Sunday, September 07, 2008

Column: Old media and new clash at NYU

Alana Taylor, a plugged-in, media-savvy, blogging journalism student at New York University, has an interesting column on PBS' MediaShift critiquing the old-school journalism education she's getting at the venerable journalism school.

Taylor, a junior, is taking a class called “Reporting Gen Y (a.k.a. Quarterlifers),” which she says is one of the few new media classes offered at the school. When the teacher asked if anyone in the class had a blog, Taylor was the only one to raise her hand.

"It comes as a shock to me that the students in a class about 'how our generation is very much invested in the Internet' are not actually as involved," she writes.

Taylor is openly critical of her school for its emphasis on old-school journalism -- for focusing on magazines and newspapers and requiring students to bring The New York Times to class every day. "What is so fascinating about the move from print to digital is the freedom to be your own publisher, editor, marketer, and brand," Taylor writes. "But, surprisingly, NYU does not offer the kinds of classes I want. It continues to focus its core requirements around learning how to work your way up the traditional journalism ladder."

Nearly as interesting as Taylor's blog are the comments it elicits. Check out the piece and add to the discussion.

4 comments:

Sem said...

Hey i'm a student at Rhodes University and am currently studying first year journalism. In our final semester we were required to blog, andi think your blog and ours are very similar. If you'd like to have a look go to: http://unofficialkaif.blogspot.com/

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