Guided reading questions for chapter two

  1. Why does journalism and mass communication education matter?
  2. 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?
  3. Do you think journalism education must modernize? What will happen if it doesn’t? Will the quality of journalism suffer? Why or why not?
  4. Are there greater implications for society if we change the way we teach journalism?
  5. About how many college or university journalism schools are there in the country? Could they satisfy the information needs of communities?
  6.  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.
  7. Why is interdisciplinary study important when it comes to journalism?
  8. How does the team-teaching concept work in the context of journalism education?
  9. What are the advantages of team-teaching?
  10.  What is “knowledge journalism”?
  11. According to the author, what potential news outlet is underused at many universities?
  12.  What four steps do universities need to take to become relevant in journalism education?
  13.  What college-level teaching model did foundation leaders advocate in a letter to university presidents?
  14. What are the advantages and disadvantages of that model?
  15. Why would a newspaper or teaching newsroom need libel insurance? Define libel as part of you answer.
  16. The author says top professional journalists should be able to earn a professional doctorate. Do you agree or disagree?
  17. 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?
  18. Why is research important to those who teach journalism? Why is it important to professional journalists?
  19. 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?
  20. What relationship should student journalists have with their communities?
  21. 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?
  22.  To what does the author compare watchdog journalism?
  23. What happens without watchdog journalism?
  24. How should journalism students become better prepared to enter the current job market?