By Loka AshwoodWhen I received my acceptance letter to the Medill School of Journalism four years ago, I was honored. Somehow I had gained a spot in a school that was the shining pillar of journalistic integrity, social responsibility and hard-nosed reporting. Call me naive. Call me idealistic. But I came to Northwestern, like many of my classmates, prepared to change the world for the better.
I haven't forgotten why I came here. But it seems that Medill has.
I wonder why signs that used to say "Medill School of Journalism" have been replaced with "Medill Media Management Center." I struggle to understand why some of my professors - the best professionals and academics in their field - are teaching students computer-skills courses that could be taken almost anywhere. I can't wrap my mind around professors' instructions in a senior-level course that I need to write a product and not the news. Instead of being encouraged to inform the public, I am told to target a consumer. Rather than cover issues in the public interest, I am instructed to satiate the market's appetite.
In October, a document was sent to Medill faculty outlining 12 teams responsible for redesigning the curriculum and assigning objectives to each team. The document, passed on by a source in Medill, states that "economic fundamentals and business literacy" are primary objectives for journalism students.
In the next week, a 25-page rewrite of the journalism curriculum, based on the work of the teams, is expected to use even stronger marketing language. The new curriculum, according to another Medill source, will echo the newest Integrated Marketing Communications curriculum, which was released Wednesday. And I thought I came to Medill to bring important issues to the public's eye. I thought I would learn the basics of writing, reporting and responsibility.
I believed the school represented journalism as the voice of the people, the voice of justice and an arena for ideas.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 17
Randolph D. Brandt
posted 3/01/07 @ 5:00 PM CST
Economic fundamentals and business literacy sound like things every good reporter or editor would want in the quiver. In our business, it's one of our saddest shortcomings, and one most readily remedied. (Continued…)
PJC
posted 3/01/07 @ 5:06 PM CST
Welcome to the real world, Loka. I'm not a Medill grad, but I feel your pain.
Unfortunately, you will learn that in a market-based economy, one's work is only worth what others are willing to pay. (Continued…)
Jeff Yoders
posted 3/01/07 @ 5:35 PM CST
I'm glad someone has finally come out and said it. As a Medill alum and a working journalist (not product manager) I can assure you, Lora, that many of us are as ashamed as you of what's going on in Evanston right now. (Continued…)
Katy
posted 3/01/07 @ 5:47 PM CST
Hey Loka, you're absolutely right. I dunno who the hell wrote the first two comments, but I agree with you. Journalism needs to be taught as an idealistic skill before it's taught as a marketing tool (if ever). (Continued…)
Randolph D. Brandt
posted 3/01/07 @ 10:48 PM CST
Katy wrote: "I dunno who the hell wrote the first two comments ..."
I am a journalist and editor of more than 30 years' standing.
Bill
posted 3/02/07 @ 9:00 AM CST
The way newspapers work has shifted based on the realities of how - let me use the word - the market has changed.
It is not a good thing, but it is a true thing. (Continued…)
Perry Parks
posted 3/02/07 @ 1:10 PM CST
This column has opened a healthy debate about the future of Medill and the journalism industry -- futures that are almost certainly linked.
As a Medill alumnus and author of a book to be used in the Editing & Writing the News class this spring, I remain hopeful that Medill will be able to fulfill its evolving mission while continuing to impart the journalistic values that Loka rightly holds inviolable. (Continued…)
Deb
posted 3/07/07 @ 10:30 AM CST
Dear Loka:
While I understand and sympathize with your concerns about the future of journalism, I can tell you that in my 34 years of working in broadcast news, some of the most ill-prepared and illiterate candidates came from "J" schools. (Continued…)
Julia Rockler
posted 3/07/07 @ 1:17 PM CST
With my economics degree (CAS '78) I got a job at the famed City News Bureau of Chicago. My roommate, a J-school grad, went to law school (where I'd wanted to go). (Continued…)
bp
posted 3/08/07 @ 8:55 AM CST
Ah youth! As much as I envy the idealism Ms. Ashwood gushes above, it's obvious she hasn't been paying attention to her curriculum.
However sad it may seem, we craft a consumer product. (Continued…)
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