Some issues just won’t go away. More than a decade ago, I wrote a column for American Journalism Review in which I posited that some of the best and brightest J-school grads probably weren’t going to work at local TV stations because the salaries were so low. Last week, I got a call from a [...]
What exactly is the value of a journalism degree? Are J-schools really preparing students for the media jobs of the future? The questions aren’t new, but they’ve come up again in connection with the selection of a new dean for Columbia’s prestigious graduate school of journalism. If you haven’t read it, Michael Wolff’s take in [...]
Some critics would have you believe there’s very little point in getting a college degree in journalism. Writing in The Nation, Michael Tracy asserts that a journalism degree is unnecessary because you can get a job in the news business without one. What’s worse, Tracy says, is that “it’s actually bad for the craft.” In [...]
I often describe NewsLab as a resource for journalists. The tips, research and background on this site are free for anyone to use. I lead training programs for journalists for a reasonable fee, which goes toward keeping the site (and me) going. But another way of thinking about NewsLab is as a toolkit for journalists, [...]
by Bob Witten What do employers look for when you apply for a job? Or put another way, what can you do to ensure you don’t get the job? Plenty, according to news directors at a recent conference sponsored by the Texas Association of Broadcasters. Here’s some useful advice along with a few cautionary tales. [...]
Ian Shapira leads a double life. By day, he’s a reporter at the Washington Post. By night, he’s a graduate student in interactive journalism at American University, learning a whole new way of telling stories. And it hasn’t been easy. Shapira is no rookie; he’s been at the Post for 10 years and was the [...]
One of the most frequent topics that comes up in my conversations with veteran journalists is whether to consider going into teaching. It’s coming up more often now, thanks to newsroom downsizing. And as Brian Joseph writes in the latest Quill, teaching opportunities are drying up too, especially for adjuncts. Many Universities’ budgets aren’t in [...]
Great writers read. They read fiction, non-fiction, and books about writing. Here are some suggestions to get you started. If you want to read them in a whole new way, consider a Kindle! And if you’re teaching journalism, we also have a list of textbooks to consider. Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia [...]
Developed by Tom Bowers, former interim dean at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. (Essential information is marked *) Information about the course _____Name of the course * _____Number of the course and course section number* _____Current semester * _____Meeting location * _____Meeting days and time * _____URL for online syllabus or online course [...]
You’ve just agreed to teach a semester-long course at a University—something you’ve never done before—and the Dean expects to see your syllabus next week. Syllabus? The good news is that your fellow journalism educators are more than willing to share. Look on the school’s Web site for syllabi from previous semesters. And consult these online [...]
If you’ve signed on to teach journalism at the college level, either full time or as an adjunct, you’ll probably want to use a textbook. But how can you figure out which one works best for you? Take advantage of publishers’ review programs. Most will send you a text at no charge for review, often [...]