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Tim Franklin resigns as Editor of Baltimore Sun

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by heyabbott, Dec 22, 2008.

  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    As an IU alum, that's great news. Tom French, Pulitzer Prize winner at the St. Pete Times, is also heading there to teach (if he's not there already, I'm not sure).

    I'm as pessimistic about journalism as a career as the next guy on this board, but so many of our brethren entering the teaching field is pretty exciting for the next generation. They'll at least be able to learn from the best.
     
  2. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    That dude was actually modeled after John Carroll, former LA Times and Sun editor. Franklin and David Simon never crossed paths in time to piss one another off.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  3. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Great move by Franklin (read: great escape hatch), and great move by Indiana U.

    I'll stop to give lip service here to the "Never major in JOURNALISM!!!!!!!!!" crowd.

    OK . . .

    I know when I attended Journalism school, the professors who impressed me most were the ones who had a bushelful of war stories. They were the ones with connections, the ones who focused more on teaching students things that would help them in the field.

    Franklin will be excellent. Indiana apparently is becoming the latest school to attempt to establish something sports-related.

    http://journalism.indiana.edu/news/tim-franklin-to-join-faculty/
     
  4. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I think Journalism is a great major, like Philosophy, because it teaches you how to think critically. We need more of that in this world. That said, I really wonder why we need a sports journalism school. Journalism is journalism in my book. Why not start a school combining the earth sciences and engineering?
     
  5. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Look, I know college is about expanding your horizons and challenging yourself intellectually.

    But journalism these days is about as useful a real-life major as philosophy. You can minor in one or both, learn plenty of critical thinking skills and still find a major that will keep you employed beyond your 30th birthday.

    Signed,
    Journalism major
    Philosophy minor
     
  6. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Talked to a buddy of mine a few days ago who actually made a decent go of it as a rock/pop artist, with a couple of CDs behind him and at least one song that became a global hit when it got covered by a better known artist.

    He focuses on producing now and small local gigs now and, one day a week, he teaches music and music-industry stuff at a college nearby.

    "It's all about selling the dream," he said. "I know that maybe one in 1,000 of these kids will make it, or even actually make a living at it. But they have the dream and the time and ambition to pursue it, so I'm there to help that along."

    I thought, I could say the same thing WFW about journalism programs now. Not sure it's a responsible position, teaching journalism, when you've been on the front lines and know what it holds in terms of career arcs. But you sure can "sell the dream."
     
  7. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Big difference though...those who want to pursue music as a career know, from a pretty young age, how random and how much of a long shot it is. Nobody's expecting to graduate from that course or college and get an independent recording contract with the hope that, if you do everything right and progress up the ladder, you'll one day get your shot for Sony. No matter how good you are, it's all luck.

    Maybe some of us saw sportswriting as a dream job, but it was one that was within reach with the right amount of talent and a little bit of good fortune. Go to college, serve an internship and begin plugging away in rookie ball. Climb the ladder and Write The Game The Right Way (that's for Starman!) and you could write your ticket.

    Not anymore. That your analogy makes so much sense is exactly why I could not teach journalism as anything more than a high school elective (as in, here's how to read what used to be the paper).
     
  8. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    My question is, who is the replacement?

    It sounds like he was designing pages at the Washington Post not too long ago .......

    Any reporting background? News editing?

    Sure, maybe I'm thinking Old School, but still ........
     
  9. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    His name is J. Montgomery Burns or something ...
     
  10. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Nothing wrong with teaching. There will always be news and the news business. The formats may change, but the 5Ws and the H will still be essential to covering the news.
     
  11. spaceman

    spaceman Active Member

    Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgg-cellent
     
  12. Baltimoreguy

    Baltimoreguy Member

    John Carroll --> Bill Marimow --> Tim Franklin --> Monty Cook

    What a falling off was there.

    And I still can't understand why David Simon chose to make two of the best newsmen I've encountered into the personification of newspapers' decline. I wonder how Cook's stewardship of the paper will compare to Carroll and Marimow's.
     
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