Serena Carpenter joined the Arizona State University faculty in 2007 specializing in newer media after finishing her Ph.D. degree in Media & Information Studies at Michigan State University. Her research has been published in research journals such as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Mass Communication and Society, and Telecommunications Policy.
Carpenter teaches courses in the areas of online and broadcast journalism in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Carpenter has also taught courses at Michigan State University and Bloomsburg University. Her professional background includes working as a television reporter. Carpenter has produced an award-winning documentary on rural issues. She also works with journalists and faculty helping them transition to the online environment.
Her teaching and research interest areas include newer media, news quality, and sociology of news production. Carpenter is an active member of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, International Communication Association, Broadcast Education Association and National Communication Association.
How do you define mass communication?
This definition is not my own, but I am not sure who defined it. Mass communication is organized communication to anonymous audiences. The communicator operates within an organizational setting.
However, we have to go beyond the mass-marketing mindset. Educators not only have to reevaluate skills courses that they are teaching, but they have to also concentrate on discussing how communication is changing among individuals, and how the news industry fits into people’s lives. In the past, the mass media were directed toward a large, heterogeneous audience whereas today’s consumer market is more fragmented and complex than the mass market, which translates into news media having less impact in a concentrated way. Organizations need to understand readers and how to connect to readers offline and online. Power has tilted in the direction of the people. The use of social media is one approach to connecting to readers and opinion leaders.
This also means teaching journalists to not only understand how to produce online content under the organization’s umbrella, but also to educate students on the economic, entrepreneurial, and relational aspects of the business and the implications of their actions. Scott Rosenberg, formerly of Salon.com, said that being part of a monopoly let journalists be ignorant about every aspect of the business besides the content. Today, journalists need to understand the broader components of the business to survive. This includes understanding their readers to a greater extent. This is why I also believe that mass communication theory courses should contain interpersonal communication theory as well.
How do you keep your students excited about working in the field of communications in light of shrinking job opportunities?
Students are frustrated, scared and tired of hearing their future may not be possible in journalism. There is a good chance that journalism students will or have questioned their future. I tell them that journalism will always exist, however it may not be as they envision it.
Researchers argue that the work of journalists is a reflection of routines, however today’s world is unstable. To prepare them, we must think more broadly about our educational goals. We have to teach them to adapt and lead, not to just work for a news organization.
I encourage students to embrace their entrepreneurial spirit. In my online media class, I teach them skills that will not only be useful for traditional media, but also arm them with information on how they can create their own site and how they can use social media to promote their own content. There are opportunities; many students just don’t know where to look, or don’t understand that journalism is a product produced by many talented individuals and passionate organizations, not just those who work in a traditional newsroom.
What changes do journalism and mass communication programs need to make in order to stay relevant today?
The topic of how to educate students to produce online content is controversial. The increasing abundance of new technologies presents challenges to journalism and mass communication programs. Journalism and mass communication program educators should train students to do more than get a job, but they should also prepare them to evolve with the field. For example, training journalists to work only for print is not the most forward-thinking approach. Students must be trained to work for a variety of media outlets, not just the traditional media.
I believe teaching technological skills is important, but programs must do more than teach non-broadcast students how to shoot video or teach students how to create a Web page. These skills empower students to create their own content; students need to understand how to use these tools to communicate. I believe that understanding online communities and their culture is also an important knowledge area.
The mission at liberal arts colleges is to nurture students to become “whole” people. To survive the changes, students must possess both skills and broad social knowledge to understand to what extent their behavior and product influences society. If we just focus on skills training, we have prepared them to enter the field, but not to evolve with the field. We need to teach them to create, think critically and creatively, and solve problems.
If you could save one journalism and mass communication course from extinction, what would it be and why?
Theory.
Theory helps make sense of what is happening and what will happen. A good theory withstands time. The goal of scientific theory is to explain aggregate behavior, even when the journalism and mass communication field is in a state of flux.
For example, the definition of “what is news” is being challenged. Many people who aren’t employed as journalists are producing journalism. For some time, news content has looked somewhat similar in nature across mediums. For example, the framing, types of sources, and issues covered in the news media has been shown to similar. Theory is necessary to understand what leads humans to create and share, and how this influences content and people.
What new media tools or applications do you incorporate in your teaching? Why these in particular?
I change my syllabus every semester. Some experiments work, some are fine-tuned and some are shelved. For example, I just had my students live blog a guest speaker using Cover It Live. Live blogging is the act of exchanging commentary in real time. I will likely use it and Twitter for guest speakers, however I need to be a better guide in directing the conversation in a meaningful way.
As long as you teach them the basics, they will have the foundation to build their online communication, multimedia and Web design skills. I teach visual storytelling, use of social media, and Web page creation. It is too much for one course. Unfortunately, however, many programs cannot find individuals who can teach online skills. Thus the task of preparing students to work in an online world falls on a few people. But online communication is much more than teaching applications.
If you could offer a piece of advice to both your fellow educators and media professionals in the field, what would it be?
I would suggest talking with other faculty outside of your program. I know that this seems silly, however many faculty do not have access to resources to help them learn applications. I have spoken with so many faculty members who have expressed fear and frustration with learning new technology. However, it is not difficult to incorporate innovative techniques to engage students in the classroom; faculty just need someone to share with them a few ideas that can be incorporated in a classroom or direct them to resources that can help them.
This is what motivated me to start my blog, “Online Journalism” at http://serenacarpenter.com. I share resources, teaching strategies, newer media research, syllabi and handouts with educators, students and anyone else who wants to learn.