Where to study broadcasting journalism

[Multitasker]

ivoryk: What would you do differently then, if you were a freshman like me that perhaps would be interested in the area?
I would appreciate all the coments, positive and negative. thanks

[ivoryk]

I think the suggestions to double major makes a lot of sense -- you have something else to fall back on, as well as an outside area of specialty to make you more appealing as a news hire. Like in so many other professions these days, the advice is "specialize." A reporter with a background in science or politics or international relations stands a better chance than the basic journalism student. And I would hone those writing skills. I think there will still be journalists 10-20 years from now, but I bet there aren't many on local television stations, and people won't be going to the networks for their news. Cable might be a different story, but the outlook is still bleak for a general assignment reporter. I really think the news business is headed to the Internet. I could go on and on about what a loss this is -- journalism has always been "the first draft of history" -- but it's just not happening anymore. I'm not sure how long The New Yorker keeps its stories online, but a few weeks ago they had a feature that basically rang the death knell for the daily newspaper. The only company they cited that remains successful is the Washington Post Co -- largely because they own Kaplan -- and we know where that money comes from!! Both the Washington Post and Newsweek just went through huge rounds of buyouts. Sorry to be so bleak...

[ScrappinMom]

Thank you for this thread, I have found it really interesting as my oldest son is preparing to visit college and this is what he would like to major in. THough I have to say I could only dream about being able to afford to send him to Syracuse.

[ivoryk]

from today's NY Times

CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting


By TIM ARANGO
Published: April 8, 2008
CBS, the home of the most storied news division in broadcasting, has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its newsgathering operations to CNN, two executives briefed on the matter said Monday.

Over the last decade, CNN has held on-again, off-again talks with both ABC News and CBS News about various joint ventures but during the last several months, talks with CBS have been revived and lately intensified, according to the executives who were granted anonymity because of the confidential nature of the negotiations.

Broadly speaking, the executives described conversations about reducing CBS’s newsgathering capacity while keeping its frontline personalities, like Katie Couric, the CBS Evening News anchor, and paying a fee to CNN to buy the cable network’s news feeds.

Another possibility, these people said, would be that CBS would keep its correspondents in a certain region but pair them with CNN crews.

.........

[teriwtt]

scrappinmom - the only way we were able to let our daughter attend Newhouse was with a merit scholarship. Any chance your son would be eligible? While it's a bit more than sending her to our in-state U (which by the way did not offer her any money), the reputation of Newhouse was so beyond our state U's, it made it a non-issue.

[ScrappinMom]

I think he may apply because he does have awesome grades and we are NY residents so hopefully that would get him something worthwhile, he is still debating what other schools to check out.

[Tuition Dad]

I see that Washington State University has already been mentioned, but I wanted to point out that CA residents can be eligible to pay reduced tuition as a member of WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange). I don't know all the specifics about this (feel free to Google away about it), but it can mean that you spend only 1.5 times the in-state tuition total rather than full out-of-state tuition.

[soccermom2]

My daughter recently graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse with a degree in magazine journalism. She went there partly because they gave her merit money, which they offer to many Newhouse students. Students at Newhouse must have a minor but I don't think many have double majors. My daughter landed a "dream" job as a magazine editor. She did get it because of her experience and expertise in a particular area. She also got it probably because of the Newhouse reputation and the prestigious internships that she did.

While I know that the future of magazine journalism looks bleak, it's hard to argue with success. Of all of her friends, she probably is the one who is happiest in her job.

[ivoryk]

CBS layoffs signal a financial squeeze on TV stations

The economic slowdown and migration of the audience to the Internet are taking their toll on staffing at the local level.

By Matea Gold and Meg James, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 9, 2008

When veteran Los Angeles news anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin were felled by a round of jobs cuts last week, they were in good company.

At least 160 employees at CBS Corp.-owned television stations in 13 cities were let go, including such seasoned broadcasters as prominent Chicago anchor Diann Burns, renowned Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel and longtime Minneapolis meteorologist Paul Douglas.


The jettisoning of such experienced on-air talent exposed the weakening of the once-robust local station business, which historically has enjoyed some of the fattest profit margins in the media industry. It marked a dramatic shift from the days when television stations paid top dollar to attract big-name anchors such as Greene and Martin, who have been TV mainstays in Los Angeles for three decades.

Today, stations are feeling the same financial squeeze as their newspaper and network news brethren. An economic slowdown, combined with changes in news consumption patterns and the migration of advertisers to the Internet, have contributed to a lean start to a year that was supposed to benefit from a gush of political advertising.

"What is happening is that 2008, on the local level, is not as strong as people had expected," said Michael Nathanson, media analyst for Bernstein Research.

CBS insists that the quality of its news won't suffer because of the cuts, which hit three-quarters of the company's 27 stations.

"We still have plenty of seasoned reporters and anchors," said Tom Kane, chief executive of the CBS Television Stations group. "We have a lot of very strong talent."

Even so, critics contend that news coverage could be further diminished because of the latest layoffs. They were particularly concerned that experienced reporters were also sacrificed.

"The message being sent is, if you succeed in your job, you succeed in your craft, look out! You're too expensive," said Tom Petner, a former local broadcasting executive who edits TVSpy.com's ShopTalk, a daily industry newsletter. "I think it's shameful, because in the end the viewer loses out."

In a report released in July, the Writers Guild of America, East, reported that CBS and ABC news writers said recent workforce cutbacks had led to fewer investigative stories, less fact checking and an increased use of promotional video news releases at their news outlets.

"You can't lose people with that experience and contacts without suffering a price," Hofstra University TV analyst Robert Papper said. "You notice that no one is cutting back on newscasts -- only the people to do them."



http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...667,full.story

[azsummer]

I live in Phoenix and the truth is that the school is struggling and has had to "dumb down" the curriculum because the quality of students is so poor. Sorry, not trying to start something, but it is general knowledge and often spoken about within the writers circles here in Arizona.
At one time the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism was considered one of the best in the nation, unfortunately, because of Arizona trying to keep it's local students, it's quality has quickly fallen and the professors we know there are very discouraged about the future of the program.
Many of the better professors have been looking elsewhere for new teaching positions because they are so disgusted by the lack of work ethic and quality of student that now attends the university.
From what we know, both U of A and AU are struggling to keep good students. It appears that many of the brighter students transfer out after their first year there because the courses are not challenging enough. (My dad knows most of the Pros there in those departments.)
Hope this helps.