Exhibit JC42 - The Leveson Inquiry

For Distribution to CPsHacks and Dons - Teaching at the London University Journalism School 1919-1939: Its origin,development and influence.profession of journalism.., by instituting examinations for youngcandidates. ’98Looking back over the century at what appear as distinctly positiveapproaches to the question of trying to analyse the relevant educationrequired for the journalist, it is sometimes difficult to determine theconditions under which those early experiments operated. Our view iscoloured by our present experiences so that, for instance, the comment ofthe Haldane Report on the University of London as it appeared during theperiod of the review, 1909 to 1913, looks slightly odd: ’the great majority ofstudents who take the bachelors degree of London University do notreceive a university education at all. ’99 Set in context, it assumes asemblance of actuality when we understand that the main purpose bf thecommission was to examine the attempts to change the university from anexamining, into a teaching, body. The University of London at that timehardly taught any of its own students, most of whom studied for the Londonexternal degree. The University was in the invidious position of having togive some form of recognition to those who taught students in these otherinstitutions, yet unable to effectively exist as a teaching institute in its ownright. Constituent colleges of the University obviously undertook their ownteaching and their students took the London degree.That comment, from in the Haldane report, carried an implicit criticism ofthe University’s purely examining function, with no control over teaching inother institutions, which was described as:’note-taking for examinations (instead of) learning the methods ofindependent work carried on in an enquiring spirit... (with) time forindependent reading.., and reflective thought...’l°°While recommending the introduction of a properly-constituted teachinguniversity, complete with professors, departments and staff representationon the governing body, the Haldane report also recommended theextension of the university education: ’to all those professions and callingsof which it may be said that practice and progress are closely connectedand constantly reacting on each other. ’1°1 With this as a backdrop to thediscussions about the possibility of university education for journalismwhich were held with the Institute of Journalists, between 1908 and 1912,the introduction of the Diploma for Journalism here, rather than elsewhere,is explained. The whole exercise must have seemed tailor-made toproduce graduates with a sympathetic understanding of the ideas thatguided the work of other men, as well as increasing the awareness of howother branches of knowledge bore on individual specialisms; this was seenas the proper work that could be fostered within the university ethos. Theprojection of these ideas, onto the recommendation that prospectivejournalists need only taste of the several branches of knowledge offered bythe university and were, as a result, regarded as educated for journalism,ignored totally the demands of all the schemes expounded in the precedingyears. (Appendices I-VIII)59MOD100051230