Guided reading questions for chapter two
- Why does journalism and mass communication education matter?
- Does it make a difference whether a community is informed by a professional journalist, a student journalist or a "citizen" journalist? Why or why not?
- Do you think journalism education must modernize? What will happen if it doesn’t? Will the quality of journalism suffer? Why or why not?
- Are there greater implications for society if we change the way we teach journalism?
- About how many college or university journalism schools are there in the country? Could they satisfy the information needs of communities?
- Do you believe university faculty members should be hired primarily for their degrees, or their "real world" work experiences, or a combination of both? Explain your answer.
- Why is interdisciplinary study important when it comes to journalism?
- How does the team-teaching concept work in the context of journalism education?
- What are the advantages of team-teaching?
- What is “knowledge journalism”?
- According to the author, what potential news outlet is underused at many universities?
- What four steps do universities need to take to become relevant in journalism education?
- What college-level teaching model did foundation leaders advocate in a letter to university presidents?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of that model?
- Why would a newspaper or teaching newsroom need libel insurance? Define libel as part of you answer.
- The author says top professional journalists should be able to earn a professional doctorate. Do you agree or disagree?
- Unlike doctors and lawyers, journalists are not licensed. Is licensing a good idea? Would it make journalism more of a profession? Does the First Amendment allow it? How have governments abused licensing?
- Why is research important to those who teach journalism? Why is it important to professional journalists?
- Would journalism or media research be better if scholars and professionals did it together? Would some types of research benefit more than others? If so, which types?
- What relationship should student journalists have with their communities?
- According to the Federal Communications Commission, how many journalism jobs have been lost over the past few years? Where have the bulk of these jobs been erased from?
- To what does the author compare watchdog journalism?
- What happens without watchdog journalism?
- How should journalism students become better prepared to enter the current job market?