Ohio State journalism has a proud tradition of professional excellence and we all take great pride in the legions of outstanding journalism alumni who are spread around the United States and the world. As chair of the school’s Journalism Studies Committee, I am concerned with making sure our students are trained in ways that respond to the current needs of professional employers. It is vital that our students who seek jobs in the contemporary news business can be competitive in the job market.
Students who major in journalism today understand the issues and challenges in the world they will inhabit as professional journalists and communicators. They are aware of the buyouts and layoffs at legacy news organizations. Today’s students do notice the proliferation of new opportunities at both legacy media, who need people with different skills sets than the ones they hired decades ago, and the array of newer, non-traditional employers. Our students also know that the core skills for which our program has been known for more than a century – rigorous reporting, lively writing, careful editing, and solid grounding in media law and ethics — are timeless and valuable skills that are of vast importance in today’s world.
So how are we preparing our journalism students for the world in this time of great institutional upheaval and uncertainty? The short answer is, very carefully. We stress the basics of reporting, writing and editing. In the past few years we have added a capstone course to the curriculum that deals with Data Journalism. In this course students track down administrative or other data and use it as the basis of original analysis and reporting. Perhaps most importantly, we have a great secret weapon that has time-tested effectiveness for training journalists – The Lantern.
The Lantern is older than our school, and almost as old as the university itself. It has been over its history a laboratory of unparalleled effectiveness for the teaching of journalism on our campus that has attracted some of the brightest, most committed people. Many things have changed about journalism and journalism education at Ohio State over the years. But what has not changed is that eager and talented young women and men who want to be journalists come to Ohio State, take our courses, work on The Lantern, and emerge ready for the challenges of the workforce. We cherish this history and find it inspirational in meeting the needs of current and future students.
The Lantern newsroom has always been a home away from home for future journalists. It’s a place to apply skills learned in the classrooms – and an opportunity for the most industrious students to go beyond the classroom lessons. It’s a place to work hard, put in long hours finding the news, and figuring out how to report it in compelling ways. It is a place of comradery and excitement, and often students working together will form intense friendships that last a lifetime.
Is anything different today? Of course. Today we publish The Lantern as a digital-first online organization and on paper two days a week. Half of the newsroom on the second floor of the Journalism Building is a TV studio. The Lantern operates a complicated web site that contains digital stories, photos, photo essays, graphics, podcasts and videos. Students write and edit stories electronically and prepare them for distribution on our web site along with video and other materials. They also promote the stories on social media and are curious about the analytics.
As I write this, we have just finished selecting the staff of The Lantern and Lantern TV for the 2019-2020 academic year. Lantern Adviser Spencer Hunt and I have spent many hours over the past month along with incoming Editor-in-Chief Kaylee Harter to interview potential editors and TV producers. I can tell you from my first-hand experience that these students are smart, dedicated, hard-working and eager. Most have outstanding leadership experiences from jobs, sports teams, or various campus or community organizations. Several have been editors of their high school newspapers, magazines, or yearbooks. We have at least one eagle scout. These are exceptional students and leaders. I am confident that they will carry on The Lantern’s impressive traditions and make all of us proud in the coming year.
