Is a journalism degree worth doing?
March 1/2013
Maclean’s – Many newsrooms use journalism schools as farm teams for summer programs, and Coulson says someone would need to have a “pretty special background” to make the Citizen’s shortlist without one. She and I agree that cultivating skills and interests outside of school is crucial —it’s foolish to think that a journalism degree (or any other) on its own will land you a job.
But if journalism schools want to remain viable, they should consider condensing courses to make them hyper-practical and forge stronger connections with media outlets to provide real (and ideally, paid) work experience during the school year.
The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs launched its inaugural journalism certificate program last fall under the premise of “mentored freelancing,” pairing students with experienced journalists to produce real work throughout their studies rather than during a summer internship or after graduation. This model is much better suited to the new reality.