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An open call goes out to students, staff and alumni for input on how to make Medill better. Have an idea?
Tribune's New Head Hacker Starts Site to "Fix Medill"
fixmedill.com - 22 weeks ago - 793 views
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Doesn't it reflect an elitist, old-paradigm model to solicit Medill graduates, faculty and staff?
How so? Hadn't thought of that. Who else would care enough to opine?
Isn't the point of journalism that everyone in society has a stake in it being done well?
Why limit your input to people who have attended or worked at Medill?
I take your point Carl, but the site is called Fix Medill, not Fix Journalism. I think in that context, only feedback from those who have experienced the program either as students or educators would be applicable (and that doesn't include me by the way). After all, it isn't as if Medill is the only institution cranking out journalists.
But Medill isn't in crisis b/c of some issue particular to Medill, like a scandal.
Medill is facing questions b/c of issues global to journalism.
Carl, the site is really open to anyone. In fact there's already a non-Medill commenter on the site. I'd hope the site gets a lot of comments from people who have gone through the program and have first-hand experience with its successes and shortcomings, but it doesn't hurt if people outside add their two cents, too.
I've passed this article along to many discussions about journalism, especially as it relates to education.
It's a great read. "J-Schools Play Catchup."
As for Medill specifically, it's a tricky situation. Not sure if anyone--even the brightest minds in Evanston and Chicago at large--has all the answers about j-school right now. These programs will be works in progress and adapting to the new landscape for a while because the entire industry is in flux.
I think this is a great idea for an up and coming program. It gives students an opportunity to really get what they want out of school. Thanks for the link to the story John from the New York Times.
Here's what Medill should say and do.
"Journalism is in transition. Economically and technologically things are changing and there is uncertainty about how journalism will work in the future. Medill is committed to working with our graduates to keep them relevant. Medill will offer free continuing education online for ten years after graduation."
Have their damned student journalists stop doing a half-assed job with news stories that end up on their wire. They are frequently biased and incomplete, and in my experience with their students, they rarely follow up on or through with their community sources.
Most of my classmates at Medill had limited or no journalism experience before starting grad school. They may make mistakes, but they're learning. Cut 'em some slack.
Hi, Lizz!
I think part of this stems from how those stories are distributed nowadays as opposed to 4-5 years ago. I attended Medill just as they were getting ready to fire up their current news site over at http://news.medill.northwestern.edu. Up until that point, while the stories were posted online, they were mostly being seen and read in the publications that would pick them up, the Chicago Defender, the Daily Southtown, Chicago Parent, NWI.com and so on. The stories would be written by the students, edited and graded by the professors/editors and then edited and re-written again by the editors at the publications they appeared in. Often they would be substantially rewritten or cut down to fit the needs, audience and voice of the publication.
Mike, where are you reading the stories? On the Medill site? In that case you're getting them without that final filter that may have restructured the pieces into something that better fit the conversation.
Also, you're being shown every piece that comes out of the newsroom. When I was a student, maybe 30% of the stories being produced were picked up by editors. That probably played a big part, too.
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