An Ohio State law professor made an interesting proposal Friday at a symposium on campus. He said that all colleges and universities should make journalism an integral part of their educational programs and that journalism should be part of “the very DNA of American higher education.”
Peter Shane, a distinguished professor in the Moritz College of Law and scholar in administrative law, went even further to suggest that OSU might be the place to begin this shift by pushing the education of journalism higher on its list of priorities.
During a time when the newspaper business is severely struggling, some might find it shocking to hear such a proposition. Receiving information from a printed broadsheet is no longer valued as highly as it used to be, and the death of newspapers says something about how the public views journalism.
Although newspapers might be slowly reaching obsolescence, journalism is still just as, if not more, important than ever. The shift toward digital media is certainly modifying the practice of journalism, as it has introduced a slew of alternate ways to discover news, such as videos, podcasts and blogs. Social networking sites such as Twitter have even become a way to receive information.
However, with these new forms of media comes danger. The Internet is a gateway to an unbelievable amount of information. But in the wrong hands, this information can be warped and manipulated. False information misinterpreted as factual news has the power to do some nasty things.
Democracy, essentially, is based on the important principles of equality and freedom. But in order for it to function properly and as it was intended, the people must be informed. The information must be fair and accurate. This is why journalism is so important to American society and why it always will be.
I think Shane was right in his suggestion. Journalism needs to be taught, and it needs to be taught well at every institution of higher education. When hard news, opinion columns, political blogs and satirical articles are all found in one place, there is a huge opportunity for misinformation and misinterpretation. People need to know how to navigate the abyss of information out there and they especially need to know how to process it.
The world is always changing, and information gathering is the biggest indicator of that. The Web is now the place to find and present news. In my opinion, it’s a scary shift. But as long as people keep asking questions and don’t believe everything they read or watch on the Internet, new media could present positive changes to the world of journalism.
