NPR asks, "What's The Point Of Journalism School, Anyway?"

I think we need to remember that the question is "What is the purpose of journalism school?" Not "Is it worthless?"

The purpose of j-school is clearly in flux, and it's a worthwhile discussion to see where it might end up.

 

Back before newspapers were dying, I knew of a major paper that took delight in hiring people who did not major in journalism.

I've always been on the belief that you can major in something else and get your practical education in journalism by part-timing/stringing from the time you're a teenager.

You'll learn more about journalism in a newsroom -- even at a small paper -- than you will in a classroom.

 

Which is, of course, why no one who graduates from j-school who is worth a damn does it without also working at their student paper and having great internships in the summer or part-time jobs later in college. Ask the kids who worked at the Maneater or the Daily Orange how worthless their journalism school experience was.

 

NPR can hire someone now from J-school to replace Juan Williams - and remind them that it is purely a state radio.

 

I'm actually shocked that actual experience isn't a bigger requirement of most J-schools. I watched people absolutely coast to their journalism degree when I was in school. When I was the editor in chief of the school newspaper, I'd have people in the reporting classes turn in four-inch stories, if that, and get away with that shit.

I know that in the good masters programs, a lot of it is hands on (ex. The Medill News Service). Undergraduate journalism programs should be akin to medical school: Two years of book and classroom learning, followed by two years of intensive immersion into the field.

I don't think J-programs are rigorous enough.

 

If your J-school doesn't have an internship program it is less than worthless.

 

Amen.

 

Indiana's J-school, at least when I was there eeons ago, required a 24-credit hour "second concentration," which with most majors, is a double-major with one more class.

So, essentially, most J-majors at Indiana graduate with a double-major, because they believe it's important to be well-rounded.

 

Kentucky's J-school requires a second concentration from outside the school of communications as well. I ended up taking the two or three extra classes I needed to turn my concentration into a second major.

 

In all the concern over the future of journalism and the determination that any education focused on it is worthless in the current climate, people are forgetting the value of the experience in and of itself at the time a person is going through it.

Like anything else, you can get out of a journalism major and education as much, or as little, as you put into it. My college years on campus newspapers were among the best of my life. Indeed, they defined my college life to a large extent, although I was interested in enough other things to also see and appreciate the value in much of my other learning, too.

I got a BA in journalism, with an aforementioned second concentration, and I was/am very proud of it, because I was the first in my family to earn a degree, and because I knew I'd worked long and hard to accomplish the goal, having worked nearly full-time all through school (and internships), and thus, taking several years to do it.

I didn't go to a J-school, per se, but I got everything I could, and more, out of the solid undergraduate program that I was in, was very active on the school paper and in several internships, gaining contacts and becoming recognized and known both on campus and in the community. Along the way, there were a couple of mentors and favorite, impacting professors and industry professionals who took interest in me and who I still either communicate with occasionally, or about whom I still think, myself, even to this day.

I could never work in journalism again -- and, yes, I actually am in a position where that may indeed happen -- but I will never consider my degree or my experiences in college journalism, or beyond it, to be worthless.

None of us really can see the future and know just what's going to happen. Shockey's son may look back someday and wish he'd majored in something else. But, it could just as easily turn out that it won't matter one whit what his major is.

We all can only do what we think would be best for ourselves at the time, and we have to live the life it feels right and true for us to live. As uniquely individual people, that is really all we can do. People almost can't help but to be who they are when it comes to the big things, and, if things change as we go along, well, then so be it. Nothing is irrevocable or unchangeable.

We shouldn't miss the trees for the forest...

 

Don't forget design. Having design, copy-editing, photography and writing experience has set me apart in jobs in the past.

I think journalism degrees are only as good as the effort you want to put into them. If you go out, find internships, start stringing early in your career, diversify your portfolio so it's not only one-dimensional, you can easily find yourself in a decent situation.

That being said, I found today's The Other Coast amusing:

 

I've got a J-degree and a CSCS (certified strength and conditioning specialist)

it's a bizarre coupling to many -- and myself at times -- but it gives me two options and at times, the ability to marry the two