Exhibit JC42 - The Leveson Inquiry

For Distribution to CPsDevelopments in the Practical Journalism Component of the Diploma for Journalism 1935-1939 ioncluding a Termly Examination from 1937 onwardsDuring that session Clarke delivered only twelve lectures to the secondyearstudents, mostly aimed at developing their awareness of thepracticalities of sub-editing, typography and make-up of pages. Seven dayswere devoted to the making-up of newspapers, plus another three forreporting assignments and interviews. About nine working journalists,including lawyers, also gave lecture students.The Easter term started on January 19 t~, 1939, with several young ladiesabsent, suffering the ravages of skiing accidents during the Christmasvacation. By the time that academic year ended, war was less than threemonths away.Changes in the examination papers, 1927-1939No amount of discussion about proposed syllabuses for journalismeducation can determine what actually happens when a system has to beput into operation. The hazards involved in any such innovation areincreased when the elements have to combine practical and academicelements. As we noted in earlier discussions, under the heading of aspectsof professionalism, practitioners and academics will always moan about theover-emphasis given to the other.On the practical side students could assimilate their learning aided bynearly immediate feedback of results. On the academic side this was aslower process. One aspect of the course was that there was little actualcontact between students and lecturers in academic subjects; somelecturers set essays but often students complained, that their work was notreturned. Miss Skipsey, remarked that when she was a student on thecourse from 1934 to 1936, no such work was set by lecturers except for Dr.Harrison’s fortnightly tutorials in English Composition. But we have toremember that, at that time, assessment systems in Arts subjects werenearly always based on essay writing, and nothing else. The usualprocedure of attendance at lectures was often the limit of students’expectation, and essay writing was what they had been conditioned to bythe schools’ slavish adoption of what they understood to be universityrequirements.Were that the whole of the argument it might help to explain whyjournalism education sat so unhappily, in Britain anyway, in the universitysetting. But there is a heartening aspect which tells another story. That ishow examination papers developed over the period of the course, withspecial papers set from 1927 onwards.Practical Journalism papers in the early years were basic, requiring littlemore than descriptions of newspaper terminology. By 1937 there had beena transformation. Judged by the questions, students were expected to takea more critical stance, instead of being asked to regurgitate descriptiveformulae. One question that year read: ’It was said by Lord Bacon thatevery man owed a duty to his profession. What would you consider yourduty to the profession of journalism?’ There was another question seekingto learn what half-dozen rules (of ethics) would guide them in theirnewspaper life.146MOD100051317