MIAMI — Feb. 19, 2015 — A new report on the future of journalism education calls for universities to make profound changes in teaching and accreditation to make their programs more relevant to their students, and to establish digital-first, educational startups to advance the field.
Related Link
“Journalism education should go ‘Above and Beyond’ ” by Eric Newton on Knight Blog, 2/19/2015
Dianne Lynch, president of Stephens College and a founder of the Online News Association, wrote “Above & Beyond: Looking at the Future of Journalism Education” after being asked by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to “Think of what journalism students will need to know to be successful graduates of the Class of 2025.”
Through an open questionnaire and dozens of interviews over 10 months, Lynch reached out to journalism educators, recent graduates, veteran journalists, Internet entrepreneurs and media startups.
The report calls for fundamental change to journalism education, notably partnering with rapidly iterating, immersive, skills instruction by faculty with demonstrable expertise. It recommends:
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Establishing digital-first academic startups, the educational equivalents of the ProPublicas, FiveThirtyEights and Vox Medias of the news-and-information marketplace.
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Leveraging the disciplinary expertise of the full-time faculty while creating new delivery structures for skills-based learning.
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Creating a mission-specific accreditation process for programs that define as their core mission the preparation of 21st-century journalists.
The report comes against the backdrop of enrollment volatility at journalism programs and surveys showing large gaps between what many professionals and educators believe are the most important skills for students to learn. It says the urgent need is not for schools to become more theoretical but for them to embrace the value of currency – of teaching students how to stay up to date.
“There is room in the academy for a more nimble, intentionally disruptive and hyper-professional journalism school,” Lynch said. “It’s not the answer for every institution, or the solution to every challenge in front of us. It is, however, a model that has the potential to upend some of the constraining operating assumptions of academia—about everything from scheduling and staffing to core curricula and learning outcomes—that contribute to the truly troubling current state of affairs.”
Knight Foundation has invested more than $220 million in journalism education during the past 25 years, endowing chairs, centers, training and fellowship programs, and, in the past decade, increasingly emphasizing the digital transition of news.
“The same communications revolution that is disrupting journalism is knocking on education’s door,” said Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president of Knight Foundation. “There are so many digital media startups. How can there be more digital educational startups, for everything from new degrees to accreditation?”
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information visit knightfoundation.org.
CONTACTS:
Andrew Sherry, VP/Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677, [email protected]