Texas Tech University
Texas Tech Overhauling Journalism Education
To Deal With Media Convergence
In Tampa, Fla., television reporters regularly see their work in print. Newspaper reporters appear on the 6 o�clock newscast to present their stories. And a Web site draws material from both.
These journalists � working for The Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV, and Tampa Bay Online � are operating in a collaborative work concept known as convergent media. They share resources, staff and a four-story, high-tech building known as the �news center.� This kind of integrated journalistic approach is becoming state of the art, not only in the news media but also in the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University.
Randy Reddick, chairman of the journalism department at Texas Tech, says the college is in the process of modifying its curriculum to prepare students for this new way of practicing journalism. The new curriculum will give students a chance to work in formats other than their chosen specialization. A new class, News Presentation 1, introduces students to the concept of producing news �packages,� which contain elements for print, on-air and online distribution.
Reddick says the program will give students an idea of the strengths of print, broadcast and online formats and foster increased cooperation between workers in each field.
Upperclassmen will take a class in which they work in a converged newsroom called �News Central.� Students will produce news stories for a Web site, a television news program and various printed publications. The program is slated to begin in the spring semester of 2006.
Reddick says the college is also looking to place added emphasis on journalism ethics. According to Reddick, faculty have become concerned that, despite ethics being a part of the curriculum in most journalism classes, the college lacks a class dedicated to the topic.
The college will also add an advanced Web production class for journalism students who wish to focus on the �nuts and bolts� of online production.
Through the new classes and �News Central� program, Reddick says the college is preparing future media professionals for a different world than the one the previous generation faced.
�Our aim is to address in a sensible way the changing media landscape,� he says.