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Teaching Journalismtechnical ones. A look came acrosshis face—a look of surprise, curiosity,bemusement or maybe a combinationof all three. I think it was my departurefrom a description of a body of knowledgeor even a regime for researchand analysis—and my emphasis onvalues—which he found unusual.Replying to his expression, I saidsomething like, “I try to teach studentsto challenge authority by asking hardquestions. I want them to develop astrong sense of skepticism. In a sense,I’m trying to acculturate them into theprofession of journalism.”Up until that moment, I don’t thinkI had stated this point quite so clearlyto myself. Yet as these words enteredour conversation, I grasped the essentialstrength that comeswith the teaching of valuesto student journalists. Yes,of course, I have taught thenecessity of fairness and accuracy,but in the midst ofthis exchange I realized thesignificance of our ability todraw out more visibly andwith more elaboration someof the fundamentals of what Icall the journalistic value system.Core Values of JournalismAs we move through a tumultuousperiod in journalism and journalismeducation, mostly forced on us by theInternet, it’s important that we namethese values. By naming them, we willthen find ways to encourage and teachthem. In enunciating these values—inreminding ourselves, then teachingour students—it might be that we willunderstand at a deeper level what itmeans to be a journalist.Two critical values are idealism andskepticism. These seem oppositional,but in our craft their pairing can offerus a potent way to engage the world.For young journalists, these two valuesinspire as well as energize them to douseful, even penetrating, work.The day-to-day and night-to-nightwork of a journalist can be grindingand difficult. There is all that travel andthe phone squeezed for hours betweenthe head and shoulder. To get it right,and to make it good, the work oftentakes one more phone call, one morecheck of documents, or one more tripto the scene of the story. The ability tostay with it requires that journalistshave a reliable source of strength onwhich to draw. I can think of no bettersource than their idealistic belief thatthe story they’re working on might insome, perhaps small, way contributeto improving people’s lives.Even as they draw on that idealism,reporters must cultivate their skepticism.In other words, they need to behardheaded idealists, to ask to see theevidence, the documents, and checkUltimately, the purpose of journalism hasto be more than about distracting andentertaining an audience with ‘content’that eventually is monetized for profit.the numbers. They want a second confirmingsource and then a third. Theirskepticism should be implacable.Joel Rawson, executive editor of TheProvidence Journal, told me a delightfulstory years ago that captures thespirit of inspired skepticism. It seemsthat a dog (Jess) that once had lived inEast Greenwich, Rhode Island but hadmoved to Colorado with his owner wasreported to have found his way back tohis original home and owners—a trekthat took him 18 months over 2,200miles. It was a great feature story, ofcourse, and it made the papers. ButJoel was skeptical: He asked reporterPeter Gosselin to get to the bottom ofit, and Peter did. The Colorado doghad a veterinary history that includedan x-ray for a broken leg. The Journalhad the second dog x-rayed, and—yes,you guessed it—the second dog’s x-raywas clean. No broken leg, wrong dog.The second dog was named Smoky, andhe lived less than a mile away.A funny tale, yes, but think of howhistory might have unfolded differentlyif the Rawson standard had been appliedto, say, Iraq’s alleged weapons ofmass destruction.There are other values, too. Independenceand courage come to mind.So does a certain prosecutorial zealto nail the “bad” guys: the ones whogame the system, steal from the public,or exploit those over whom theyhave power.All of these values are a part of beinga reporter. They are what makesomeone a good journalist, and theyare what lift this work above the trivial.Ultimately, the purpose of journalismhas to be more than about distractingand entertaining an audiencewith “content” that eventuallyis monetized for profit.In this regard, the core principalsof journalism are wellarticulated by the Committeeof Concerned Journalists 1and in “The Elements ofJournalism,” the book writtenby Bill Kovach and TomRosenstiel. Among them arethese: journalism’s first obligation isto the truth, and its first loyalty is tocitizens.As journalism educators ponder howbest to train future reporters—whosework might never appear in a newspaperor on television but will be seenand heard on the Internet—we’d dowell to find ways to explain and demonstratethe importance of the valuesystem that underpins how and whywe do our work. Lou Ureneck, a 1995 Nieman Fellow,is chairman of the journalism departmentat Boston University andformer deputy managing editor ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer. His book,“Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-Fishing,and a River Journey Through theHeart of Alaska,” was published in2007 by St. Martin’s Press.1www.concernedjournalists.org/82 Nieman Reports / Fall 2007
Digital DemandsPassing Along the Value of Humility‘Students need to be open-minded about the best way to tell each story rather thanseeing rich media as mere add-ons to word-driven narratives.’By Mike McKeanConvergence journalism, as weteach it at Missouri, is moreabout new attitudes than newskills. Don’t get me wrong. We do ourbest to train students in audio, video,photo, graphics and Web production.We emphasize strong writing skills. Weput them to work in all of our newsoperations—a daily newspaper, an NPRaffiliate, a commercial TV station,plus various Web sites andmobile services. Students blog,make podcasts, create Flashanimations, design interactivedatabases, and widgets—thingsthey have to know to find goodfirst jobs in today’s media environment.Still, who among us in theprofession or the academy canpredict the exact hardware, softwareand distribution systems that freshmenentering j-school this fall will need toknow by the time they graduate andhit the job market in 2011? Sure, we’retrying to develop reliable standards sothey can more easily create compellingmultimedia stories, organize ournewsrooms so they can produce thosestories consistently on deadline, andidentify stable economic models sothey can count on a rewarding careerwhen they leave here. But the finishline is constantly moving.The attitudes we need to instill inour students, however, seem clearer tome. They need to thrive on constant,rapid change. Students need to beopen-minded about the best way totell each story rather than seeing richmedia as mere add-ons to word-drivennarratives. They need to embrace teamwork.Very few lone wolf, backpackjournalists can do it all with equalskill and panache. And they need tobe humble in the face of overwhelmingsocial changes made possible bydigital media.Humility is not something journalistsmodel well. Professionalism, integrity,social responsibility—sure. Humility?Not so much. But a YouTube/Facebook/Blogger world demands we do better.… we push ahead with variousapproaches to keep well-trainedjournalists relevant at a time when webelieve they are needed more than ever.Our dwindling, skeptical audience isincreasingly capable of creating andsharing its own news, however theydefine the term. Traditional journalistscan belittle these “amateurs” orembrace them in a new reportingsystem that makes us both better. Butwe can’t stop them. User-generatedcontent, citizen journalism—whateverone wants to call it—is here to stay.Teaching ConvergenceJournalismThere’s still a crucial place in societyfor professionally trained journalists.So here’s a glimpse at what’s beenhappening at the Missouri School ofJournalism since we created a formalconvergence major in the fall of 2005. 1Sophomores and first-semester graduatestudents begin with a skills course,Convergence Fundamentals, in whichthey learn the basics of still photography,audio-video recording and editing,slide shows, and some simple Web design.During the final few weeks of thesemester, students break into teams toproduce in-depth, multimedia featurestories. We team-teach this course, aswe do all of our required convergencecourses. Convergence Reporting isnext, and in this class students splittheir time between weeklydeadline features reported inteams and individual rotationsthrough our newspaper, radioand TV newsrooms wherethey work on short deadlinestories. Then, in ConvergenceEditing, students learn moreabout personnel managementand quality control asthey again rotate throughour newsrooms. They also spend fourweeks acting as leaders of the teamsworking on features in the reportingclass.It is at this point, if it hasn’t happenedalready, that our students typicallydecide how to solve their “jack ofall trades, master of none” challenge.We don’t want them to leave Missouriuntil each has a strong grounding in atleast one journalistic specialty. So werequire them to choose one of several,two-course concentrations designed bythe faculty with a focus on newspaperand magazine writing, radio-TV reportingor producing, investigative reporting,photojournalism and design.While completing their concentrations,students sign up for their finalrequired course—Convergence Capstone.Again they work in teams, thistime to research a practical problem orneed, then create a journalistic productto address it. Students have designed1Details about this major are available at http://convergence.journalism.missouri.edu/Nieman Reports / Fall 2007 83
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