When I took over my school's journalism program two years ago, I had no training and no experience. My guiding light was an outdated textbook in which "technology" was the final chapter. It included a short section about DSLR cameras and mention of computer-assisted reporting. The authors spoke of the Internet with reverence and awe. Most startlingly, the book was actually published around 2005.
In this book, objectivity was referred to as being free from bias or partiality. Even without experience, I wondered how that could be possible in scholastic media. How can a student at my high school free him/herself from the attachment high school students nearly always have to their school?
In Ethics class last semester, I first encountered the notion of objectivity of process, rather than objectivity of product. We re-encountered this notion in our readings this week, and it caused me to consider that some of the issues we're experiencing in the professional sphere are probably related to deficiencies like the ones in this book.
There are two problems, though. Not all journalists further their education after graduating from college. And these days, most citizen journalists have no formal training whatsoever. How can we make paradigm shifts (like that of objectivity as a process) within the field now? Better educational materials and better-informed advisers will certainly help develop professional journalists. I think organizations like the SPJ can drive change among current journalists--and maybe include the increasing ranks of citizen journalists in the process.
My first textbook was called JOURNALISM TODAY and had a photo of a typewriter on the cover; this was in 2003, and the book was maybe ten years old (if that)!
ReplyDeleteMy college freshmen have made similar comments about textbooks published as recently as 2003 and 2004. Most notably, they can't see the point of the chapters that talk about research and sourcing because those chapters make no mention of using the Internet or social media. The concepts are about identifying good sources and going directly to sites to talk to those people; using libraries and academic institutions to find credible research; requesting public documents, etc. In my students' minds, if it can't be found on the Google Machine, it might as well not exist at all. That's a scary thought for any student but especially scary for aspiring journalists!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad (but also upset) to hear both of you have experienced similar issues. The responsibility of teaching those skills falls to us.
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