Alliance needed between journalists, educators
Commentary
By Charles L. Overby
Chairman and CEO, The Freedom Forum
09.15.99
Printer-friendly page
The Freedom Forum has begun a series of small meetings with some of the best thinkers from newspapers and journalism education.
The meetings are set against a backdrop of uncertainty: Respected outsiders are discounting the future of newspapers.
Newspaper insiders have never been more pessimistic or unsure of themselves. Many are questioning the future of journalism education in the context of bleak predictions for mainstream media.
Some media practitioners are questioning the viability of "real journalism" within the ever-expanding mass communications field.
In the coming decade, changes in the media are sure to alter the status quo in the classroom and in the newsroom. A stronger partnership between the classroom and the newsroom is needed. Unfortunately, because of the skepticism of both groups, the alliance has never reached its full potential.
The alliance is not needed to validate the importance of either the academy or the profession. The alliance is needed to protect and promote journalism. It should not be necessary to march in lock-step to realize that educators and journalists are on the same side.
The issues of the future go far beyond Ph.D.s vs. non-Ph.D.s or professional emphasis vs. research emphasis.
The journalism tent is big enough for many orientations. We are not threatened by the journalism tent growing too big. We are threatened by the prospect of it becoming too small.
In the next decade, our democracy will depend on an informed public. That public will continue to need news gatherers and news explainers.
By the end of the next decade, journalism classrooms and newsrooms likely will look different, perhaps dramatically different. At least three traditional elements need a special look for the future.
Partnerships: It is ludicrous for practitioners and educators to operate so apart from one another. The relationships vary from state to state, but as a rule, very little collaboration beyond job references ever takes place. The smart people in the academy and the profession need to figure out how to improve that in the next decade.
Here are three immediate needs:
- Enlightened leadership in the academy and in the profession to tackle some of the big issues facing journalism at every level.
- More meaningful academic research that can advance professional goals and contribute to ways the public consumes information.
- A new look at mid-career education and training.
First Amendment: Few people in classrooms and newsrooms believe the First Amendment is in trouble. And some within journalism education do not see it as their role to champion the First Amendment.
The public resents the press more than ever. A recent survey by the First Amendment Center showed 53% thought the press had too much freedom.
In my judgment, the First Amendment, as we know it today, will cease to exist sometime in the next century. It won't be saved unless leaders from classrooms and newsrooms do more to explain it to the public.
We must find ways to explain the First Amendment in more than historical terms. We must improve the ways that we explain the basic concepts that allow minority, unpopular expressions to exist within a majority-rule democracy.
Diversity: There aren't enough minorities in newsrooms or classrooms. Dramatic new approaches are needed to recruit and retain minority journalists. The classroom offers newspapers their best hope of filling the pipeline with qualified minority journalists.
Yet professor Lee Becker of the University of Georgia, who tracks enrollment trends annually, said the percentage of minorities in undergraduate journalism and mass communication programs declined in 1998. According to Becker, African-American enrollment decreased the most, from 13.5% to 10.5% of all students in those programs. Hispanic enrollment declined slightly from 8.5% to 8.3%. Asian enrollment increased slightly, from 2.7% to 2.9%. And Native American enrollment increased from 0.5% to 1.1%.
We need more bold thinking to increase the number of minorities entering journalism. Stronger partnerships between the academy and the profession can help solve this problem.
Overall, a new understanding and a new respect are needed to make this partnership strong. The Freedom Forum is committed to energizing this partnership between two of our most important links to democracy: the classroom and the newsroom.
Recent Charles Overby columns
Browse all Charles Overby columns
