The Future of the Word “Journalism”

by Michael Bugeja and Eric Abbott, Iowa State

Iowa State and Illinois professors of journalism have put out a call for a summit on the value of journalism education, eliciting strong statements of support from faculty and staff members of both programs about the future of the word “journalism.”

Brian K. Johnson, department chair of the journalism program at the University of Illinois, saw the need for the summit after reading a Sept. 13 essay by Michael Bugeja in Inside Higher Ed concerning the discontinuation of the Journalism School at the University of Colorado.

Bugeja is the director of ISU’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

Johnson wrote Bugeja in an email, “What action could we journalism education leaders take, together, to educate our colleagues and top administrators at the nation’s universities?”

“I’m forever on a quest to make people understand that ‘information’ and ‘journalism’ are not the same thing. Journalism is ‘value-added’ information and its need is as great now as it ever has been,” Johnson added.

In response, Bugeja queried his Advisory Committee to ascertain the level of support for such a summit. Johnson did the same thing at Illinois. His committee notified the Greenlee School of its unanimous support—“the sooner, the better.”

Bugeja’s committee also unanimously endorsed such a conference. Moreover, each member submitted her or his own reason about the importance of the future of the word “journalism.”

Eric Abbott, director of graduate education, said that Iowa State was at the table at the dawn of organizations dedicated to teaching, research and standards in journalism education.

Abbott noted that Blair Converse, head of Technical Journalism at Iowa State from 1927-39, was president of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism (AATJ) in 1937 and vice president of the American Association of Schools and Departments of Journalism (AASDJ) in 1934.

Iowa State joined the American Association of Schools and Departments of Journalism in December 1931. ISU was already active in the AATJ at the time.

The AATJ evolved over the years into what is now the flagship organization of the discipline, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. In 1984, the AASDJ merged with a journalism administrators’ organization to become what is now the Association for Schools of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Converse was president of AATJ in 1937, and was vice-president of AASDJ in 1934, just a few years after Iowa State joined.

Converse died of a heart attack in 1939 at age 46. At the time of his death, colleague H.H. Herbert, director, School of Journalism, University of Oklahoma, wrote:

“The two associations devoted to the teaching of journalism, organizations in which Blair was so greatly interested and to which he contributed valuable and appreciated services, owe a debt to Blair for all that he did in the improvement of standards in education for Journalism.”

At the AASDJ’s 1933 meeting, two years after Iowa State was admitted, Converse gave a report of the research activities of Sigma Delta Chi (now the Society of Professional Journalists). He said that the fraternity is in a position to coordinate the research activities of three groups – organized publications, schools of journalism, and individual members. It is also able to serve as an intermediary between institutions fitted to conduct research (such as schools of journalism) and the users of research information (publications, associations and the like).

At the Dec. 29-30 1937 AASDJ meeting, Converse was a member of a committee on specific courses and principles for the curricula in specialized and critical journalism. Joining him on the committee were representatives from Stanford, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Columbia, Oregon, New York and Kansas State.

The committee report was presented by Converse:

“The committee finds no essential difference between training in journalism for newspaper work and training in journalism for special fields. Basically, journalism is an art or technique in gathering facts, writing for rapid reading, and editing for clarity and comprehensiveness. Whether the subject matter be police news or politics, science or art, engineering or agriculture, home economics or the junior league, the art of the journalist is essentially the same. The committee finds that the journalist in a specialized field is journalistically no different from his colleague in daily or weekly newspaper work; therefore, his journalistic training should be no different. The difference lies in the background training of the student preparing to enter specialized or critical journalism.”

Bugeja noted that the future of journalism education remains rooted in the past. “Converse saw that our discipline is distinct from others and should not be associated only with one platform, print. More than 73 years ago he and his committee realized what we have to remind others about concerning our pedagogy. Unlike disciplines like English, computer science and communication technology, journalism and mass communication create content for an audience.

“We train communicators ‘for hire’ based on that ability, regardless of the platform. That’s what the word ‘Journalism’ means.”

Faculty members and staff of Bugeja’s Advisory Group added their voices about the importance of journalism in the academy and society.

“Journalism is not for sale,” said budget officer Kathy Box. “With all the opinions floating around on every blog, Web site, and television and radio station, how does anyone really know what to believe? I can’t tell what is truth and what is fiction without journalism.”

Jane Peterson, associate director, noted that individuals and organizations that profit from an uninformed or misinformed public benefit greatly when the lines of journalism and journalistic practice “are blurred by talking heads, inexpert bloggers, and others who are wrapping themselves in the mantels of authentic information sources.

“Schools of journalism must not run away from the word ‘journalism’ just because there are those who have or would subjugate a noble profession. Journalism must be nurtured and advanced in our schools as we prepare journalists who are curious and would uncover that which others would like to keep covered; who would provide facts in an honest, ethical manner; and who recognize the gravity of their roles in a democratic society.”

Jeff Blevins, associate professor and undergraduate director, echoed those remarks. “Journalism is in the DNA of civil society,” he said. “It is the belief in truth and justice, as well as the pursuit of those values. If we kill journalism we will develop a toxic society that is determined only by the exercise of raw political power.”

Media historian David Bulla, also an associate professor, noted that journalism “has existed in this country for 300 years. Formal journalism education has existed for 100 years. The question for us is why did journalism education come into existence 200 years later? What did journalism need from education a century ago, and what does it need now?

“Journalism educators can answer those questions and save journalism education, or they can ignore them and see their colleges, schools, and departments slide away on the wrong side of the tide of history.”

Kim McDonough, internship adviser and program coordinator at the Greenlee School, affirmed that journalism is still very alive in the United States. “Right now a lot of people are confusing the words ‘dying’ and ‘evolving.’ The media industry is evolving due to the creation of new delivery methods, but the principles are still the same.”

Bugeja noted that Jan Slater, dean of the College of Media at Illinois and president of AEJMC, has communicated with him about the importance of defining journalism in a digital age with an emphasis on critical thinking. Slater has planned summits across the country to probe vital topics and how academe and industry can work together to inform the public and enhance democracy and education.