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Teaching Journalism Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture Volume 26 (2007) No. 2 IN THIS ISSUE Teaching Journalism Barbara Kelley Santa Clara University AQUARTERLY REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH ISSN: 0144-4646 Communication Research Trends Table of Contents Volume 26 (2007) Number 2 http://cscc.scu.edu Teaching Journalism Published four times a year by the Centre for the Study of I. Introduction: An overview of research on Communication and Culture (CSCC), sponsored by the journalism during a decade of change . 3 California Province of the Society of Jesus. Copyright 2007. ISSN 0144-4646 2. Journalism education: The view from the academy . 4 Editor: William E. Biernatzki, S.J. Managing Editor: Paul A. Soukup, S.J. 3. Bedrock issues: Redefining traditional values . 7 Editorial assistant: Yocupitzia Oseguera A. Objectivity . 7 B. Ethics . 9 Subscription: Annual subscription (Vol. 26) US$50 4. New areas for research and education . 14 A. Science writing . 14 Payment by check, MasterCard, Visa or US$ preferred. B. The alternative press . 17 For payments by MasterCard or Visa, send full account C. Literary journalism . 19 number, expiration date, name on account, and signature. D. Reflections . 22 Checks and/or International Money Orders (drawn on 5. The newest challenge: A global perspective . 22 USA banks; for non-USA banks, add $10 for handling) should be made payable to Communication Research 6. Conclusion . 25 Trends and sent to the managing editor Paul A. Soukup, S.J. Editor’s Afterword . 26 Communication Department Santa Clara University References . 26 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA Additional bibliography . 28 Transfer by wire: Contact the managing editor. Add $10 Book Reviews . 31 for handling. Address all correspondence to the managing editor at the address shown above. Tel: +1-408-554-5498 Fax: +1-408-554-4913 email: [email protected] The Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture (CSCC) is an international service of the Society of Jesus established in 1977 and currently managed by the California Province of the Society of Jesus, P.O. Box 519, Los Gatos, CA 95031-0519. 2— VOLUME 26 (2007) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS Teaching Journalism Barbara Kelley [email protected] 1. Introduction An Overview of Research on Journalism during a Decade of Change We face a rapidly changing mediascape that nalism’s messy transformation over the past decade as shifts faster than the 24-hour news cycle, often out- an indicator of an institution in crisis, I suggest that one pacing academic study, the ability to understand jour- element of this crisis may be our inability as educators nalism, and the ability to teach it. Much of the schol- and thinkers to not only keep pace with the implica- arship, and hallway conversations, of the past has tions of these changes but to provide coherent direc- focused on either the failures of journalism itself— tion. What better place to stay ahead of the curve than most notably with regard to the influence of corporate the classroom and the academy? media—or the “gee whizzery” of new technologies This review begins by tracing the evolving and the wild, wild west that is the blogosphere. I do thought on journalism education as an incentive for not dispute the deleterious effects of the former, or the educators to rethink our curriculum as well as to spark possibilities inherent in the latter two. But while we creative scholarship that advances the current debate. have been consumed by hand- wringing on one hand The second section operates as the scaffold for the fol- and starry-eyed wonder on the other, I suggest we also lowing sections, which address several substantive need to focus on the fundamental issues that will pro- areas that can deepen and broaden the journalism cur- pel journalism—practice, education and scholar- riculum (and the scholarship that supports it) either as ship—into an affirmative future to best serve not only it now stands or as it has yet to be reconceived. Section our students or the organizations that will employ 3 investigates the continual reexamination of the them but most importantly, the public interest. bedrock values that inform good practice, regardless of In the interests of transparency, I begin this the platform on which it is presented. The work review of the past 10 years of published work on jour- reviewed there could advance and enrich classroom nalism with full disclosure. I am a journalism professor discussion on ethics and objectivity as well as prompt and journalist and thus have taken a pragmatic future areas for study and debate. Section 4 presents approach to this review, scouring the archives for stud- three emerging areas many educators and scholars ies that could both take journalism education forward believe deserve inclusion into a comprehensive jour- and map the course for future study. That is my nalism curriculum—or research portfolio. To date, frame—and my challenge. With an eye to journalism none of these areas (science writing, literary journal- education, practice, and scholarship, I will frame the ism, and alternative media) has been studied extensive- critiques and scholarship of the past 10 years as the ly. Section 5 investigates the challenges inherent in foundation for a collective brainstorm on what we jour- today’s explosive global mediascape. Journalism as an nalists call a look forward. institution is rapidly becoming border-free: It is imper- Balancing the cerebral and the concrete, this sum- ative that we not only study the myriad implications of mary of key areas aims to prompt thoughtful debate an emerging and complex global news media, but also and continued study on the questions that surround the bring such study into the curriculum. Finally, this meaning of good journalism as well as to arm those review essay concludes with a brief series of questions educating the practitioners of tomorrow with studies, with regard to rising issues that researchers have yet to questions, and points of discussion that they can pull address in depth. directly into the classroom. The rationale is simple: While the vast majority of published work includ- While many scholars and thinkers have equated jour- ed in this review appeared in scholarly journals, I have COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 26 (2007) NO. 2 — 3 also included articles from trade journals specifically research and theory that will sustain enlightened directed toward practitioners. (A bibliography of addi- practice? (p. 338) tional articles, books, and websites for further study This disconnect appears, for example, between scholar- appears as an additional reading list.) True to my roots ship that preconceives of journalists as powerless in the as a journalist, I attempted a comprehensive literature corporate mediascape and real world experience, where search, but must acknowledge the sheer impossibility I have found today’s practitioners to be more educated, of having achieved that. While missing some perhaps more independent, and less motivated by corporate goals pivotal articles this review does present a representa- than many media critics assume. Still, despite what some tive selection of the work on journalism and journalism in the field may consider outdated preconceptions in the education published over the past 10 years. academic literature, journalism education can incorpo- One caveat: Cohen (2005a) laments the discon- rate some “take-away messages” into the classroom— nect between journalism practice and communication and ultimately the newsroom—to elevate both the pro- scholarship, wondering why theory and practice cannot fession and the teaching of it. This review, then, serves work more closely in journalism education. He calls for as one attempt to connect the dots: Those of us on the reflection among scholars and educators, asking: cusp of change—journalism educators, journalists, and What do our curricula do in the modern univer- news corporations—should utilize all the tools at our sity to connect the dots? Are we focusing on disposal in an attempt to reinvent journalism. 2. Journalism Education: The View from the Academy In the last decade the debate on journalism edu- and sparking vigorous debate about the tension cation moved past the theory-versus-practice debate of between communication studies and applied courses. the late 20th century toward a more nuanced, reflexive, The debate revived with gusto in 2002, changing and thoughtful vision. As originally conceived, jour- course completely, when Lee Bollinger, president of nalism education was primarily hands-on, oriented Columbia University, suspended the search for a new toward professionalism, and focused on applied cours- dean of the Journalism School until a panel could es in writing and reporting. Despite the fact that a cer- come together to re-envision the concept of journal- tain amount of theory is inherently embedded in the ism education. No longer defining theory and practice teaching of applied skills, theory was never labeled as as mutually exclusive, he argued that teaching craft such, which led some academics to view classes with was insufficient and called for a rethinking of the such names as “news writing and gathering” as little school’s mission, reorienting it along the lines of more than trade school fare, teaching students to get a other professional schools that integrate practical job rather than to think critically. But as more and more training with an academically rigorous education. journalism programs began to be incorporated into Within the journalism academy itself, any ideas burgeoning communication departments, the pendu- for taking journalism education forward had begun sim- lum began swinging in the other direction: Courses mering even before Bollinger’s announcement. A New emphasizing practice took a backseat to those empha- York University journalism professor, Stephens wrote sizing theory. what he dubbed “A J-school Manifesto,” setting out his Medsgar (1996) marked a pivotal point of rules for rethinking journalism education.
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