Do your journalism professors know anything about real newsrooms?
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Image by Gerd Altmann
As a new semester begins, I say again that college students do not know enough about the credentials of the professors they’re paying for. Do the profs truly know what they’re teaching?
This question is prompted by a monster-long Facebook thread I saw a few months ago that mostly excoriated journalism schools for having too many professors with minimal or no real experience in the field. “Academics who’ve never worked in a newsroom have no clue what is required to succeed in the field,” one typical comment said. (The thread appeared in a private group for former journalism professionals so the dominant viewpoint isn’t surprising.)
When I began work toward a graduate degree after more than three decades in the business, I remember thinking, “Don’t laugh out loud at the oblivious things my professors say.” Well, guess what. I never had a reason to. In fact, before too long, I was thinking, “Dang, that’s exactly right.” Then, “Dang, that’s really interesting. I didn’t know that.” And then, “Dang, that theory explains everything I did for 30 years.”
I certainly won’t pretend that every teacher in every journalism program is up to speed on the realities and current practices of the business. But most are, and most do have at least some real-world experience even if only for a few years early in their careers.
Conscientious professors make constant efforts to stay abreast, with many ways to do so:
Freelance work on the side.
Staying in contact with current pros.
Guest speakers (and God bless every guest speaker everywhere).
Joining professional associations.
Professional development workshops.
A ton of reading (academic articles, media watchdog articles and the vast production of daily journalism itself).
It’s also worth remembering that with journalism changing so rapidly, even a long resume in the field is no guarantee of an up-to-date teacher.
There are some reasons it’s hard for J-schools to get longtime veterans. The main accrediting agency for journalism says it wants “a balance of academic and professional credentials” among the faculty but the reality is that many small and medium journalism departments hire only professors with a PhD. Although I know at least a half dozen veterans who changed careers and impressively earned doctorates, that’s a hard-to-find combination.
Larger departments have more flexibility, as they can hire instructors with only master’s degrees and some universities allow adjuncts with only a bachelor’s degree. A lot of professional experience gets shared in the classroom because of these teachers.
As important as that is, journalism schools and departments also seek credentials that will fulfill other aspects of their mission. In many cases, academic research into journalism and the resulting publications are considered more important than preparing students for jobs. It may be good that researchers haven’t worked in the field because that detachment allows them to question industry routines and spot innovative solutions to problems.
Research faculty also teach and generally they excel at the “conceptual” courses that any good J-school ought to offer – media effects, theory and ethics, for examples. A journalism major’s education comes from a variety of classes with different missions and that require different backgrounds among professors.
The smartest comment in that long Facebook ranting and raving I saw came from a journalism professor at Kent State named John Kroll. More important to a journalism student’s success than a professor’s resume, he pointed out, is teaching ability. “And that quality isn’t guaranteed either by a Ph.D. or dozens of years in a newsroom.”