History of American Journalism meets Cross Cultural Journalism
The History of American Journalism and Cross-Cultural Journalism courses were most frequently cited by alumni as the classes they found least useful after graduation. Many said they thought the basic principles were important but too much time was spend on the details at the expense of spending time in a class more dedicated to practical skills. We see students in history of American journalism not given the opportunity to actually engage with the media from the periods they are studying. We see topics in cross-cultural journalism that are best suited for group discussion, not a huge lecture.
We propose that history of American journalism and cross-cultural journalism both courses both be condensed. The history requirement would be two credit hours and cross-cultural journalism would be one credit hour.The History of American journalism course needs of a face-lift. Many suggested that the information in the course could easily be condensed. "Although I appreciate the value that the journalism school places on the past, I think History of American Journalism was my least favorite class. There is something to be said for looking back and reminiscing on the past, but with so many drastic changes in journalism occurring, I think it’s more important to focus on the present," said alumna Ashley Trent, associate editor at Talcott Communications.
Because the journalism world is changing at such a rapid rate, it is important to keep history as a required element in the Missouri School of Journalism's curriculum but to reshape the syllabus so that the course speaks to the changes in journalism. Students will graduate from the school with an understanding of how their profession has changed over time so that we continue to maintain some sense of tradition in American journalism.
Curriculum for history courses must be more applicable to today's journalism market. For instance, students could learn to compare the partisan press of the 19th century to the partisan cable news media of today. Further, the actual reading and viewing of journalism across various time periods should also be incorporated into the required coursework so that students are understanding not only the tenants of various time periods, but the different ways of writing, reporting and visually conveying the news.
The cross-cultural journalism course is good in theory, but the format has reduced the usefulness of the course. Alumni and students referenced the need to change the course from a large lecture to small, discussion-based classes. Even creating a lab portion of the course could facilitate actual discussion about a set of issues that continue to affect newsrooms.
Christie Smythe, a reporter at law360.com, attended the university when cross cultural had a lab. "While cultural issues are certainly important in journalism, I found the lecture material to be overly simplistic and about on par with a sixth-grade social studies lesson in terms of depth of insight," Smythe said. "The small-group discussion section portion of the class was more enlightening, however, by providing a forum for exploring other people's views in an unstructured but more sophisticated way."
Many people who responded to the survey said that although Cross Cultural deals with important topics, it is not necessary to spend an entire semester on them. Susan Gill, a 2005 alumna, said, "The entire curriculum could have been summed up in a one-week period titled 'Do your research, and don't rely on stereotypes. Otherwise, you'll offend someone.'"
