The future of journalism education conference (Part 2)

Posted by Soraya Kishtwari on June 22, 2009 at 2:23 PM

Integrated journalists for integrated newsrooms

Almost everyone present agreed that journalism schools had a duty to train students across all media disciplines, with everyone having the opportunity to learn about print, web, video and audio platforms regardless if they were specialising in newspaper, broadcasting or online journalism.

As for content, the educators had differing views on the importance of choosing a specialist field, with some saying it was important to cater to the needs of the industry and the wider community. Recent outbreaks in bird and swine flu as well as the global downturn were cited as examples of areas where journalistic expertise was lacking, with Doreen Weisenhaus, associate professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong, saying there was a great need for health journalists, particularly in Asia, where bird flu was first detected. She also said that as a key financial hub, Asia was calling out for journalists trained in financial reporting. Others made similar points about science and business journalism.

Eric Scherer, director of strategy and external relations at Agence-France Presse (AFP), however, expressed some doubts. "I believe that the more complex the world is, the more doubts I have about specialisation. With the advent of the digital revolution, everyone has a distribution tool and there will always be someone more specialised than the next. General knowledge is, thus, the most important tool we can give our students. The greatest added value will lie in the ability to connect the dots, linking up the economic crisis with climate change, for example, or poverty and the world food crisis. We need people with a very broad culture, both internationally, historically and with respect to a very broad range of issues. I say all this as a former financial journalist." Lesley Cowling from the University of Witwatersrand's journalism department agreed: "A journalist is a generalist," she said, "and should be able to contextualise information and translate it for the average person."

For other articles on this series on the future of journalism education conference, please visit:

Part 1: Reinventing the journalism curriculum
Part 3: Reinventing journalism & Network or die
Part 4: Tomorrow's journalist, an entrepreneurial spirit
Part 5: Media in a global context & Conclusions