The future of journalism education conference (Part 4)

Others were also concerned about the quality of the information available on the Web, with Doreen Weisenhaus adding that Google had created a false sense of security, with students falsely believing that everything can be found on the Net. Peter Herford, director of the International Media Institute and journalism professor at Shantou University, has a similar experience: "When I taught at Columbia, one of the most difficult tasks was to convince students to trek the 200 metres between the School of Journalism and the library. One of the challenges in our research process is to teach students that there are resources available, which may take an incredible amount of time but may be much richer than the online resources. "

Another question looked specifically at how the Internet had helped to eliminate distance and, to a lesser extent, international borders, by allowing information to flow through uninhibited online.

One of the difficulties that journalism schools are faced with is trying to anticipate any technological changes likely to affect the work of journalists, but other than monitor the media for any emerging trends and new products, it is difficult to do this, in practice.

At the University of Missouri School of Journalism, however, journalism students are being encouraged to literally invent their own futures by engaging with new technology and carrying out lab-based research and experiments. "One of our student groups was working with our engineering students on developing applications for the iPhone, looking more seriously at what journalists might do in this area," said Fritz Cropp, director of international affairs at the school.

At Columbia, the journalism department has teamed up with the School of Engineering to offer students a two-year programme, which combines journalistic training and the writing of sotware codes. Nicholas Lemann says content will vary from year to year, depending on the demands of the industry.

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

Part 1: Reinventing the journalism curriculum
Part 2: Integrated journalists for integrated newsrooms
Part 3: Reinventing journalism & Network or die
Part 5: Media in a global context & Conclusions