Despite the decline in the newspaper industry, students are still flocking in record numbers to study journalism at third level especially in the American journalism colleges, according to the the Capital Times.
By the end of 2008 American daily newspapers had slashed jobs by 11.3% and in 2009, as we know, the situation is worsening with entire papers going under, cutting huge amounts of staff or resorting to being solely online. But for some reason there has been an increase in the amount enrolling for undergraduate journalism courses. The University of Georgia reported almost 200,000 students enrolling in 2007, an increase of 41.6% from 1997. Even last year, universities such as those at Columbia, Maryland and Stanford saw significant increases in the amounts enrolling.
UW Madisons Journalism School has had to turn down 55% of applications over the past three years due to space limitations but they have upgraded curriculum to include the more technological approach that’s engulfing the profession. They include more multimedia aspects as well as the fundamental techniques in writing and reporting. They say “the idea is to give students a strong, multifaceted foundation.”
The article goes on to give the opinions of the students on recruitment in the field and on the schools themselves. Some are positive about it, like Tom Lea, a sports journalist for online publication badgerblitz.com. Others like Ashley Spencer, a graduate at Madison, seem somewhat regretful about choosing this profession saying “I think journalists are completely undervalued and work very hard for very little pay”.
There will always be a place for news in society, it just seems to be the medium that’s changing and we have to adapt to these changes. William Bleyer, who is said to have started studying journalism at Madison in 1905, said that “the future of journalism depends on the character of our newspapers.” However Katy Culver, staff member at Madison has adapted this, saying, “The future of our democracy depends on the character of our journalism. It’s not tied to a medium. It’s tied to the practice of going out and seeking information, skeptically challenging institutions and maintaining accountability. That’s the nature of journalism.” So while Journalism essentially remains the same, as long as we keep up with the times, it will always be there, just through different forms.
