Dimensions of Journalism Education

• In Event: Journalism Education in the Digital Mediascapes

Abstract

With the structural changes in our communication environment not only the practice of journalists is changing but also the notions held what journalism is in the first place. And this, as a secondary consequence, has triggered discussions about what to expect from journalism education and training. Of course, the answers to all these questions are closely interrelated. Looking at publications in the field they are also wildly diverse and contradictory. There are basically two dimensions on which the discussions take place.

The first dimension has at its end points the notions of a still existing clear identity and distinctness of a professional journalism versus the ‘liberalization’ and/or ‘democratization’ of the roles of communicators. In the first notion there exists a definable role of professional communicators whose function for society is distinct from output created by any other communicative roles (such as bloggers or twitterers). In the second notion, the lines are blurred and no longer justifiable and any communication voiced on public issues is of the same value or can, at least, not be distinguished by criteria of quality. In its extreme version this position claims not only the end of journalism but also of journalism education because there exist no criteria from which educational content could be derived.

The second dimension refers to the primary competence of journalists and as a consequence the primary content of journalism education. On one end of the scale we find scholars and practitioners of journalism and journalism education who put the focus on technology, on the other end we find those who put the focus on subject knowledge. In the first instance, it is the rationale that professional communicators need to be apt in the usage ever changing and developing technologies and in the awareness of how these technologies are used by their ‘audiences’. As a consequence these technologies are put in the center of journalism education. On the other end we find proponents of journalism as the ‘new knowledge profession’ who argue that journalists are the most important social role for critically analyzing and interpreting the social and political process. As a consequence they argue for an education that focuses on ways how to assess evidence, make inferences, and understand human behaviors in all areas. The consequence of this would be a much closer integration of journalism education with other disciplines in the humanities and sciences.

Author

• Wolfgang Donsbach, Technical U - Dresden