THE SITUATION
Tonight, the Missouri School of Journalism held a discussion about the state of our current journalism program and where it needs to go in the future. In typical J-student form, the discussion simultaneously took place on Twitter with the hashtag #J2020 to update students that couldn’t be there and to give other people a chance to weigh in.
FRUSTRATIONS
I’ve attended several of these conversations this year, and have developed a lot of opinions about where our J-school is doing things right and where we could improve. I generally don’t speak up often, because frankly, I’m relatively happy. Close to satisfied, even. While I do think there are places that we can and should improve, I feel that I’m getting out of the school what I put into it… and I’ve always strongly felt that if you aren’t going above and beyond to ask questions, find more information and opportunities for yourself, and apply for them, you have little right to complain.
Plus, a lot of times these conversations frustrate me because people haven’t done their research first and don’t know that what they’re looking for is already offered at Mizzou— often for free. For example, a lot of people want more courses on individual programs. Well, one option: the Department of IT has free classes in Adobe programs and skills. They conflict with my classes and reporting, but I’ve downloaded the step-by-step training manuals on their Web site and am learning programs on my own time. Another complaint that students have is that there aren’t enough classes on advanced videography work…this is true, but you can check out equipment, work on these skills on your own and have them reviewed by a professor. It takes time, sure, and I know we’re all busy- some people with multiple jobs and obligations- but you do as much as you can with the time you have, and prioritize what matters most to you.
SOME SOLUTIONS?
Anyway, ranting about other people ranting aside… I have thought a lot about what I think the perfect journalism program would be, academically speaking. Working within the “Missouri Method,” which is learning by doing, essentially (you can learn more here), I think there are just a few things we could do to make the coursework a little more flexible and to suit all students’ interests and needs. Here would be my ideal model (for Mizzou students- it’s not all that different from what’s already offered!):
NON-JOURNALISM:
JOURNALISM- required for all majors:
JOURNALISM (Specialized)
This is where it gets tricky. I can’t speak for strat-comm majors, because I’m not one and frankly I don’t know everything that’s required of these majors or everything that strategic communications encompasses (perhaps Colby Gergen or Gwen Daniels, or someone else!, can weigh in on this???). So I’m not going to provide a model for this- but for reporting/editing majors, as in print+digital, convergence, broadcast, photo (which, again I have little experience with, so yeah…)….I think there should be a little more in terms of options and flexibility. I think there needs to be, though, the following:
I’d also like to see regular seminars on Topics in Journalism, personal branding, career/internship planning and preparation, etc. Some of these are already currently offered.
I’ll probably have more to say in the future on this topic, but that’s what I have for now.
PLEASE WEIGH IN!
What are your thoughts? What of this would work, and what wouldn’t? Comment below or shoot me an email at erica.zucco@gmail.com or a Tweet @ericazucco! Join the conversation.
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I like what you’re getting at here. I think the system of emphasis areas is rapidly becoming dated and really needs to just be replaced with a set of base requirements and recommendations that lets you pick a track for yourself and work toward the type of journalism you want to do. The whole idea of learning-by-doing is super important and I think giving students the opportunity to dabble in a variety of different things, or specialize in an area but experience it cross-platform (editing for newspaper and magazine and PR, for example) is very valuable.
I’ve been reading a lot lately about the idea of journalism as the new liberal arts and the whole phenomenon of students studying for journalism degrees as a foundation for something else later because the skills you learn in journalism school are useful in so many career paths. I think something that the J school is being short sighted about is taking the opportunity to seize upon that and offer some kind of generalized journalism track for students who are looking for that kind of foundational education as well. You can get a journalism minor but I don’t think that offers the same kind of overall basis that a full-out journalism degree offers.
Am I, a strategic communication student in my second semester of my sequence, satisfied with the course offerings? Yes. Yes, yes, yes! Last fall, I studied the principles of strategic communication; the quantitative and qualitative research methods used to create strong advertising; and four-step process — strategy, concept, design and execution — that leads to stellar visual ads. Now, I’m learning to write copy, to effectively serve as an agency account executive and to unearth, through qualitative research, the insights that will drive consumers to a product, brand or cause, which is where my passion lies. Next semester, I’ll study the psychology of advertising and the ins and outs of managing and owning an agency. I think I am building a strong foundation that will serve me well in my first years as an account planner (I hope!) and beyond.
I do believe our curriculum can be improved without changing the model of the j-school. Here are a few ideas at the top of my head.
*I wish my Strategic Writing class — and every course in the sequence, in fact — truly emphasized strategy. How can we effectively hit the sweet spot, the intersection between consumer insight and brand insight? Creative work must resonate with the consumer. In fact, consumer insight provides the foundation for all aspects of strategic communication. Please do not add courses in new media, multimedia or tech without solidifying our knowledge of consumer insight.
*Although we are required to take two marketing courses at the business school, basic Marketing 3000 and another upper-level elective of our choice, I wish more marketing classes where required, perhaps at the expense of HOJO. Marketing Research or Consumer Behavior would be a much more effective use of my time!
*I am not a journalism student. I am a strategic communication student. And because I am not invested in journalism, History of American Journalism seems as relevant as History of American Occupational Therapy or History of American Parks and Recreation Services.
I’ve heard j-students from my concentration and others bemoan the lack of hands-on experience, especially right off the bat. But I don’t think the Missouri Method would be appropriate for my sequence. What is advertising that fails to resonate with the consumer? Clutter. Or worse — weak advertising can actually hurt a brand, product or cause. And we beginning strat comm students are not entitled, for the sake of experience, to contribute to advertising clutter or to damage brand equity.
Besides, I believe the j-school does provide some cool opportunities for us to navigate the working world. In my first semester as a strat comm student, I helped create a logo for the local veteran’s hospital, and my research class helped create questionnaires and other research tools for a real live agency. I’ve also done volunteer PR work with established charities.
I agree with Erica: I feel that I’m getting out of the school what I put into it, and I’ve always strongly felt that if you aren’t going above and beyond to ask questions, find more information and opportunities for yourself, and apply for them, you have little right to complain.
Even though I’m no longer a journalism student, I felt strongly about participating in tonight’s J2020 discussion. In fact, I ran across campus in the pouring rain, laptop exposed in my purse, just to get there.
For full disclosure, there were some topics I just couldn’t attest to. I officially stopped pursuing the journalism degree last semester after completing all pre-sequence requirements, so I wasn’t able to comment on existing models at the Missourian, Vox, KOMU or KBIA.
I thought it was interesting, though, how many students spoke up about general education requirements for the degree. As it stands now, journalism students must take a certain number of lower-division non-journalism classes and a select number of upper-division non-journalism classes in the humanities, social sciences and so on. Many students voiced that these classes detract from what they came to Mizzou for: journalism. Instead of taking classes to help further along their journalism education, they are required to take classes in—for example—philosophy, English, classics, anthropology, sociology, chemistry and economics, among other possible selections.
Now as an Arts & Science student, I respectfully disagree with that idea. At the undergraduate level, journalism students are still college students. They’re here to train in journalism, yes, but they’re also here to earn a bachelor’s degree, not certification from a trade school. In fact, I’d go as far as saying if an aspiring journalist had to choose between studying journalism and specializing with another major if double-majoring or minoring wasn’t possible, the student should pick the non-journalism program every time.
Journalism school teaches you how to write, but in 40 credit hours, it can only teach you so much about who and what you’re writing about. A journalism degree alone cannot be responsible for your entire exposure to politics, issues, arts, communities and people. With some students calling for both more liberal arts and more lab work, it’s just impossible to fit that much breadth into a 40 credit hour program. Journalism education, even at a great program like MU, shouldn’t be a standalone major. At the very least, students should minor if they can’t double major. Double-majoring, with proper academic advisement (which was also touched on as an issue at the discussion), is totally and completely possible to do within a four-year program.
There are so many great non-journalism required general eds that students can take that will be out of their specific degree program but can benefit them just as much as a journalism class. Magazine journalism students should tailor their classes to their personal goals. Instead of taking Brit Lit or a random English class because it fits into a schedule, they should take a class in narrative, structure, memoir or even pop culture. Those classes DO EXIST, and I know many students have successfully taken them to count for their journalism degree. Hard news reporters should make the most out of the social science general eds and take topical political science courses instead of, again, just picking random classes that will fit in a schedule. And this is just an example for a student who doesn’t pursue a second degree or minor.
Students interested in the practice of journalism alone should be evaluating why they want to be in journalism in the first place. If you aren’t interested in learning about the cultures, peoples and issues you’re reporting on, how do you expect to emerge as a competent journalist? Being a competent journalist is more than just sharp writing and technical know-how. It’s more than studying social media and knowing your way around PhotoShop or Audacity. All those skills are worthless if you aren’t telling people’s stories or insightfully reporting on the issues. You learn competency as a journalist not just by sitting in a news lab, but by taking inspiration from all things, and that includes your general education.
In short, journalism education at MU has to embrace skill sets in other disciplines, be it film analysis for arts writers, understanding of economics for business writers and versing in political questions of the day for political reporters. Maybe a specialization can’t exist within the 40 alloted credit hours for the degree—but at the very least, the School should require students take on a minor. Journalism school can’t teach you everything, but that’s also no excuse for not taking the initiative to go above and beyond.
I think all of these criticisms and ideas are fine and well, but I feel like there is a fundamental point that people are missing. All of the classes, with the exception of a few, are not even trying to push for anything new. We are learning to produce “good journalism” for a medium and mode of dissemination that is dead and dying. You can change the cars of a train an infinite number of times, but unless you alter the tracks, it’s still headed in the same direction, and I feel that is was the journalism school is doing. We can address change in the classes that exist, but what about the classes that don’t? Yes, we have convergence and strat comm, but from what I can see, and maybe I’m wrong, but just like the rest of the sequences they’re not doing anything innovative or “new”. If I had to pick the two most important “sequences” it would be Strat Comm and Convergence. These are the two that NEED to be on the front lines of innovation. Unfortunately, they are, to quote something said at the 2020 forum, the “red-headed step child of the j-school”.
As I spoke about in the 2020 discussion, the Missourian is a perfect example of this. We still produce a newspaper that looks like any other newspaper in the country both stable, failing, and failed. Our website has nothing different to offer than any other news website. It’s not going anywhere. It, in my opinion, is Mizzou’s most valuable yet most underutilized resource. We have an outlet for us to experiment in with little to no repercussions. A place for journalist to test new and innovative journalism. However, it just remains static. If the tribune were to try something risky and new, and it didn’t work, they run the risk of going under as a business. If we try something risky and new, and it doesn’t work, the paper is still there tomorrow. I would love to open the Missourian’s website every week and see something that nobody else in the country is trying. And it can be that. We have the resources.
What else would I like to see? I want to see a cut back in gen ed classes. Not lose them entirely, but a more narrowed focus on Journalism. I think it is very important to become a well-rounded person during your undergraduate career, but I think it’s wrong when those gen ed classes begin to steal from the core focus of my education. Students now peruse course ratings for the “easiest” class because of this elitist focus on GPA. In my opinion, that’s wrong.
Lets add more classes that try to address the issues of the industry, and propose ways of fixing it. I would love to learn more on the business of journalism. How to papers operate as a business? What’s the monetary value of journalism? Unless, through the poor catalog search system of MyZou or my advisers, I somehow missed that class, I don’t think one exists. I would like to see something along those lines.
More programming classes. Lets face it – the web is the future for major newspapers. Interactivity is was drives hits and I think having a introductory grasp on things like Flash, HTML5, Java, etc. etc. could only be beneficial. We need a programming for journalists class.
I’m not advocating a super-journalist. We all know when you try to do everything yourself, the quality of the product goes down. We all need to maintain a specialty, but the old ways are dying…fast. It is time to adapt to the changing industry and the Missouri School of Journalism is not.
I apologize. My ramblings have been fueled by Mr. Daniels in order to avoid studying for a midterm. If anything I said makes no sense, feel free to contact me. I could talk about this for hours and would love to share ideas with people. For all the naysayers that we all know – remind them that these discussions are important, for it is the future of THEIR industry too.
Just a quick follow-up – I wrote my initial response exclusively about my progam, strategic communication. I have no idea about the ins and outs of true journalism!
What about science students? Should science students only take classes in the sciences because what they want to do with their lives probably will never include existentialism or art history? Relying so much on the journalism classes in journalism school is equivalent to saying you can’t be a journalist without journalism school. The argument for journalism education at the undergraduate level—or at all—is a shoddy argument at best. It’s a huge debate in journalism whether or not an aspiring journalist should go to J-school. Obviously, most of us believe it has its worth. The reason I got out of undergrad journalism was because I felt I wasn’t going to get a real education as much as I was just going to get training to do a very specific thing. Be realistic—jobs in journalism are scarce. If all you know is journalism and the news industry, what do you have to offer your future employers? They already know how to do journalism and be a journalist. What do you offer that’s special? That’s where a minor or a specialization area comes from.
You could take all 130+ or whatever amount of credit hours needed to graduate in journalism classes and still not know all there is to know.
If anyone needs to be well-rounded, it’s a journalist.