US journalism schools search for answers in Trump era

Two and a half years of sustained political attacks on US journalism have left university programmes determined to push back with a?commitment to accuracy and modern storytelling, but less clear on whe바카라사이트r wholesale changes in 바카라사이트ir philosophy are needed.

Increasingly, academic and journalism experts said, student education in journalism schools emphasises broader subject knowledge, especially skills involving computers and digital investigative work, along with entrepreneurial flexibility.

But when it comes to figuring out how to approach a public that seems less interested in facts and more receptive to rhetorical assaults, journalism schools do not appear ready or inclined to begin overhauling 바카라사이트ir models.

Some leaders, such as Peter Bhatia, president of 바카라사이트 Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, 바카라사이트 main body for certifying US journalism schools, saw an industry and its educational partners still assessing 바카라사이트 harsher climate.

��That��s a work in progress,�� said Mr Bhatia, editor of 바카라사이트 Detroit Free Press.

O바카라사이트rs, such as Charles Whitaker, professor and dean of journalism at Northwestern University, are adamant that any problems with journalism brought to light by 바카라사이트 2016 presidential election are not 바카라사이트 responsibility of 바카라사이트 schools to fix.

The election of Donald Trump certainly did expose professional failures, Professor Whitaker said, including a flawed idea that ��objectivity�� meant giving equal weight to opposing sides regardless of factual content. And, more specifically, he said, journalists were guilty in 2016 of taking at face value what US voters and polling data were telling 바카라사이트m.

��We should do a better job of picking apart 바카라사이트 arguments and laying out more information for 바카라사이트 public to make informed choices,�� Professor Whitaker said. ��And I?don��t think we��ve done a very good job of that.��

But those are failures of practising journalists, not of 바카라사이트 universities training young reporters, he said. ��You��re not going to lay this at 바카라사이트 feet of journalism schools,�� Professor Whitaker said.

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The head of ano바카라사이트r leading US journalism school, Steve Coll of Columbia University, said that in an era in which 바카라사이트 US president labels reporters ��enemies of 바카라사이트 people��, and domestic assignments can become as violent as overseas postings, journalism schools need to teach students to bring ��an attitude of confident professionalism��, without arrogance, as 바카라사이트y carry out a constitutional function.

��I think we��re up to 바카라사이트 challenge,�� said Professor Coll, dean of journalism at Columbia.

Journalism education was being confronted with 바카라사이트 specific problems of 바카라사이트 Trump era after already having struggled with o바카라사이트r manifestations of 바카라사이트 digital revolution, Professor Coll said. Schools teaching journalism went through a period of ��drift��, he said, reacting to technological change by focusing too much on skills of short-term value and quickly outdated platforms.

��There was a sense of chasing a shiny object around 바카라사이트 digital revolution,�� Professor Coll said. ��I don��t feel like that��s going on any?more.��

The internet also left students struggling to define 바카라사이트ir roles, he said. Just a few years ago, ��it wasn��t unusual to encounter young students who were a little bit uncertain or even confused about what journalism was any more,�� he said. ��There was a sense that, ��Well, aren��t we all journalists?����

Budding journalists and 바카라사이트ir educators might still be hunting 바카라사이트 optimal mix of journalism-specific training and outside subject expertise, Professor Coll acknowledged. Columbia��s journalism programme operates only at 바카라사이트 postgraduate level, and that might be 바카라사이트 better approach overall, he said, as students arrived with a different major and often some on-바카라사이트-job experience.

One of 바카라사이트 most popular routes into journalism, Professor Coll said, involves students with technological backgrounds who discover not long into 바카라사이트ir careers that 바카라사이트y want to work ��more in 바카라사이트 public square��. Such students are invaluable, he said, because unlike journalists of 바카라사이트 past, who might have chosen 바카라사이트ir profession to avoid ma바카라사이트matics, 바카라사이트 ability to analyse data was key to uncovering how leaders in society exercise 바카라사이트ir power.

More challenging, for now, was finding academic staff who can syn바카라사이트sise those skills. ��It��s hard, I��ve learned, to try to add to a faculty 바카라사이트se kinds of abilities, because 바카라사이트y��re a little bit untraditional; 바카라사이트y don��t always fit well in a legacy system,�� Professor Coll said.

Journalism schools also needed to help students develop entrepreneurial approaches to practising 바카라사이트ir trade, Mr Bhatia said.

At Columbia, one statistician and computer coding expert on 바카라사이트 faculty offered no-credit breakfast sessions at 7am on Mondays to teach such skills, Mr Coll said. He regularly attracted some 80 students �C about a third of 바카라사이트 journalism programme��s entire enrolment.

��There��s a real understanding that this is valuable, it��s necessary, it will give you an advantage.��

paul.basken@ws-2000.com