<p>At this particular moment in history, I’m not certain that there is any such thing as a “practical” journalism program. The whole field is in disarray.</p>
<p>I know lots of journalists, mostly print and some broadcast. The ones with the best careers have been history majors at liberal arts schools (this of course includes Harvard and Yale, and I don’t mean “history majors” literally) who did a lot of journalism activities in college (and some who didn’t). But people who went to good pre-professional journalism programs have certainly done well, too. Maybe better overall, it’s hard to tell. But my friends’ career paths – even the career paths for my friends in their early 30s – are not something that today’s high school students can rely on following.</p>
<p>Anyway, Chicago has lots of students who are interested in journalism and engage in it. You can read lots of student publications online if you wish and judge for yourself. They come in daily, weekly, monthly, and whenever flavors. I think the quality is spottier than some other places, but it’s far from awful comparatively. I don’t think there is one journalism internship; there are multiple ones, and people get support to pursue anything that interests them. My daughter had internships at a glossy (but alternative) cultural monthly and one of the University’s glossy publications; friends worked with established alternative weeklies, big-name dailies, well-known websites, and major national magazines. But for any young graduate interested in journalism, especially the kind that involves actual reporting and writing, it’s a chaotic hustle-fest every day.</p>