Given changes in the way the public gets its news, your attention to the place that multimedia skills courses should play in the journalism curriculum is timely (“Points for style, COM,” April 3, p. 12). The topic deserves a thorough discussion, and your editorial is a thoughtful contribution. The journalism faculty considers integration of multimedia journalism courses (and skills) in the curriculum to be one of its highest priorities. We now have a committee actively studying the matter. The committee is reviewing industry practices, programs at other colleges, the experiences of our alumni and recent research by experts in the field. Some of us on the faculty also bring significant experience from our professional journalism careers to bear on the topic as well. Your observation that basic journalism skills — collecting, evaluating and synthesizing information and writing clearly, directly and honestly — are fundamental to the field and provide a basic foundation for journalism in any format: print, broadcast or the Internet.
The journalism department at BU has no intention of eroding our emphasis on these foundation skills. At the same time, we are aware that the Internet is emerging as an important source of public affairs news and that our students need to have the fullest opportunities to learn the technical as well as conceptual skills that will allow them to be effective journalists on the web. Not all students will choose to work on the web, but many will, especially in their first jobs. We want a BU education to prepare them for that work. This is both a perilous and exciting period for journalism in America. We as a faculty look to the future guided by the principles, articulated by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, that journalism’s first obligation is to the truth and its first loyalty is to citizens. This is the spirit of the journalism we intend to teach, regardless of the technology or the platform.
Lou Ureneck
Chairman
Journalism Department
Chris Daly
Chairman
Journalism Dept. Multimedia Committee