Why justify keeping journalism schools open? I agree with pretty much every word of this article on Gawker. I’m not much of a fan of staying within the lines myself. Aside from teaching the legalities of journalism, the basics of AP Style, and a few policy/procedure items, what can journalism classes really teach? The best line on Gawker is this:
“Which is why they [j-schools] produce the most plodding, report-by-numbers literalists imaginable.”
Every newsroom has these types and they are the worst people to have to work with! Journalism doesn’t need the by-the-book literalists anymore. The industry is struggling (understatement). What journalism needs is the creatives. It needs the rule benders, creators, and leaders who live by gut instinct. Journalism needs some renegades and rebels right now. I’d like to see journalists who understand technology, marketing, and business. In short, it’s nice to know how to string a sentence together, but does that sentence make money? We need people with entrepreneurial spirit and not the “well, we’ve always done it this way” types.
I took journalism classes at Paradise Valley Community College. But I chose to avoid ASU’s Cronkite School. Instead, I went the route of a bachelor of liberal studies degree at Boston University for the sheer sake of being able to complete a degree entirely online at a top-tier school. Given the current climate of things, I think I made the right choice. The degree itself doesn’t make a person successful. After 12 years of broadcasting now, I can tell you one thing. The most successful people I have seen have been innovators. They are the ones unafraid to lead. They believe in their ideas and stick their necks out for them. If you can create, innovate, and lead — you will have a future.
Writer Heather Larson 