me directly.
I think it would be interesting to look at smaller journalism schools and see how they perform in Wordle.Usually big schools are very slow to react to changes...
I know a journalism program at Ithaca College in New York has extended its digital journalism curriculum and does a good job addressing the convergence. Elon University in North Carolina just started offering MA in multimedia journalism...
December 26, 2008 10:31 PM