Last night I joined in the weekly Twitter chat #Collegejourn, the college media's equivalent of the Monday night @Journchat. Most of the topics you'd think would come up in fact did. One point I brought up was the new media deficit in many j-schools.
Most of the lecturers I had in my undergraduate journalism courses were established journalists, with many accolades and well-regarded reputations. Those are the kinds of people you want to be learning journalism from.
The only problem is that most were established, well-regarded print journalists. Most were either clueless to the advancing new media storm, or were outright hostile towards it. As the industry changed at a rapid pace, those journalism lecturers so entrenched in the ways of print continued to teach the same way they had been for years.
This is a problem.
For j-schools (journalism schools) this presents a potential crisis of self. They need established, well-regarded faculty to keep your program's reputation afloat. Often these faculty have PhDs and have published many research papers in a specific area. They are the standard-bearer of what the program stands for.
But what happens when what your faculty is not teaching students everything they need to be successful journalists? What happens when those who have the skills and knowledge to teach them how to succeed in the new media environment may only have an MA, or in some cases less than that?
The solution is simple and, for some universities, hard to swallow: Hire younger people, PhD or not. If someone is coming out of graduate school with a master's in new media, don't dismiss them out of hand. Sit them down and listen to what they feel they could bring to your program to help it remain competitive.
Another option is to begin scouting the Web staff from local newspapers for potential adjunct positions. They're working professionals in the field of online journalism. They're exactly what you need.
It's time to abandon the dogmas that so many j-schools have latched onto and begin to face facts — even if it means fewer PhDs walking the halls.
source : http://benlamothe.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/j-schools-new-media-deficit/
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