Journalism's Status in Academia: A Candidate for Elimination?

Abstract

In 1983, Dennis warned that journalism education appears to be on the ragged edge of being so hopelessly outdated that its usefulness may soon be severely questioned. 1Since then, other authors have asked whether journalism education is becoming endangered species.2 The question arises because journalism and mass communication (JMC) programs are experiencing multitude of problems. At the same time, severe financial pressures have forced colleges and universities to cut back, even to eliminate some programs and faculty members.3 To learn more about JMC's ability to survive in an era of retrenchment, the authors surveyed more than 600 academicians from all disciplines and all types of colleges and universities. The authors asked the respondents about cutbacks at their institutions, about problems that might justify program's elimination, and about which programs they would eliminate. The results reveal more about JMC's status in academia, the reasons for some of its problems, and the support it can expect from colleagues in other fields. The era of retrenchment. Beginning in about 1990, huge deficits and myriad of new demands forced legislatures to reexamine their priorities and to insist that every state agency, including colleges and universities, increase their accountability and productivity. Private institutions, too, experienced cutbacks. By 1996, Newsweek estimated that only 20 percent of the nation's colleges and universities were healthy financially, and that 60 percent were struggling to adjust.4 Colleges increased their productivity by increasing teaching loads and class sizes, freezing or eliminating some positions, and - in extreme cases -- eliminating entire departments. Examples include: The University of Virginia's 15-campus system eliminated 49 degree programs and hundreds of faculty members. The president of Northwestern eliminated programs in geography, nursing, and evolutionary biology after deciding they could never be first-rate.5 The University of Rochester announced plans to reduce its student body by 20 percent and faculty by 10 percent.6 The University of Pennsylvania eliminated the departments of American civilization and regional science. A third department, religious studies, was also threatened.7 Problems and status. Journalism and mass communication programs face serious internal problems, including low budgets; large enrollments; scarcity of jobs for their graduates; technological changes that require expensive new equipment; and professionals who, at times, seem impossible to satisfy.8Some critics also dislike JMC's structure. Traditionally, programs have offered sequences in reporting, broadcasting, advertising, public relations, photojournalism, magazines, etc. Blanchard and Christ warn that universities with limited resources will no longer tolerate duplicating specializations with separate courses such as writing for television, writing for newspapers, writing for public relations, and writing for advertising. Blanchard and Christ add that the communications revolution (the media's convergence and related trends) is making traditional sequences obsolete.9 Other critics, especially media professionals, dislike journalism and mass communication's emphasis on Ph.D.s and research. Many want schools to hire only experienced practitioners and to place more emphasis on skills courses.10 Some faculty members, on the other hand, warn that JMC's status in academia is dangerously low, and that efforts to implement the professionals' demands may aggravate the problem. To survive and prosper, McCall believes, journalism and mass communication must become a more active partner, even an intellectual leader in the university. McCall explains that universities expect every field to contribute to the academic environment of the entire campus, and that, Typical J-school skills courses directed at vocational preparation can hardly meet this challenge. …