College for Journalism Degree

As much as I hate to say it, Kansas ought to be considered among the same tier as Indiana, Penn State, North Carolina, etc.

I wouldn't trade my Missouri experience for the world, but then, I might be a little biased.

 

Seriously. I would do all I could to discourage my kids from getting a journalism degree.

I think most journalism schools are about 20 years behind the times in teaching students what skills they need to get what jobs are out there.

 

Yep. That's why you pick a really good school, major in econ. or something like that, and then learn about journalism in the field. Maybe take some journalism electives. I picked my no-name school because it had a journalism program instead of bigger-name programs in state that did not. Meanwhile, people from the school that does not are in some of the most visible roles in the industry.

 

If I had it to do over again, I'd go to a journalism school in a city.
I think the key to getting a good job out of school is making good connections and having solid internships, and I think it's easier to do both when you're in an urban area.
Most of the papers in that area have staffers that teach on the side at a college (Sal Paolantonio at St. Joseph's comes immediately to mind), and it's been my finding that internships like to hire local.

 

Michigan doesn't even have a journalism program/major.

And not to offend anyone on here that may have gone there, it is a great school, but not exactly top tier for journalism.

Go there to be a doctor, engineer or football player.

 

Journalism schools that always stuck in my mind:

Northwestern
Columbia
Princeton
Stanford
Missouri
Michigan State
Florida
Arizona State


Of course, I may be completely wrong on one or two, I'm no espert.

 

Y'all love those big name, big D-I sports schools, don't you?

And Ace, that's not necessarily true about all of them being 20 years behind the times. You just have to know where to look.

 

My point is that that doesn't matter. It's a big-name school with an outstanding education. You'll do better there than No-Name J-School. Trust me

 

No, I won't trust you. I think you're wrong.

Some of you get way to bogged down in the hype of things. I know plenty of people who went to a big-name school and felt like a heffer with a bar code ear tag in a herd full of them.

Degrees can open doors, yes. But go some place where you can write constantly, and some place where the teachers don't just give lectures to hundreds in giant classrooms.

 

It's not the program, it's the journalist.

You don't even need to get a degree in journalism to be a journalist. As long as you get yourself practical experience in journalism, you can get a degree in something else, and it doesn't have to be "similar" like English.

You could get a degree in history or economics or somesuch and still be a damn good journalist. You could go to a school without a well known journalism program and still be a damn good journalist. You can go to the best J-school in the world and still be a shitty journalist (see: Blair, Jayson).

 

I'm sorry, did the Michigan Daily shut down operations? And the Ann Arbor News, it was my understanding that it was one of the best sections of its size in the country. Things must have changed.

Everyone has a story about the Harvard/Stanford/Michigan/UNC graduate they met who doesn't know his ass from his elbow. Sorry, but those anecdotes don't do it for me. These are good schools that produce, on the whole, good journalists. George Dohrmann is the lead investigative reporter at Sports Illustrated. He's won a Pulitzer. He went to Notre Dame, which doesn't have a journalism major.

 

Rick Bragg won a Pulitzer. He didn't go to college. What's your point?