Teaching Journalism“persuasive” before the word “communication,”and this category combinesadvertising and public relations. Someof these schools require a generalizedmultimedia or visual communicationsclass as a basic course. Others teachwriting, information gathering, andmultimedia production in a singlecourse.There are two problems with thisstructure:1. In some curricula, beneath thenewly required visual communicationscourse, much of the restof what students study looks justthe same as it did in the separatedsequences. The same courses aretaught, with a heavy emphasis ontraditional examples.2. The other problem is one ofdepth. Can news writing, reportingskills, programs suchas InDesign and Flash, along withphotography, be taught in a singlecourse? Can one person be all thingsto all media?Seeking GuidanceSince I became dean of the School ofJournalism and Mass Communicationat the <strong>University</strong> of North Carolina inChapel Hill in July 2006, I’ve spentconsiderable time talking with alumni,turning to them to learn what graduatingstudents need to know. I seek theiradvice about how to best address thedecline in newspaper circulation andthe ascendancy of the Web. Our alumnijournalists are concerned more aboutwhether our students master substantiveknowledge than they are with howstudents master technology. Alumnibelieve they should be learning moreabout world and American history, howthe economy and business decisionsaffect social and political behavior, andmedia ethics and media law.Journalists have offered me goodexamples of how such substantivestudy paid off in their newsrooms. Irecall one of them telling me how he’dcautioned his editor to move slowlywhen Richard Jewell was named abombing suspect by various news mediaat the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Hesaid he could hear his ethics professorwhispering in his ear about leaping toofast with limited evidence. But the editorresponded, “CNN is using it.” Dayslater, when Jewell was exonerated, theeditor apologized. Jewell later sued anumber of news organizations.Given their experiences, our alumnithink digitally—and they assure methat everyone must be able to “think”digitally. What this means is that weneed to reorganize our teaching aboutGiven their experiences, ouralumni think digitally—andthey assure me that everyonemust be able to ‘think’ digitally.how to report and produce a storyacross media platforms. One alumnusworking for USA Today told of hertrek from Basra to Baghdad; carryinga video camera and sound equipment,along with her pen and notebook, shejoined the swelling ranks of backpackjournalists.Our journalism school is known forits in-depth education and for preparingstudents to be ready to work in thebusiness when they graduate. Studentstake at least 80 of the 120 credits requiredfor graduation outside of theschool, as the accreditation councilfor journalism schools requires. At thejournalism school, students must takea course in media law, ethics and newswriting, and complete a mix of theoryand skills courses.A Different DirectionLike other journalism schools, how weare teaching—and what we are teaching—hasbeen in the midst of changefor a decade or more. Ten years ago,when educators started exploring convergence,the head of the visual communicationssequence at our school,who was trained as a photographer,taught himself computer programmingso he could understand better the underpinningsof multimedia. Out of thisexperience, he developed a superb sequenceof courses; today this sequenceis updated constantly and preparesstudents to work as newspaper andWeb designers, to compose info-graphics,to be photographers, and to createmultimedia documentaries and shortermultimedia news stories. Students whotake these courses are much in demandin the job market. A visual communicationgraduate recently found himselfdeciding between job offers from TheNew York Times and MSNBC.However, core skills taught inbroadcast and print sequences arenot replaced by visual communicationalone. Students still needto learn to develop quality storypackages for television and to studywriting, reporting and editing.They need specialized informationto master areas such as businessjournalism.As we think hard about how to moveforward—merging sequences or creatingnew ones—we want to add depthto our students’ education. So we areconsidering which nine or 10 classesare the ones to best prepare studentsto work in the new media world. Andwe are thinking about what happens ifwe require students to take additionalcredits as part of their study at thisschool (we now require 28 credits):Would such a requirement shortchangetheir liberal arts education—a vitalpart of the education journalists need?Would this curtail their opportunity totake business courses, which are increasinglyimportant for journalists?At a minimum we must make surethat students and faculty think andwork across a range of media platforms.Our challenge isn’t relegated to thecombining of sequences or addingnew courses, but involves progressiveprofessorial practice and interactionwith working journalists as we enablestudents to think in digital ways. Learningsuch critical thinking is essential ifthey are going to participate in shapingthe digital environment in which they’llbe working. Our approaches includethe following:• We must teach students to work withothers; students in a graphic design74 <strong>Nieman</strong> Reports / Fall 2007
Digital Demandsclass and a magazine editing classwork in teams across course lines.• Our business journalism professorwrites a popular blog and is acontributing editor and columnistfor a monthly magazine, BusinessNorth Carolina. In his classes, studentsthink and work across mediaplatforms.• A professor who teaches editingexplores alternative story forms;he works with the Poynter Instituteusing new curricula to assess theirimpact.• One of our design professors iscoauthor of a column on digitaldesign for the <strong>University</strong> of SouthernCalifornia Annenberg’s OnlineJournalism Review.• Broadcast students stream theirnewscasts on the Web.• A professor’s advanced design studentsdo readability and eye-trackingtests for a new Web design at anearby television station.Research done by our graduatefaculty reflects the new communicationslandscape but also emphasizesthe ongoing study of journalism historyand law—traditional strengthsof our school. In the midst of rapidchange, graduate inquiry into whathas happened in the past, as well asthe legal environment of this practice,contributes to shaping—and not justreacting to—the emerging digital era.This year we also will add a seniorperson to our faculty who specializesin digital media economics.Just as 19th century pioneers atWashington and Lee led the way intouncharted academic territory, journalismeducators today are responsible forhelping their students navigate throughthis territory of upending change. Myadvice is this: While we find ways tointegrate new skills into our teaching,let’s be sure to keep our eye squarelyon what has remained a stationarygoal—to have students leave our classroomswith the wisdom and skills theyneed to provide citizens with accurateand credible information.The digital revolution, wherever ittakes us, will not erase the need foreducated professionals whose workis trusted by readers and viewers. Thenews may come to us in amazing ways.It may look different. Citizens who arenot professional journalists might helpconstruct it. It might be mixed with athousands bits and bytes of random andeven entertaining information. Establishingtrust with readers and viewers isas important in digital journalism as itwas before the telegraph was invented.The next generation of journalistswill engage a host of new challengesand opportunities, some of which wewill likely be unable to foresee. Butaccuracy and credibility should neverfeel like outmoded ideals. Passing ontools to keep those principles at thecore of journalistic practice remainsour greatest responsibility. Jean Folkerts is dean of the <strong>University</strong>of North Carolina at Chapel HillSchool of Journalism and Mass Communication.Prior to her appointmentin 2006, she was professor ofmedia and public affairs and associatevice president for special academicinitiatives at George Washington<strong>University</strong>. Before entering highereducation, Folkerts was a generalassignment reporter for The TopekaCapital-Journal and an editor andwriter at other publications.Teaching What We Don’t (Yet) KnowA course about change becomes a constant work in progress as it looks to thenewsrooms, audiences and forms of the future.By Mark J. PrendergastThe core question as I movedfrom newsroom to classroomlast year was what should Iteach? After a 30-year newspaper career,the temptation was to dip intothe well of experience to pass on thetime-honored skills of our craft. Butthat approach didn’t feel right at a timeof such tumult. So at the suggestion ofOhio <strong>University</strong>’s E.W. Scripps Schoolof Journalism, where I had accepteda visiting professorship after 13 yearsas an editor at The New York Times, Ideveloped an experimental, forwardlookingseminar I called “Journalismin Transition.”Inspired by research I had recentlydone for my master’s degree at Columbia<strong>University</strong>, it was intended as atimely look at where we are and wherewe may be headed. But at its heart, thesyllabus overlaid traditional journalisticvalues onto new-media realities ofthe sort I had encountered on the TimesContinuous News Desk, a pioneeringbridge between the paper’s newsroomand its Web site.The course began with readingsand discussion about the core questionsof who is a journalist and whatis journalism in a media universe inwhich anyone with a computer andaccess to the Internet has instant,global reach in reporting “news” andthe ability to claim the title “journalist.”In that spirit, we considered just what“truth” might be and how it shouldnot be assumed to be synonymouswith “facts.” We discussed objectivity,<strong>Nieman</strong> Reports / Fall 2007 75