COMENIUS UNIVERSITY BRATISLAVA THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

English for Ac !"#ic P$r%os"s Co$rs" &or'

DOES EDUCATION OF (OURNALISTS FOLLO& THE CURRENT TRENDS AND CHANGES IN THE MEDIA)
D *i! T*r!on Study Programme: Journalism

Br +isl * ,-./

Do"s "!$c +ion of 0o$rn lis+s follo1 +h" c$rr"n+ +r"n!s n! ch ng"s in +h" #"!i )

A2s+r c+ The aim of this thesis is to dispute the current university degree education of journalists in Slovakia and propose suggestions how to change the status quo. It is also concerned with the media shift in terms of evolving media market and emergence of new positions such as data journalist or social media editor and others. The thesis consists of three parts. irstly! it attempts to identify what is the current state of journalism education. Secondly! it lays out different ways how the education could "ecome more fle#i"le and adapta"le to new trends in the media. inally! the thesis provides advantages of steering new media in the curriculum and gives a couple of e#amples how anyone can make his or her journalism education "etter. The study came to a conclusion that majority of the students asked are not satisfied with their current education! saying it is too theoretical and they lack practical skills "eing taught. 3"4 1or!s: education! journalism! new media! trends! audience! media! shift

$eing a journalism student I asked myself this question over and over again and I always ended up with the same answer. %o! journalism education does not follow the current trends and changes in the media. &ather than mourning the sad conclusion! the answer pushed me towards looking for an answer! which of course "rought up other questions. Is it only my alma mater which is infected with this slowness towards a change with more innovative approach to education' (here is the pro"lem' (hat can I do a"out it' )nd after some searching I came to a conclusion that the pro"lem I am facing is "eing widely discussed around the world "y leading e#perts in the field. *nfortunately! there is no one way and no one answer to the pro"lem! though! there is an approach anyone can adopt towards a "etter journalism education. S+ +" of 0o$rn lis# "!$c +ion +ric %ewton,-./,01 claims: 2To teach journalism in the digital age you have to teach "oth journalism and the digital age 3 and use modern tools to do it.4 +very year The Poynter Institute for 5edia Studies pu"lishes a study on the state of journalism education. 6oward in"erg of the The Poynter Institute -./,0! p. 71 "egins the introduction to the report with this statement: 2I "elieve that journalism educators need to rethink how programs are constructed and how teaching is delivered. That means entering the "umpy world of doing things differently! moving out of the classroom ,a senior adviser to the president at the John S. and James 8. 9night oundation

comfort :one.4 in"erg -./,0! p. 71 continues: 2This is the time for educators to em"race new forms of teaching. Teaching is evolving from a teacher;centric approach to a student<user;centric world = just as the traditional media role! once the gatekeeper for all news >scarcity model?! has evolved to a role of guide or curator.4 The State @f Journalism +ducation ./,0 report is "ased on a survey conducted on more than ,!A// journalism educators! media professionals and students. Some of the key findings -./,0! p. ,B1 reveal: 2Thirty;nine percent of educators say journalism education is keeping up with industry changes a little or not at all. +ditors and staffers are even harsher! with 7A percent saying the academy isnCt keeping up with changes in the field. Thinking "ack to the last person their organi:ation hired! only .D percent of media professionals say the person had 2most4 or 2all4 of the skills necessary to "e successful.4 The results are not speaking in favor of current education and suggest that a new approach is crucial if journalism schools want to keep up with the industry. $ut what is more important! this is not a local pro"lem! "ut glo"al! an issue for most of the journalism students out there. Follo1 n! n+ici% +" irst! it must "e stated that there is no"ody calling for rewriting the core principles of education of journalists which are news gathering and reporting accompanied "y learning the necessary skills! "e it writing! speaking into a microphone or studying the language of the media. Theory is always needed "efore practice! otherwise one does not know what to do. The pro"lem concerning theory is elsewhere 3 most of the te#t"ook largely in use have "een written "efore year .///. It may seem it is only couple of years ago! "ut in an industry which is changing with the technology! this means ages. The simple way of stating how journalism education should keep up with the media shift is "y following and anticipating the new trends in the media. @f course this could "e confusing when the trends are ever changing and new journalistic terms are invented all the time. There are journalists e.g. 5c9erral -./,0! p. .71 talking a"out data journalism: 2Preaching the value of data always has "een part of my news writing classes! even at the "asic level. It can help do all the things good written news stories do = identify trends! provide conte#t! identify anomalies! illuminate disparities and validate information coming from other sources. The list goes on. $ut I always remind students that the data cannot overwhelm the story. It helps complement the story = like the seasoning helps complement great spaghetti sauce.4 Then there are 2journo;coders4! journalists who can get around computers "etter than your average journalist and are a"le to write different kinds of programs or algorithms. They also feel strongly

a"out understanding data as 8i: 6annaford -./,71 states: 2There seems little dou"t that an understanding of programming is an increasingly useful skill in the journalistCs toolkit and one which is valued in the newsroom.4 )nd there are others who suggest all other kinds of journalistic skills should "e taught at universities. They might "e all right! "ut then the study of journalism would take much longer. @ne thing educators can do is to introduce their students with the newest trends in the media and encourage them to e#periment. In the world of social media the new mantra is 2your readers are your pu"lishers4 as in good content spreads "etter once the readers like it! they share it among their friends. In this case )l"erto Eairo -./,.! p. FF1 provides a valua"le insight : 2Gou will never hear a writing journalist say that her goal is to strive for a good literary style "y using elegant sentences and sophisticated structures. 6er style is just a tool to facilitate comprehension and to wake up emotions in readersC minds so theyCll a"sor" difficult ideas with ease. )esthetics do matter! "ut aesthetics without a solid "ack"one made of good content is just artifice.4 (hat this means in terms of journalism education is the need to prepare future journalist for the real world where no"ody counts the nice sentences they write. (hat counts are the num"ers of readers or viewers who read! watch or tune in when a journalist produces something. L"+ +h" !isr$%+ion 2"gin To "ring the paper to a close! I could summari:e all the main points journalism educators should do to make the e#perience and the overall take away of education "etter. $ut "eing a student myself I would rather state three areas where many educators agree students can "egin the change for "etter education "y themselves. irst! it is the smart use of social media. Social media is everywhere and also the study shows that almost everyone uses it daily. 5any good educators already use social media to share their e#periences and tips and many good journalists use it everyday to connect to people! find stories or sources. Simply "y following the right people! one can learn a lot. Second! the emergence of massive open online courses -5@@E1 lets anyone choose from a variety of courses led "y world class specialists. Just to name a few! there is Eoursera! *dacity! +dF! 9han )cademy! iversity and lots of others. There are also many interesting and noteworthy courses suita"le for a journalistHs curriculum. Third! "ecause of the lack of the up to date te#t"ooks in the sylla"i! reaching for more current "ooks on journalism is essential. ) few journalists pu"lish "ooks once they have achieved some goal in their carrier and these are usually full of case studies! just to name a few! there is Simon &ogers! the

founder of the first data "log. Then there is $en ry! leading e#pert in data visuali:ation. @r there are documentary movies made "y journalists a"out media and journalism! such as Page @ne: Inside the %ew Gork Times. In conclusion! it is fair to say that study of journalism is not the only one that should reflect on itself. @n the other hand! journalism is something people run across everyday! either reading the newspapers! "rowsing the internet for news! checking their social media channels! listening to radio or watching television. )s Jeff Jarvis -.//B! pp. .,/;.,,1 asserts in his "ook: 2+ducation is one of the institutions most deserving of disruption = and with the greatest opportunities to come of it. Eall me a utopian "ut I imagine a new educational ecology where students may take courses from anywhere and instructors may select any students! where courses are colla"orative and pu"lic! where creativity is nurtured as Ioogle nurtures it! where making mistakes well is valued over sameness and safety! where education continues long past age .,! where tests and degrees matter less than oneCs own portfolio of work! where the gift economy may turn anyone with knowledge into teachers! where the skills of research and reasoning and skepticism are valued over the skills of memori:ation and calculation! and where universities teach an a"undance of knowledge to those who want it rather than manage a scarcity of seats in a class.4 )lthough this was written in .//B! more than five years ago! it is perfectly accurate today as it was then. +ducation should "e enjoya"le and a"ove all forward thinking.

R"f"r"nc"s E)I&@! ). ./,.. The Functional Art: An introduction to information graphics and visualization . San rancisco: %ew &iders! IS$% BJA;/;0.,;A07J0;J I%$+&I! 6oward. ./,0. Rethinking Journalism Education: A Call for Innovation. In State ./,0.pdf! approached ./,7;/0;0, 6)%%) @&L! 8i:. ./,7. Recalculating the ne&sroom: The rise of the 'ourno(coder) http:<<www.journalism.co.uk<news<recalculating;the;newsroom;the;rise;of;the;journo; coder;<s.<aMMMD7D<! approached ./,7;/0;0, J)&NIS! J. .//B. *hat *ould +oogle ,o) %ew Gork: 6arperEollins Pu"lishers! IS$% BJA;A/; A,/B;,7A;0 5c9+&&)8! 5. ./,0. Steering data 'ournalism into the curriculum in OuillP Nol. ,/, Issue 7! ISS% //00;D7JM %+(T@%! +ric. ./,0. ,o universities hear the critics of 'ournalism education) f

Journalism Education !"#$% p. 7 http:<<www.newsu.org<courseKfiles<State@fJournalism+ducation

http:<<www.knightfoundation.org<"logs<knight"log<./,0<0<,J<do;universities;hear;critics; journalism;education<! approached ./,7;/0;0, &G! $en. http:<<"enfry.com<a"out<! approached ./,7;/7;/J &@I+&S! Simon. http:<<simonrogers.net<a"out<! approached ./,7;/7;/J Page @ne: Inside the %ew Gork Times. http:<<www.imd".com<title<tt,JAJJJJ<! approached ./,7;/7; /J http:<<coursera.org! approached ./,7;/7;/D https:<<www.ed#.org! approached ./,7;/7;/D https:<<www.udacity.com! approached ./,7;/7;/D http:<<www.khanacademy.org! approached ./,7;/7;/D http:<<iversity.org! approached ./,7;/7;/D

5$"s+ion ir"6 Loes education of journalists follow the current trends and changes in the media' The aim of this -uestionaire is to identif. the pro/lems% &hich concern 'ounalism students a/out their studies% &hat do the. find useless and on the other hand% &hat the. miss0 Please! fill in or choose what "est descri"es your current status. .7 Pl" s" "n+"r 4o$r g" Q........ ,7 I # female < male < other 7 87 I do < I do not 1or' e#ternally < internally in +h" #"!i 7 /7 In +h" f$+$r" I want < do not want +o 1or' in +h" #"!i 9 "+c7 in +h" TV9 r !io9 n"1s% %"rs or onlin" #"!i 7 :7 I am satisfied < I am not satisfied 1i+h #4 "!$c +ion7 ;7 In +h" cl ss"s I #iss ............................................................................................................................................... <7 I +hin' of #4 s+$!i"s s too much theoretical < theoretical < practical < useless 7 =7 I do < I do not follo1 +h" c$rr"n+ +r"n!s in +h" #"!i 7 >7 I do < I do not $s" soci l #"!i 7 I $s" ace"ook < Instagram < Twitter < IR < GouTu"e7 .-7 I g"+ +h" n"1s # inl4 fro# TN < social media < newspapers < we" < radio.

S*&N+G &+P@&T @n .Mth 5arch ./,7! an instant survey was carried out among ,, students of journalism! all of them in the third gradeP J students were females and 7were males! ranging from ./ to .7 years old. The purpose of the survey was to discover the views of the students on their current studies in the field of journalism. The survey was conducted "y means of questionnaire given to the students to complete. There were ten questions. (ith two e#ceptions! each involved choosing items -prefera"ly one1 from the list. (hen asked a"out their working life! B of them answered they already work in the media! "e it TN! online or print media. This means even without a degree they could start working in the media. @f course their current studies must have proved essential when the were on the jo" interview. 6owever! all ,, of them agreed they do want to work in the media in the future. The ne#t question! whether they are satisfied with their education! "rought unanimous answer 3 unsatisfied. )fterwards they could e#plain what are they missing and the common answer showed to "e practice and teachers with real life e#perience in their field of study! journalism. In other words! they would prefer if they were taught "y journalists or e#;journalists. This was proved "y answering the question what they think a"out their studies and almost B/ S agreed it is too theoretical. In the last part the survey dealt with trends in the media and its perception "y the students. irst! the survey asked whether they follow the current trends in the media! to which more than A/ S agreed. Second! the respondents were asked if they use social media and which. ,// S responded they use ace"ook and GouTu"e. )nd finally! the survey asked where do they get the news. ,// S of the students surveyed replied they get the news mainly "y visiting their favourite newspaperHs we"site. If any conclusions may "e drawn from the data! they are as follows. Students of journalism want to work in the media in the future and most of them already do. They are not satisfied with their education and think it is too theoretical. )lthough they do follow the current trends in the media! they do not use social media to get the news! they rather visit their favourite newspaperHs we"site! which is not considered to "e following the new media.

Smart infographics "y the 9night oundation pu"lished "y +ric %ewton in his piece a"out journalism education! Lo universities hear the critics of journalism education' >http:<<www.knightfoundation.org<"logs<knight"log<./,0<0<,J<do;universities;hear;critics; journalism;education<?