About the Author
Mark Grabowski is assistant professor of the Department of Communications.
Preparing Adelphi's Students for Careers in New Media
Mark Grabowski
mgrabowski@adelphi.edu
All of the gloomy reports about newspaper circulation rapidly dropping, network news ratings declining and reporters being laid off might lead some to believe that journalism itself is dying. But journalism is alive and well. It is just that the way reporters do their job is changing.
According to a June poll by Zogby International, 56 percent of Americans view the Web as the best source of information. With the growing popularity of the Internet, gone are the days of print-only or TV-only newsrooms. Media companies no longer have to wait for the evening broadcast or tomorrow's edition to report the news. Almost all media outlets are breaking stories on their Web sites, and the news cycle has become 24–7.
Journalism programs in higher education need to change, as well. Instead of training students to be print journalists or broadcast journalists, we need to train them to be multimedia journalists who can report the news in publication, online and in front of a microphone.
In order to help our students land jobs after graduation, we need to provide the training that employers want. Being a good writer alone is not enough. Newspapers are laying off Pulitzer Prize winners. If students want to get a journalism job, they're going to need to be able to offer skills that editors, producers and station managers want—namely, multimedia skills. All reporters now entering the profession will have to do online work.
Most schools are woefully behind on the times. But Adelphi University is on the cutting edge. This year, the Communication Department opened a new half-million-dollar Mac computer lab and brought me in to teach Web Journalism. My students are blogging, podcasting, shooting news videos, taking digital photos and building websites.
Most importantly, my students are still learning the fundamentals. The basic tenets haven’t changed and remain as pertinent as ever. Journalists today, as always, need to be able to gather information and tell a story. They also need to be able to think.
A journalist's most important tool is not a notepad, tape recorder, digital camcorder, computer or even the ability to write a story. A journalist's most important tool is her brain. As a writer for the masses, journalists have to cut through the flab of all the information around. They need to question, question, question. What happened? Who does this affect? Why is this important? Critical thinking precedes good writing.
Future journalists also need to learn how to learn.
The media isn't the only thing changing. The world of work is changing. More and more, people are becoming multi-skilled workers who must manage various projects and priorities and develop new skills.
A graduate today can expect to still be in the world of work in 2050. Consider how much things have changed in the past 15 years—cell phones and the Internet, for example, weren’t a fabric of society. Imagine how different the world will be in 15 years. In 50 years. The one thing that students can be certain of is that they will be applying skills that haven't even been thought of today. They will have to relearn and relearn and relearn.
So, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Adelphi’s Mission Statement of preparing students to be “life long learners, and contributors to knowledge and service in ever changing world” is apt now more than ever. Especially in our journalism program. 
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