ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute, an international strategy center and leader in journalism education, announced today the results of its 2013 survey, "The Future of Journalism Education." More than 1,800 educators, students, media professionals and independent journalists responded to the survey that was conducted to find out how these key groups see the future of journalism education.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110323/MM70721LOGO)
"The results of our study this year highlighted a significant gap between how media professionals and educators see the journalism education landscape," said Howard Finberg, Poynter's director of training partnerships and alliances and the creator of the Institute's e-learning site, News University. "Journalism education will undergo fundamental shifts in how journalism is taught and who teaches it. We need to make sure we are innovating in the classroom with new courses and, more importantly, ways to deliver teaching and engage students."
Several key findings include:
- Today, 96 percent of journalism educators believe that a journalism degree is very important to extremely important when it comes to understanding the value of journalism. However, only 57 percent of media professionals believe the same.
- More than 80 percent of educators but only 25 percent of media professionals say a journalism degree is extremely important when it comes to learning newsgathering skills.
- Thirty-nine percent of educators say journalism education is keeping up with industry changes a little or not at all. Editors and staffers are even harsher, with 48 percent saying the academy isn't keeping up with changes in the field.
- Thinking back to the last person their organization hired, only 26 percent of media professionals say the person had "most" or "all" of the skills necessary to be successful.
Additional results and analysis of this survey and other research on journalism education are available in a new Poynter NewsU report. It can be downloaded from here: http://www.access.newsu.org/future-journalism-education-2013
The Poynter survey results also included hundreds of written responses. Many of these responses expressed the need for major changes in journalism curriculum, a reduced level of educational bureaucracy at universities and a need for students to be armed with practical skills such as video reporting and editing, writing and navigating social media when starting their journalism careers. Respondents also tended to believe students need to be imparted with a level of professionalism and integrity as part of their journalism education, especially in this digital age when so much information can be distributed on the Internet without being verified.
To help journalism educators, Poynter has launched a new study of professionals and professors on specific skills, personal attributes and knowledge that beginning journalists should have in today's media industry. It can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/journ_future_skills
The results of this survey will be released in early 2014.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is an international leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, http://www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum, with more than 300 interactive courses and 250,000 students. The Institute's website, http://www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.
CONTACT:
Howard Finberg, Director of Training Partnerships and Alliances
The Poynter Institute
[email protected]
Twitter: @Hif
727-553-4371 office
727-642-3209 cell
Vicki Krueger, Director of Interactive Learning
Poynter News University
[email protected]
Twitter: @vkrueger
727-553-4316 office
727-480-5648 cell
Jessica Blais
Marketing Director
The Poynter Institute
[email protected]
727-821-9494
SOURCE The Poynter Institute/News University
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article