If you care about journalism schools, you got mighty nervous when Colorado decided to close one last spring. The Daily Camera offers a summary of the case. If want the inside scoop, download the full report (PDF) from the “Program Discontinuance Committee.”
“We can’t be afraid of change.”
Michael Carrigan, University of Colorado Board of Regents
Is journalism dead?
So many are asking this question that several Kent State students addressed it in a video. Nice job, guys. But from a PR perspective, denying rumors of your own demise sends a scary message. You know what they say: Perception is reality. And the reality of the news business is far from a rosy one. Some have even called it a “death spiral.”
Given this prevailing doom and gloom, we’re happy that Kent State’s JMC enrollment is holding its own. But a closer look at the numbers shows most of the growth in the electronic media (TV production) and public relations majors.
No one is surprised by the declining interest in journalism. Students entering college today don’t read newspapers — online or off. They get their information from social networks, and while they do follow links to mainstream news sites, they aren’t part of the readership that excites advertisers. Newspapers don’t help themselves by posting the product online for free, but studies tell us that people rarely pay for on line content.
While news is vital to democracy, the Golden Age of Journalism is over. And as Mr. Carrigan of Colorado put it, “We can’t be afraid of change.” Students will gravitate to majors that offer job opportunities, and their parents — facing a 4-year bill in the 6-figure range — are already demanding this early career focus.
So what’s a journalism school to do in this brave new media world? I have an idea. It’s gonna be a hard sell to the news establishment that rules the J-schools. But we’re running out of options.
A School of Storytelling
Yeah, I know. “Storytelling” as a professional discipline would be a tough one to brand. And who the hell pays $80-$100K to send their kids to storytelling school? So call it something else.
Point is, storytelling is the one thing that differentiates journalism schools from other campus departments and disciplines. It’s something we do exceptionally well. And while mainstream media may be in trouble, other organizations are paying handsome salaries and fees to effective storytellers. These organizations use their own websites, the social web and F2F to speak directly to the audiences who want to engage them.
So why not seize the moment and turn schools of journalism into schools that focus on the broader concept of storytelling? News still has a place in the storytelling school. But if we can get beyond news, students will have a much broader range of options.
Journalism schools already produce graduates who write, design, shoot, edit and program content. So the transition I’m suggesting isn’t radical. The mindset required is. It means that “news” no longer rules the roost.
To be viable, the School of Storytelling will require a few specialists in user-experience design and a few more in info/visual design. But it’s no big big deal. The rest of the storytelling puzzle we already understand or can quickly learn. Social media, for example, is hardly rocket science. Hey, I’m living proof — 58 years old with a Klout score to match.
But will the news establishment relinquish the keys to their kingdom? I can’t answer that. Moving our focus away from hardcore journalism will require a different orientation. This new form of storytelling doesn’t demand allegiance to AP Style. It doesn’t begin with the inverted pyramid. And it puts the 5W lead where it belongs: in the dumpster.
Storytelling School 2011 stresses non-linear communication, interaction, engagement, design, strategy, and research.
While the Golden Age of Journalism may have passed, the Golden Age of Storytelling is only now arriving. We can embrace the change and thrive. Or we can ignore it — and become Colorado.
The devil in the details
OK, smart guy. How ya gonna pull this off?
I’m not prepared to present a lot of details here. But I’ll try to get things rolling.
Core curriculum for a “School of Storytelling” will provide every student intense classes in narrative-style writing, information gathering and critical problemsolving. Studio classes will focus on multimedia techniques and/or design, with heavy emphasis on visual communication. This core curriculum will also include courses in applied communication research & theory.
Once students master the basics, they’re free to move into specialized concentrations. The very best students — the A-Team — will be free to select their own menu of classes that align with passions and interests.
Specialties? We live in world where generalists are in high demand. But student will still benefit from concentration in one or two areas that excite them. Let’s start with these 4 areas. Tell me what you’d like to add.
- News
- Strategic Communication
- Design
- Research
A Problemsolving Focus. That last two years of the curriculum will include faculty-facilitated team projects that bring together students from each specialty — researchers, designers, strategists and storytellers. Teams will explore, develop and present solutions for problems facing the region, the nation, or even the world.
By bringing the knowledge and creativity of each team member to bear, students will enjoy a real-world experience while also learning from one another. (Hat tip to my colleague, David Robins, for inspiring me to think about problem-based learning.)
Now, go back and review that bullet point list one more time. Only ONE of those concentrations, news, belongs in a traditional school of journalism. So as we move forward, let’s redefine the brand, and let’s move journalism out of the title.
I know that’s a tough one for some to swallow. But let’s not be afraid of change.
I’m pretty sure the folks in the English Department will object if we steal the “storytelling” brand. So let’s compromise on something like “School of Media and Communication Arts.” Or better yet, let’s do some research and call in branding experts to help us find the right name and positioning for this exciting new learning community.
If we embrace the digital media world, we’ll have an exciting new story to tell. If we don’t, we become Colorado.
I could not agree more. In the short period I’ve been working in the PR industry I’ve witnessed an unraveling of journalism as I new it while in college.
It is no longer my personal preference to obtain my news directly from a paper, magazine or even a news website. I get my news from my Twitter account. I get updates directly from organizations and businesses. I’m still reading a pile of publications every week, because my job calls for it, but I’m relying less and less on those to get my “story” across. I now find if I can post an interesting Tweet or item on my organization’s website, the media come to me for the story. That didn’t happen a few years ago.
While there is value in having an editor/producer filter news and help dictate what is news, I feel the days of balanced and fair reporting are fading. It’s now based on sales. Sweeps and sensationalism sells. Journalism needs to evolve.
Wow, does this make sense. It’s practical, forward-thinking, and centered on student success. Thanks for the epiphany!
Your passion is contagious, Bill. I’ll admit reading this kind of made my heart start racing. This is a logical plan for the J-school’s future. Storytelling is the common thread. At its core, the KSU J-school is made up of the main areas you outlined, and it does a great job in each of these concentrations. We just have to shift the focus from being solely on news. And, as you said, we have to brand it differently. Change is good. A little scary, maybe – but good.
Thanks for dropping in, Stef. Those who’ve thrived in communication careers since 2000 are those who have embraced interaction of the social web. Sure, it can be scary in some ways. I mean, any bozo with a blog and camera now has a voice. That’s a good thing on one hand, but also a bad thing, as we run the risk of dumbing down public discourse. (This is how I explain the Tea Party!)
I reinvented myself with this blog. I found a new voice and a new group of colleagues who are scattered across the globe. In the process, I became a more effective teacher. Social media also gives me the courage to speak up and discuss diverse points of view — points that would have been shouted down a decade ago by established forces.
Change? It doesn’t scare me one bit. I refuse to operate out of fear. Besides, that’s no fun! Web 2.0 (Does anyone call it that anymore?) has opened thousands of doors to those willing to take risks. There remains an important place here for the news function. We just don’t know yet what it’s going to look like. So let’s create it, shall we?
Timing is everything. This story just broke on “Business to Community.” It includes 46 comments from experts, including this one from my colleague, Bob Batchelor. What’s that saying about “great minds”?
I miss it when you blog. Please blog more often? I know posts like this take a lot of research and critical thinking, but this is one of the coolest pieces I’ve read in a long time. This idea is dead on and honestly, I’m so thankful for the coursework that was required of me. Talking with other recent grads from various schools, I’m meeting young professionals who have never taken a VCD class or an Online tactics class and who never were asked to set up a professional Twitter presence or LinkedIn account. The coursework changes the J-School may see in the future seems even better aligned with what industry professionals are seeking and making students well-rounded “storytellers” is a very logical step forward. And yes, in agreement with Mr. Batchelor, CONTENT IS KING.
Twenty-five years ago we called storytelling “new journalism.”
Whatever you call it, make it engaging and interesting and provide an emotional hook if appropriate and it will grow an audience.
And of course embrace the digital.
Eight years ago Ohio State’s j-school had fallen into such sorry shape that I thought it would soon disappear. Last year I met the new faculty adviser (AP style still demands “adviser” sted the much more commmon use of “advisor”) to the Lantern and toured the old newsroom with its shiny new iMacs and a digital video studio and met some very impressive young journalists/communicators.
It gave me hope.
But please, please teach the kids how to write.
Thanks, Dave. It seems that writing is the lost art in this digital age. The students are digital natives and comfortable in the space. But they struggle mightily with the written word — and almost every other aspect of storytelling. Why? For one, they don’t read much. And when you aren’t exposed to good writing, it’s hard to develop your own voice and style.
Writing skills can be taught. I just wish they’d start in K-12. It would let me do a lot more here in the big leagues!
BTW, in my day the labs in the J-School had Royal manual typewriters. Writing took a lot of physical exertion.
I think your bullet point list makes a lot of sense. I stopped reading daily newspapers a long time ago and, although I still read weekend papers, I usually don’t finish articles because the writer starts saying the same thing over again just to fill space. So the story in the storytelling falls flat.
This may be why we get our “news” from platforms that have much shorter stories because they don’t need to fill the traditional news hole. Not having to fill a finite “hole” allows for telling a story as a story and not just filling in more words. And if the audience analysis part of your “research” bullet point does its job, we’ll know even better how to write good stories.
What a wonderful proposal!! I would jump all over this if it were available. I don’t quite fit into the advertising business (too pushy) and while public relations is better, it still doesn’t feel right either.
This new idea seems to take the best parts from each JMC program and mixes them together to create this… super major. It has the creativity of VCD with the discipline of news writing and then adds a splash PR, marketing and advertising. You can’t get any more well-rounded than that. Where do I sign up?
I can only hope that people open their eyes and realize we need to adapt before it’s too late. In order to regain the respect we once had, we’re going to have to do something big. High five to you, Mr. Sledzik.
Thanks for the comment, Brittni. I should probably have placed more emphasis on the need for graphic design and user-experience design as part of the storytelling school. Both are critical, and at Kent State, those units are housed in separate schools — both within our own College of Communication & Information — but still separate. We seldom collaborate with them, and that weakens the programs. I hope we can fix it.
Good post, Bill. In PR, our program has been following these theme or some time. For social media writing we dropped the more formal style (but still have a loose allegiance to AP style). Storytelling has been the hallmark of good PR, as well as journalism, for many decades. We just didn’t emphasize (recognize?) it’s dominance.
One area I would add to your Specialties list is multifaceted storytelling – a convergence of multimedia, photos and writing to present the story. A story, well done, that is well written with video, photo(s) and graphics needs to become a standard – not a once a day/weekly special feature. Infographics have been around since the beginning of USA Today, but we all know how they added to the success of that paper. They are seeing a resurgence today.
I believe a student that graduates with the ability to do all of the above creative work has a bright future in PR and journalism.
Robert,
I’ve been a fan of the Auburn program for some time. I’m impressed with your approach to multimedia and the social web in the storytelling process. But more important, I’m in awe of the success your grads are having once they leave Auburn. One major employer, 5 years back, told me if I want my students to compete, I should steal a page from the book of Robert French. (Confession: I was already doing that!).
For the longest time, PR students at Kent State and many other J-schools have spent their first 2-3 writing classes doing basic newswriting and reporting. That works to a degree, but I’m convinced there’s a better way to lay the skills foundation — a way that works better in the new media landscape.
Professor Sledzik, I recall when you discussed the 3-30-3 rule, outlining the short attention span of American news consumers. Like many, I find it painstakingly hard to read past the first graph in a news article due to fluff or lack of creativity-and I’m a book/magazine worm!
I totally agree that content is and always will be king! But often when people hear that saying they assume this only pertains to written content. As you pointed out, in this evolving world, it’s the number of different ways a story can be told (video, photos, graphics) that will reinvent storytelling.
Thanks, Issac. Credit our friends at the Impact Group for 3-30-3. Timely, since they’re visiting my classroom tomorrow to talk about that very subject.
i’m a storyteller and a professor of digital journalism, but i don’t think storytelling is the key to journalism or saving journalism or saving journalism school. storytelling, as it has been done and evolved for the past 75 years is based in annecdotal retelling and amplification of certain perspectives and using devices that generally misrepresent the complexity of actuality. in bending reality into a classic narrative shape, journalists warp actuality. 3 random quotes are not as strong as social science research methodology. in the age of information and data, journalism must act more like a social science of current events to offer something valuable when everyone has an easier platform for telling their own stories.
Point taken, David. And you will get no argument from me. So many stories today are complex and so many journalists are ill-equipped to tell them. A basic understanding of math and science is sorely lacking among J-grads. I see it every day.
My case here isn’t about fixing the journalism side of the house. I wish I could do that. I’m not sure anyone can do that, given the breakdown of the news establishment. What I’m presenting is an program to harness the talents of the journalism school — talents based on storytelling — to prepare student for a much broader range of careers in communication. But this won’t erase your concerns about communicators who “misrepresent the complexity of actuality.” A communicator — journalist or advocate — has an obligation to present the story accurately and ethically. As as one who built a career as an advocate, I know how difficult it can be to avoid spin.
Thanks for dropping in on the conversation.