The $19,000 press pass - a former journalism school dean asks, is it worth it? - Carolyn Lewis

Washington Monthly, May, 1986 by Carolyn Lewis

THE $19,000 PRESS PASS

Ask any older journalist about the usefulness of a journalism school education and you're likely to be treated to a lecture straight out of The Front Page. Kid, he'll say, you learn reporting by reporting--by hustling, digging, and wearing out shoe leather. And you've got to have your head read to go to some highfalutin journalism school.

That approach, I once thought, was narrow and closed-minded. Journalism is badly in need of critical self-evaluation. The profession could be markedly improved by young journalists with deeper insight, more education, and a creative bent. In theory, a university is a suitable place to learn, reflect, and experiment.

As a working reporter with 24 years' experience and a teacher of both graduate- and undergraduate-level journalism for seven years, I confess that the curmudgeonly old journalist is probably right. The kind of journalism taught in the schools where I was an instructor could be learned by any bright high-school graduate in eight weeks on a small-town weekly. What's more, instead of forking over several thousand dollars to the university bureaucracy, he could be earning his living while learning his trade.

Journalism education ought to be training young people to think critically and evaluate information, but I discovered instead that most university programs are merely trade schools. What they teach is grount-level journalism--who, what, when, and where but not the whys or whithers. Instead of a community of scholars, I found an enclosed universe where professors are concerned more with their egos and perquisites than the profession they are supposed to be serving. Instead of talented, eager students imbued with a sense of mission, I found countless students who lacked the drive, the dedication, and even the competence in English that a good journalist must have.

What students fail to get at journalism school is precisely what they have a right to expect from any university program: high-level education that challenges their intellects. They have a right to expect an education that trains them to be more than laborers in the trenches churning out predictable reports on sewer boards and courthouses (though they need to know that, too). They should be trained to ask the questions unposed by officials, to help set agendas instead of following the agendas set by governments and public relations people. And they should be trained in the exacting science of transforming raw information into substantive and thoughtful journalism.

Just the facts ma'am

My first journalism job was with United Press International. I was a raw, untutored kid, fired with ambition. Surrounded by experienced reporters, pressed by constant deadlines, I learned by listening, watching, and doing. I worked hard. I made mistakes. And I learned the basic skills. In the past decade, that kind of opportunity has become almost nonexistent. A job applicant has to have several years' experience before he is likely to get a reporting job at a major wire service. That is unless he goes to journalism school. The degree in journalism, for those without experience, is the great equalizer. It can open doors that would otherwise remain closed to the neophyte.

"The purpose of journalism school is to help you get a good job,' says Josh Friedman, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter at Newsday and a 1968 graduate of Columbia. But, at least in newspapering, the number of jobs is shrinking. As newspapers around the country fold, media organizations are snapping up the laid-off, experienced reporters instead of students fresh out of journalism programs.

The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund reports that in 1985, newspapers with a circulation of more than 10,000 hired 64 percent of their new reporters from other papers. That compares with 39 percent in 1974. Meanwhile, the number of students majoring in "mass communications' increased from 13,000 in 1975 to 20,000 in 1985. The bulk of these young people end up in public relations jobs or employment on trade journals or in television, all fields that are expanding.

For the handful of experienced journalists from smaller markets who take time off to go to journalism school, however, the credential can make a difference in getting a newspaper job. For the investment of $19,000--the cost of living expenses and tuition at the Columbia Journalism School--that prestigious degree can accelerate the climb to a larger market. Regardless of its real worth, the image of Columbia still carries weight in some quarters, especially if it is backed by a glowing reference from a working reporter who happens to be on the adjunct faculty.

Columbia offers an eight-month graduate program, geared almost exclusively toward just-the-facts-ma'am journalism. Except for one or two electives, a master's project that is a magazine piece, and a total of about 17 days devoted to editing, radio writing, and media law, the program consists of writing and reporting workshops. It is a high-speed, highly intensive, practical program, with almost no time or room for flexibility or intellectually stimulating courses. All the students are required to take the basic courses, even those who have had several years' experience on a college paper or as working professionals.