As the job pool for traditional journalists dries up, surveys show college journalism graduates are still jumping in.

College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler said journalism courses still prepare students for real world jobs despite the rough market.

‘Anyone who graduates with a degree in journalism should have the expectation that they can get a job in that field, if that’s what they want,’ he said. ‘If we were graduating students with journalism degrees and sending them off into a profession where they were unable to find work, then I think we would be doing a disservice.’

Fiedler said many students are finding jobs in non-traditional forms of journalism.

‘In the future, a graduate with a journalism degree is going to be increasingly likely to find that first job in a non-traditional journalism company as opposed to mainstream journalism,’ he said. ‘But most jobs are there.’

With newspaper job cuts and media consolidation dominating headlines, the number of students graduating from the nation’s leading journalism programs has remained steady, according to a 2007 survey of journalism graduates.

The survey, conducted by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, stated that the graduating class of 2007 found a job market no better than the one their peers found in 2006.

The news business is undergoing ‘a period of rapid change,’ meaning that the industry in its digital age and requires flexibility, journalism department chairman Lou Ureneck said.

‘This is an environment that rewards adaptability, people who can practice their journalism in a variety of different ways,’ he said.

The department is encouraging its students to develop skills across platforms, so they leave with the broadest possible array of skills for their employability, along with a journalism education, Ureneck said.

Gaining a journalism education is important, Ureneck said.

‘It’s a much more sensible way to gain the skills, and once gained, they can go out in the world and apply them,’ he said. ‘Without the coursework, they don’t have the skills to work at an internship.” ‘

COM 2008 graduate Matt Kakley, a reporter for Attleboro’s Sun Chronicle, said his participation in the Massachusetts State House Program confirmed his desire for a career in journalism.

‘That’s where I really found out that journalism was what I wanted to do as a living,’ he said. ‘The program forced me to learn on-the-run interview skills and writing skills, but I still had a professor that could help me if I had questions or was struggling with something.’

Though Kakley said ‘the field is hard to break into,’ students said they remain hopeful of finding a job post-graduation.’

COM sophomore Lauren Metter, who is majoring in journalism and English, said she wants to either write for a magazine or work for a publishing company. Overall, she remains optimistic of the news industry as a whole.

‘News in general is never going to be able to stop,’ she said. ‘They may move it online, but there [are] still going to be jobs.’