Comments on: Are there too many journalism courses?

By: seventhspace

seventhspace — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:05:42 +0000

http://onlineeducation.massiveassive.net/2010/03/05/online-education-in-sweden/comment-page-1/#comment-271

By: Freelance Unbound» Blog Archive » Journalism vs academia

Freelance Unbound» Blog Archive » Journalism vs academia — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:33:11 +0000

[...] up a post on Paul Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog recently, I argued that journalism sits awkwardly in the higher education pantheon, and there are [...]

By: What is a Journalist? « Reporting 1 Blog

What is a Journalist? « Reporting 1 Blog — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:48:45 +0000

[...] update for this is in a blog I recently came across working to provide a similar basis of understand. I hope this furthers the [...]

By: Carmen Sisson

Carmen Sisson — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:23:34 +0000

Excellent points. I’m thinking about returning to college, and my friends and family are saying it’s a waste of time. They point out that I’m freelance, writing for people like Christian Science Monitor and TIME. But writing for these guys makes me realize how little I know.

When I was in college, I took what interested me. I had enough English electives to declare a double major. I have a double minor in psych and French. I hated history and political science. Took as little as necessary. And I need them.

I struggle when writing recession stories. Economics and business courses would have been useful. Same for criminal justice. I’ve taught myself web design, which is why I stayed up all night last night trying to change a Wordpress CSS template by trial and error. Yes, I can do it. It wouldn’t take as long if I knew what I was doing. Same for multimedia. I’m teaching myself, but I’m constantly worried I’m not learning fast enough or well enough.

I write national news, but my education is slanted to art, literature, journalism, photography, languages. I can’t afford to return to school, and lately I feel the overwhelming gaps in my education. I wish I’d realized how much I was mucking up college. Hindsight is 20/20.

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:17:30 +0000

I have an English degree, and I can tell you that having an English or Journalism degree is useful in the job market. These are the only liberal arts degrees I see specifically listed in job postings, usually as a means of proving you can research, write, and edit. Those skills apply in many professions. Too many journalism degrees? Bah. Can’t have too many people who can think and express themselves concisely.

By: Gene Kurtu PHD

Gene Kurtu PHD — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:47:08 +0000

Clearly there are good and not so good journalists. The problem lays with the incompetent ones that try so hard to establish a name but in the meantime ruin whatever reputation they may think they have. A great example is the joke of Tucson reporter for the Az Daily Rag Carla McClain.
This he/she has been persecuted so many times for falsifying facts and has been in the hot seat so many times that is comical amongst the readers here. She should be put in jail for slander and defamation, but our courts here are overburdened with other cases. That’s OK ,her stories are better than the comic section

By: Sammy Jorge MD

Sammy Jorge MD — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:39:16 +0000

There needs to be more

By: Natasha

Natasha — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:15:18 +0000

I am a journalist and gave a lecture recently to students at Kingston university. There were so many of them, and as I looked at them I thought how on earth will they all get jobs in journalism when the industry (in terms of print at least) is shrinking. But what you are saying is right, just becuase you do a journalism course doesn’t mean you actually will become a journalist, for many reasons. I did a biology/psychology degree, and haven’t become a psychologist. Most courses would give you skills that would be useful in many areas of life, not just journalism per se.

By: Martin Cloake

Martin Cloake — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:42:31 +0000

My tuppenyworth http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/do_we_still_need_proper_journalists.aspx

By: Paul Bradshaw

Paul Bradshaw — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:34:22 +0000

@Caspar I don’t think I will ever write such a post. I can only recommend you research them yourself and make up your own mind – I’m obviously biased because I teach at Birmingham City University; I know of some excellent lecturers (I will name Andy Dickinson as one, for example) but ultimately the idea of a ‘good course’ comes down to what you want to get out of it, and that’s a combination of teaching, connections, student culture, and a dozen other things that I could not pretend to know.