The world of journalism is changing. The Internet. Blogs. Citizen Journalism. They're all changing the way people get their news and the way I'm supposed to give it to them.
Big whoop.
It's easy as a soon-to-be journalism graduate to be afraid of how the industry is changing. What good is it to invest so much of my time and my parents' money in a college education when I'm going to have to learn all this new stuff after graduating anyways? Am I really just paying for that piece of paper that allows me to write "bachelor's of science in journalism" on my resume'?
But c'mon. Am I only one not that scared by about all of this ballyhoo of a new, emerging media landscape? Media convergence? Sounds like fun. Blogging? Bring it on. I know I haven't been around for that long, but when has the world of journalism not been changing? Dan Rather, although he laments to see some things change, sees it too. I'm usually one to avoid cliche', but the more things change, the more they stay the same.
What I'm getting for my tuition is, ideally, the same I would have been getting 30 years ago. I'm not here to learn how to use WordPress as much I am here to learn how to write. I'm not here to learn how to use InDesign as much as I am here to learn what makes a good magazine page layout. While the medium may change, the basic elements of educating an intelligent, insightful, talented journalist stay the same. Great research skills. Great writing skills. A dedication to honesty and truth. These are the guiding forces of what made a good journalist 30 years ago, what makes one today and what will make one 30 years from now.
As long as journalism schools resist the temptation to focus more on the changing medium and adhere to focusing on those basic tenets of journalism, they will definitely be around in 20 years. In fact, I think it is the very change in media -€“ from radio to television to internet and beyond -€“ that keeps young people interested in journalism. As the number of media outlets expands, so too will the amount of people willing and capable of being good journalists.
Sure, we won't be using these then-obsolete programs like Final Cut or InDesign. Hell, by that time, we may not even be printing a newspaper. (It could all be online by then.) But people are going to need to be taught how to write well, to research even better and to do it in an ethical manner.
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