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Journalism schools?

18:18 / 08.12.06

Hey guys, who has gone to J school? What can people tell me about different schools?

I have just spent the last three years at a two year college, running their small weekly paper, and working at the local county paper (I have been working 50 hours a week as the associate editor for the last year).

Now, next fall is looming dangerously close, and I have yet to sign on with any four year university's journalism programs.

I guess I am just a bit nervous to make the jump. Advice and guidance?

22:48 / 08.12.06

A friend went to Rutgers, studied Journo-ism, and now works for The New Republic.

'sall I know.

01:12 / 11.12.06

I hear good things about Ryerson University's J school (I went to their architecture school, it rocked), if you're at all interested in coming a bit north and a lot east. Fees for international students are +/- $14,000-15,000 Canadian (+/- $12,000-13,000 US), which isn't too bad compared to what I see for some American schools. Toronto can be a bit expensive to live in, but international students get access to our healthcare system (it costs about $400 US per year, and is mandatory), which is, in my humble opinion, some pretty kick-ass helathcare.
Just a thought.
Oh - Link.

01:36 / 11.12.06

coincidentally, I'm two days away from presentingmy graduation paper and becoming a full fledge jornalist.

It's pretty cool a career, but here's two advices:

1 - distrust you professors, specially the older ones. Journalism is a rapidly changing profession, and most of them don't really have a clue about what's coming next; and

2 - do not hear what they tell you about "professional ethic". its most bollocks that translates to "do not piss off you editor and their bosses". Keep your own ethic

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

08:17 / 11.12.06

I went to Ryerson (Radio and Television Arts) too, and was the editor for the school paper there for a year (the Eyeopener, not that other one). The J-school there is very excellent.

However, I think there's something to be said for the days when journalists were people with history, English, philosophy and similar degrees that actually got into journalism, not people who were formally educated in how to get a scoop and structure a news story.

Same with my program. I did three years of radio and television, and when I graduated I felt like I'd learned a hell of a lot about how to "do" Radio and Television, but also that I and all my RTA and J-school peers had been trained to make media as though we were canning fish.

Unfortunately, the industry these days is such a mill that without a specialized degree it's hard to get a job. But when I look at the great journalists and broadcasters, they were people who learned about people and then did journalism, not people that learned about journalism and then did more of the same.

So another recommend for Ryerson, but with the addition that I don't think journalism schools produce great journalists. I think they produce perfectly adequate journalists, but there's a lot of self-learning and school-unlearning to do as well.

17:37 / 11.12.06

Yeah -- I suppose there must be editors out there who're more impressed by a journalism degree than by actual experience as a local reporter, but I've never met them.

18:35 / 11.12.06

Yeah, that is sad.

07:31 / 12.12.06

What, that editors are more impressed by experience rather than degrees?

17:27 / 12.12.06

I meant that it is sad that the media is getting so jumbled that one must have a degree to get hired.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:39 / 12.12.06

Well, I don't think that's true -- you can get a good job at a small paper without a j-degree, which will provide experience that, as grant mentioned above, can get you a foot in the door at larger places. In my experience (mainly in Toronto) you won't even get sneezed on at the major dailies unless you have a j-school degree or some solid life experience in journalism, but solid life experience doesn't require a degree to get.

Journalism school is the shortest path to goal for a bog-standard job in a large daily in a major city. But there are better ways to learn to be a journalist, and better (if slightly more meandering) routes that lead to professional journalism.

21:00 / 18.12.06

i went to a j-school (well, i did a journalism major at the University of Queensland - is that the same thing? we don't call em j-schools over here) and all i can say is, do a major in something else as well. having a specialisation is important if you want to write about anything other than car crashes and house fires. politics, science, law, medicine, counter-terrorism studies, anything - there's nothing worse than spending 3 years learning how to write in the upside down pyramid style and then competing against a professional political analyst for a job.

also, working in community radio/tv/newspapers or online (though not blogging, unless you're really really good) will help you get a job. be prepared to spend a while working for free just to get a foot in the door.

18:22 / 19.12.06

How hard is it to branch from print to other areas of media (asuming I have a J-degree, with a second major in Poli-sci)?

I have been in print for a while, and am at the point where I need to decide if I want to continue in print or start taking classes in radio and television, or god forbid web based media. but I only have time to (really) focus in one field.

20:39 / 19.12.06

it's doable, but you've gotta remember that the requirements are very different. for radio, you're going to have to sit a voice test to make sure you can do the deep radio voice and tv you'll have to do that, as well as a screen test. (how handsome are you? do you show up well on camera? how symmetrical is your face? are your teeth glowing white?)

where are you based? can you do an internship first to see if you can like it? many state broadcasters take interns, it's probably worth checking out.

22:04 / 19.12.06

Good idea.

17:11 / 22.12.06

However, I think there's something to be said for the days when journalists were people with history, English, philosophy and similar degrees that actually got into journalism, not people who were formally educated in how to get a scoop and structure a news story.

I think that doing a double-major with journalism and another program is a good idea, or even taking a minor in something else. That way students learn about the technical aspects of journalism while also learning about things to write about.

I was going to Concordia University in Montreal last year and working on one of the student papers there. I wasn't in the journalism program, but I know a lot of people who are or were. From what I understand, the first year introductory classes are of course very boring but there are more interesting classes after that. Some people I know love it and some people hate it. Some of the profs are really awesome and some aren't so great. I'm sure it's the same everywhere.

Most of the complaints I've heard from people in J-School at Concordia are about other students. There are three student newspapers on campus (two English, one bi-lingual) and a public relations rag printed by the university administration that students can also write for. The problem is, a lot of the J-School students don't write for any of them. It is possible at Concordia to get the degree and experience at the same time. I know people who are in the journalism program, work for one of the student papers, and also freelance for other publications in Montreal that aren't connected to the university. Unfortunately some people just want to get their degree and get out.

Oh yeah, one more thing about the journalism program at Concordia: you're required to either take French classes or pass French profinciency test before you graduate.