Comments on: Why does anyone major in journalism?

By: FO

FO — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:43:30 +0000

I agree with your article. As a student majoring in journalism, I do not regret choosing this major. While I may not get a job in journalism, it has provided me with skills I could use in any other job such as how to shoot video, edit audio, take photos and write efficiently. I would like to get a job close to the field, but even though I don’t, it will help me wherever I go. I also agree with Prof. McAdams that the journalism schools are not fraudulent and would only be so if they choose to award students with the degree when they haven’t taught them the basics to be a journalist. Whether or not they get a job in the field, the university did their part.

By: JS

JS — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:48:12 +0000

Thank you for this article. I am about to be a graduate with a journalism degree, and just like you stated I probably won’t persue a job in the journalism industry. I’ve changed my mind in my last semester, but think it is stupid to not just graduate with a degree. And if I do decide to pursue it I will have to make up my own ways to get published. I hope to write a book one day and maybe even be an english or journalism teacher to younger students. So hopefully my degree in journalism will be useful in other areas.

By: Readings for Lecture 6 | JMSC0007 New Media Workshop

Readings for Lecture 6 | JMSC0007 New Media Workshop — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:24:49 +0000

[...] Why does anyone major in journalism? (Mindy McAdams) Posted by masato at 2:20 pm Tagged with: design, facebook, social networking, twitter, usability [...]

By: Social media and journalism « JOUR3180 Online Journalism

Social media and journalism « JOUR3180 Online Journalism — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:57:03 +0000

[...] Why does anyone major in journalism? (Mindy McAdams) [...]

By: Why some college newspapers aren’t online, and at what cost

Why some college newspapers aren’t online, and at what cost — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:15:17 +0000

[...] …Trumping all those considerations, staying offline is a disservice to student journalists who cannot use the online tools now widespread in the industry. A student who can’t put material online can’t really understand the impact of social networks like Twitter or Facebook to spread news. They can’t really understand what it is to create a personal brand. And they can’t really understand the challenges of multimedia production. [...]

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:27:33 +0000

That was very interesting and helpful. I Am interested in journalism (maybe music journalism), but do you think, doing a major in music, and electives like drama, visual arts, literature is helpful? As I read earlier having some knowlege of other areas studied like law, history for instance would go well with it. What about the more creative journalists that venture into the arts areas as jobs, What areas do you think would be key to study and what areas could I get into if I completed a journalism degree?

By: James Breiner

James Breiner — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:57:39 +0000

The guidelines about how to teach multimedia and what to include seem very sound, based on my experience teaching Latin American journalism professionals. It´s a moving target, but you´ve provided clear thinking here.

By: Why major in journalism? « Journalism at University of Houston

Why major in journalism? « Journalism at University of Houston — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:00:29 +0000

[...] Why major in journalism? Mindy McAdams addresses the topic at her blog about teaching on-line journalism. [...]

By: Mindy McAdams

Mindy McAdams — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:11:47 +0000

riverScrap.com – I certainly agree there is more to teach than those six tech things. But you are mistaken if you think “technological proficiency [is] guaranteed” among young Americans today. We see a large number of them who basically don’t know anything except Facebook, music downloads, and Google. Many of them do not know how to create digital content. And they certainly do not know how to gather clean audio or shoot a usable photo.

By: riverScrap.com

riverScrap.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:21:37 +0000

I agree that basic competence in the six techy skills you outlined is a pre-requisite to being a credible, modern-day journalist. However, proficiency in all of those skills will also enshrine you with the title of ‘blogger’, and that role need not necessarily have anything to do with journalism.

I can write an article that becomes very popular on Reddit, and I can flood it onto Twitter and tick all of the other social media boxes. But that alone doesn’t make me a journalist and it doesn’t set my skill-set aside from the millions of other computer-literate ‘writers’ out there.

For the younger generation technological proficiency should be virtually guaranteed anyhow. I believe journalism courses should teach you the things you can’t just learn sitting at home on your laptop.