The third session I attended today was titled “Adjusting Mass Media Curriculum in Today’s Chaotic Times”.
This session featured four department chairs or heads of departments chatting about the struggles they are facing because of the fast-changing needs and interests of their students and employers. One of the best points made in the session was that the departments are preparing students for newsrooms and large companies, when most will not work in companies.
This discussion really struck me. Most job growth is in small start-up businesses, and the jobs that we teach in broadcast change so much and have consolidated so much that the students coming out really won’t be doing exactly what they are being taught. So literally we are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist for companies they won’t work for.
How much of that is true? Well, I think in a lot of cases us academics are a little pessimistic and beyond the industry. When I left Ball State to work as a reporter, I was shocked by the old, low-quality equipment the industry was using. The industry is not as quick to purchase new equipment if the old equipment is working fine. It isn’t economically smart to do something like.
However, the panel in the session made a good point. What are departments supposed to be teaching in a world like this?
Well, for me— and many of the people in the room— it’s about the basics. Students need to learn proper grammar, writing skills, team collaboration and how to present well. They need to learn how to take notes and tell a good, compelling story. They need to learn how to find research and how to determine whether it’s credible or not. These are the basics of a good public communicator and journalist. Most of these students can easily adapt to the newest technology, but the basics remain constant between them all.
Now I’m not suggesting that we should ignore the technology, but I do think we should stop trying to keep up with it. Show students how to use lights and cameras and mobile devices and let me use that knowledge to adapt to the technology that will be prevalent when they finally make it in the industry.
One suggestion I loved was team teaching classes with adjunct professors. I would have loved having more professionals as professors during my undergrad. Not only are professionals up on what’s going on now, but they also are great connections in the industry and would have helped to get a job when I got out. Also, adjuncts cost less than regular professors because they don’t require benefits or full-time pay even, so why not use more of them?
