Symposium: Journalism and Mass Communication Education at the Crossroads

Abstract

Introduction As journalism education enters its second century, and the discipline of communication research its second half-century, is there a core of substantive knowledge, practice, and expectation that guides our curricular and pedagogical practices? What are the key issues of practice and mission facing departments and schools of communication and journalism? Journalism and mass communication education was forged in the twentieth century out of several goals. The recognition of the desirability of educating journalists enlightened by the liberal arts; the nation's need to understand, deploy and defend itself from propaganda; the economic and political leverage promoted by skilled information practitioners; and the scholarly desire to discover the processes and effects of human communication each have attracted students and faculty, as well as a sometimes uneasy coalition of university and industry support. Departments and schools of journalism and mass communication today have expanding curricula of course offerings, theoretical approaches, and diverse and sometimes controversial methodologies, to build programs that at century's close enrolled more than 150,000 undergraduates at more than 450 colleges and universities. Nine colleagues representing the professorate and professional practice whose work has significantly influenced the substance and practices of our disciplinary curricula were invited to respond to the state of journalism and mass communication education and to reevaluate our educational assumptions and practices. Although the contributors did not have the opportunity to review each other's submissions, several congruent themes emerged. The enduring issues of journalism and mass communication education the ethical performance of communication practitioners and institutions, the influence of economic interests on media practices, the distinction between communication institutions and the communication publics who rely on them, and the placement of professional norms and media products in a context of disciplinary knowledge about communication remain at the forefront of what colleagues believe students should confront. Despite occasional reference, technology takes a back seat in these commentaries to other pressing concerns. Have we made real progress in embedding an understanding of diversity, the voices of those without power, and global reach into our curricula? Our programs often look very similar. Is that a healthy state of affairs for a field built upon belief in the value of a multiplicity of voices? What are the implications of the program and course assessments we conduct for the way we practice our teaching and curricular scholarship? What does it mean to be a professional educator? The following commentaries are intended to fuel continued reflection, conversation, and active response to the implications of the formidable obligations that confront us as scholarly teachers. Stephen D. Reese Living up to Wilbur Schramm's vision. Becoming a reflective practitioner as an educator means turning the same scholarly scrutiny upon our educational practice as we do on the subjects we study in our research. The attention paid to educational mission and practice in journalism education is an encouraging development over the last several years, and a necessary one if we are to make a case for journalism's place within the university. In a 1998 New York Times article, Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation expressed the view that journalists should be the sense makers of the society and educated accordingly. Communication institution builder Wilbur Schramm has been quoted as saying he would like to see the kind of School of Journalism that would be not as weak as itself, but as strong as the university... (Medsger, 1996, p. 56). Few educational reform issues are not touched upon in some way within journalism education: writing across the curriculum, experiential projectbased learning, service learning, and critical thinking, to name a few. …