J-Schools Play Catchup (NYT)


Sunday’s New York Times does a quick survey, assembles some anecdotes, and draws a few conclusions…..

The changes [in media] are forcing colleges and universities to rethink what a journalism education should look like. The perennial debate about journalism programs — theoretical teaching versus professional skill building — has been displaced by more urgent questions: How can you help students find sustainable business models, while introducing the formerly verboten subject of the business side? What are the implications for the craft of journalism in the shift to digital? And how do you position students for an uncertain future in the media?

via J-Schools Play Catchup – NYTimes.com.

The online headline, as headlines are wont to do, oversimplifies the conclusions one easily can draw from the story: For one that, that J-schools perhaps saw this coming somewhat before the people running paid newsrooms. (The print presentation, in the Education Life section, is way different.  In fact, the first deck is “J-schools boom despite crisis.)

Boom is not far off. I don’t think that the more than 100 admitted-but-not-yet-enrolled graduate students who attended a two-day Medill open house this week (Thursday at the downtown newsroom, Friday in Evanston) felt like they had applied to a place that’s a lap behind.

Is there lots yet to figure out? Sure.  I kinda think that’s one reason I’m here, to help.


About Owen Youngman

Professor Emeritus of Journalism and formerly Knight Chair in Digital Media Strategy, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. Formerly senior vice president/strategy and development and director of interactive media, Chicago Tribune.