By Tricia Farwell
Assistant Professor, Middle Tennessee State University
Back in the dark ages, during my undergraduate education, there were two choices for me as a student (or at least that was how I saw things). Option one was to be on the print side of the world. Option two was to be on the broadcast side. In my mind, the two were never to meet. The broadcast students scrambled into their editing bays and studios; they played with pictures and sound. In my mind, print reigned supreme. We had words to craft into wonderful tapestries. We strutted into the computer labs, knowing that what we had to say was important.
A few courses into the program I experienced a crisis of epic proportions…I realized I didn’t like most of what was involved in being a journalist. Thanks to one wonderfully astute advisor, I was counseled to take public relations courses. I was lucky. I found a happily ever after early. Some of my friends weren’t as lucky and had to take “extra” courses when they found they didn’t like what they originally intended to pursue.
Fast forward a few years (ok, maybe a decade or two) and I find myself in a place I never expected to be: part of the curriculum committee discussing a course that, in my opinion, might help students to make slightly more informed choices. That course is our media writing course. In its current incarnation, the class is designed to be an overview of various types of writing that students of the mass media might encounter. As you can see by the sample syllabus, we try to spend a few sessions on each writing area. It’s a sampler platter, for sure, but one that may be more beneficial than harmful.
Yet, with the changes facing us in trying to keep the curriculum current, this course has come up for possible revision or even deletion. Easily, the strongest argument for ending the survey style of the course is that it is truly impossible to go into much depth on any of the subjects. It is difficult enough to teach news writing in one semester, let alone a few weeks. You can make that argument for each pod of the class: electronic media, advertising, public relations, online.
However, it seems that the argument overlooks one, maybe small, but relevant, benefit for our students. That would be exposure. While many of the students come to the course before they have committed to a specific sequence, most know where they want to fit in. They usually have a narrow-minded focus. They come in thinking they want to be in one area and feel there is never anything else. Yet, the survey of media writing introduces them, even if just in passing, to other options that they may not have considered. Interests can change based on experience in this course. Sometimes students who feel that they are destined for one area find out they don’t like that kind of writing but love writing in another area.
While I agree with those who say that we can’t do total justice to any of the topics in such a short time span, I still envision a place for media writing in our curriculum. It isn’t destined to give everyone a detailed picture of the writing for each sequence. Perhaps we should be happy that the students walk away with just one major concept from each sequence. The course, can, however, serve to give our students a taste of what they may experience in their chosen and other areas of specialization. For some specializations, such as public relations, this taste may be enough to make the students feel they can take on any task their boss gives them. For other areas, it may just provide students with respect for what their peers encounter on a day-to-day basis.
So the next time you’re in a meeting discussing the fate of a course that may not be able to do full justice to every topic, stop for a moment. Consider if the course may function as something else, something equally beneficial to the students. You may just find a place for it.
Tricia M. Farwell has worked in corporate public relations and advertising for more than 17 years. Farwell has presented research at the HIC on Arts and Humanities at the MPCA . Additionally, Farwell has authored the book, Love and Death in Edith Wharton’s Fiction. .