The Chronicle of Higher Education recently covered changes to the journalism curriculum at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and Integrated Marketing Communications. The Chronicle then printed the following reply from our own J-School Director, James L. Baughman, noting that our revamped curriculum, now in its seventh year, has been successful in breaking down old barriers and adapting to a changing media landscape.

Broader Education for Journalists

To The Editor:

Curricular change at a journalism program as distinguished as that at Northwestern University is well worth reporting. ("A J-School Adapts to the Market," The Chronicle, August 10). But I have to note that the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication instituted similar changes some seven years ago....
The revision was not crafted by a single administrator but followed several years of intense discussion among the faculty and consultation with alumni.

The end product is, we believe, among the most innovative journalism curricula in the country. It anticipated rapid changes in the media landscape. Indeed, as one colleague observed in 2000, we were designing a curriculum which would prepare students for jobs that did not yet exist.

Our old curriculum had divided our majors into professional sects: journalism, broadcast news, public relations and advertising. ...Many of our graduates started their careers at newspapers, and ended up overseeing public relations for non-profit foundations. At the same time, many students entering advertising and public relations had inadequate training in writing and fact-gathering.

This imbalance was partly addressed by requiring all of our majors to take a new, six-credit course, "Mass Media Practices." This class imparts skills applicable to a range of media activites, including writing, interviewing, Web design, and--perhaps most fundamental--weighing evidence.

In all of our classes, we have sought to deepen our majors’ understanding of audiences.... Critics of “audience research” miss the point. At Wisconsin, we expect the journalists we train to regard readers and viewers as citizens, not consumers....

Traditionalists should understand that we have not blurred all lines.
We still offer courses in journalism, advertising and public relations. But we have ended the sectarian insularity.

...The preliminary returns are encouraging. Recent Wisconsin graduates are finding themselves better prepared for a wider range of jobs.

James L. Baughman
Director
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Printed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 September, 2007