Discussion drawn from "Journalism School Curriculum Enrichment" by Donsbach
Wolfgang Donsbach of Dresden University published "A Midterm Report of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education" in October 2008. The document includes a short description of the evolution of higher education required by journalists and their employers, as well as a brief list of five "Core Competencies of the Well-Trained Journalist." Although this list was written with college journalists transitioning to the professional field in mind, the "competencies" are broad and vague enough to consider in application to high school journalists as well.
1) General Competence
Donsbach asserts that journalists require a broad educational background in a variety of fields to create a common discourse and think analytically. He believes that this foundation is necessary for "everything from challenging the veracity of their sources to understanding the behaviors and motivations of others." Because Donsbach calls for a college degree (or its equivalent) to acquire this general competence, high school students don't necessarily have the resources necessary to meet his standards in full. However, I would certainly consider it good practice to encourage journalism students to pursue their interests in other fields as well, to become immersed in societies while still maintaining their technical skills and ability to hold an objective and critical perspective. Knowledge from outside the realm of journalism is just as valuable as knowledge from within it.
2) Practical Techniques
Unfortunately, the one complaint I have about my high school journalism experience is that after 21st Century Journalism my freshman year, my skills laid fairly stagnant throughout my time on the newspaper staff. I remember learning the bare basics of writing and designing, but not much in the way of editing, writing headlines, or writing for the Web. As a teacher, I intend to prioritize the constant building of my students' skills in a variety of journalistic media. Donsbach points out that "the skill demands on journalists are increasing," as they are continuously forced to work across many different platforms, which makes it even more imperative that high school journalists learn as many basic skills as possible and as early as possible.
3) Process Competence
Donsbach stresses the importance of understanding the influence and consequences of a news product, writing "This competency refers less to basic techniques than to knowledge of how to apply the techniques for the purpose of avoiding unintended inaccuracies or consequences." I believe that this particular competence is built over time with experience, not only with writing news but with reading news too. I intend to help my students develop the understanding Donsbach calls for by discussing past controversial news pieces and their consequences as well as requiring them to stay up-to-date on local current events to discuss multiple perspectives of community members.
4) Professional Ethics
Although he did not write about this subject with particular depth, Donsbach touched on the conflict created by journalists' simultaneous positions as employees and public servants. He writes "With few exceptions, they work for profit-seeking organizations. At the same time, they have a public trust that stems from their privileged First Amendment position." Luckily, students aren't yet pressured by the need to make money, as their publications are generally school-funded. However, it is imperative for high school journalism classes to establish certain ethical standards about what practices are or are not acceptable, Without this awareness, it's all too easy for these young journalists to make very costly mistakes in judgment.
5) Subject Competence
Donsbach firmly establishes the necessity of journalists being well-versed in a variety of subjects, like law, foreign policy, science, business, travel, religion, and sports. He says "While a journalist's level of substantive knowledge will rarely compare to that of a true expert in the field, it has to be sufficiently deep so that the journalist is able to exercise independent judgment about the news event or situation." Due to the limited staff available to smaller high school publications, students are often inevitably called on to write about topics that don't interest them, which they have little to no experience with. Instead of trying to quickly train them on the spot, I intend to work a variety of topics into the 21st Century Journalism curriculum, to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary for writing in multiple areas.
1) General Competence
Donsbach asserts that journalists require a broad educational background in a variety of fields to create a common discourse and think analytically. He believes that this foundation is necessary for "everything from challenging the veracity of their sources to understanding the behaviors and motivations of others." Because Donsbach calls for a college degree (or its equivalent) to acquire this general competence, high school students don't necessarily have the resources necessary to meet his standards in full. However, I would certainly consider it good practice to encourage journalism students to pursue their interests in other fields as well, to become immersed in societies while still maintaining their technical skills and ability to hold an objective and critical perspective. Knowledge from outside the realm of journalism is just as valuable as knowledge from within it.
2) Practical Techniques
Unfortunately, the one complaint I have about my high school journalism experience is that after 21st Century Journalism my freshman year, my skills laid fairly stagnant throughout my time on the newspaper staff. I remember learning the bare basics of writing and designing, but not much in the way of editing, writing headlines, or writing for the Web. As a teacher, I intend to prioritize the constant building of my students' skills in a variety of journalistic media. Donsbach points out that "the skill demands on journalists are increasing," as they are continuously forced to work across many different platforms, which makes it even more imperative that high school journalists learn as many basic skills as possible and as early as possible.
3) Process Competence
Donsbach stresses the importance of understanding the influence and consequences of a news product, writing "This competency refers less to basic techniques than to knowledge of how to apply the techniques for the purpose of avoiding unintended inaccuracies or consequences." I believe that this particular competence is built over time with experience, not only with writing news but with reading news too. I intend to help my students develop the understanding Donsbach calls for by discussing past controversial news pieces and their consequences as well as requiring them to stay up-to-date on local current events to discuss multiple perspectives of community members.
4) Professional Ethics
Although he did not write about this subject with particular depth, Donsbach touched on the conflict created by journalists' simultaneous positions as employees and public servants. He writes "With few exceptions, they work for profit-seeking organizations. At the same time, they have a public trust that stems from their privileged First Amendment position." Luckily, students aren't yet pressured by the need to make money, as their publications are generally school-funded. However, it is imperative for high school journalism classes to establish certain ethical standards about what practices are or are not acceptable, Without this awareness, it's all too easy for these young journalists to make very costly mistakes in judgment.
5) Subject Competence
Donsbach firmly establishes the necessity of journalists being well-versed in a variety of subjects, like law, foreign policy, science, business, travel, religion, and sports. He says "While a journalist's level of substantive knowledge will rarely compare to that of a true expert in the field, it has to be sufficiently deep so that the journalist is able to exercise independent judgment about the news event or situation." Due to the limited staff available to smaller high school publications, students are often inevitably called on to write about topics that don't interest them, which they have little to no experience with. Instead of trying to quickly train them on the spot, I intend to work a variety of topics into the 21st Century Journalism curriculum, to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary for writing in multiple areas.