One of the things I’ve noticed a lot is that few journalists really get what is happening to the industry and where the future is headed.
I don’t know everything that will happen in the future of journalism — or much at all — but I do know it won’t look anything like what most journalists are accustomed to. It’s expected that industry veterans will resist change — despite how foolish that is, but what really is alarming is how few young journalists get it.
My school’s journalism program didn’t do much at all with online journalism, which isn’t atypical. In fact, Lehigh has a pioneer in online journalism in Kathy Olson as one of its professors. It stands to reason Lehigh is above average.
And yet so far behind.
Almost everything we did with online journalism on our college newspaper was student driven and usually by a few students. It’s hard to blame professors for not being forward thinking. They became professors with the knowledge they had at the time.
Still, professors need to start learning and teaching skills that matter for journalism in the 21st century. Many students mistakening leave the program thinking that new media skills aren’t important because their professors never taught them or told students that’s what employers are looking for.
None of that is nearly as alarming as how many journalism students just don’t get it and think that knowing how to write or edit for a newspaper will suffice for the future. Part of the blame rests on professors for not teaching students what they need to know, but how can kids who grew up in the Internet Age but so glib to online journalism?
And so resistant. I frequently suggest to my journalism friends to learn CSS or read a few good books on new media. That usually falls on deaf ears. For whatever reasons, journalists want to stay in the area they were trained in — especially print journalists (of course why is any journalist being trained in just one area of journalism these days?).
As if being a print person is more important than being a journalist. I didn’t want to work for a newspaper so I could make paper. I care about news.
All those young j-school students who think just knowing how to write will suffice couldn’t be more wrong. I dare those students to find a newspaper job without any new media skills.
I dare them to.
Unless they had a monster internship, they’ll have a long, hard road to finding a job. And the kind of places hiring people without new media skills, probably won’t be great places to work in a few years.
Those with new media skills will be gobbled up quicker and get paid more. And frankly will have more fun creating news ways to tell stories.
I am a trained print journalist, but I realize that the future is online. I’m not saying that every journalist needs to have my skill set of Web development and audio/video production skills, but they should at least have a willingness and appreciation for the Web.
Basic html skills are a must and every journalism graduate should have some familiarity with audio, video, flash and CSS. That doesn’t mean they have to know Final Cut Pro inside and out, but they should know the basics of shooting video and working an audio recorder.
I graduated in 2006 from a top school, and most of my fellow journalism students were either clueless about online journalism and had no interest in it. Worse, many thought it was beneath them.
I’m just shocked by some of the things I hear about current journalism students. It is the year 2007, and nothing seems to be changing. I’m hoping more programs and more students get it before it’s too late.
Honestly, the No. 1 thing journalists need to have is enthusiasm. Everything else is learnable.
Update:
After making my initial post, I looked around and found several other people with a similar message.
Rob Curley of washingtonpost.com:
And my biggest advice would be to have at least one portfolio piece that shows you understand the importance of the things I’ve listed above. If you want to impress an editor who is hiring, show him/her that you aren’t just willing to do these sorts of things, but that you can’t wait to do these sorts of things.All things being equal, who do you think gets the job: the person who hands over a bunch of photocopied newspaper clips, or someone who also sends a link to a well-done multimedia project?
Journalism professor Mindy McAdams:
How many j-schools are permitting students to graduate with a journalism degree and inadequate skills to pursue a career in journalism?I’m not asking for a count, but the question needs to be raised — and perhaps even shoved into the face of some deans and department heads. I don’t mean “shove” as in “break their nose” — but something like glue it to their nose until they finally get it.
Journalism isn’t about printing newspapers or broadcasting television programmes. It’s about stories — and finding the best way to tell them. So I have no idea where this romantic attachment to the printed word comes from.It could have something to do with the fact that many journalism courses still force their students to choose between a “print” and an “broadcast” pathway, leading them to identify with one medium rather than thinking about identifying the best one for any particular message.