Like Democrats and Republicans or Red Sox fans and Yankees fans, journalists and public relations specialists have very contradictory beliefs and practices.
It makes sense that the journalism department wants to break away from the College of Communication and form its own school.
Journalism is the pursuit of the truth. Public relations is the pursuit of successful marketing and selling a client’s message, product or service by whatever means necessary. Much of what a journalist does is decode press releases composed by these inherently biased promoters. The fields are contradictory, so for them to be taught in the same school is illogical and not ideal for budding reporters.
A school of journalism has the potential to be accredited. This distinction would prove the field is important to Boston University and will likely draw even higher quality professors to the new school. Many distinguished professors would lead to an improved reputation, and the end result would be more talented journalism students enrolling and graduating from the college.
A Bachelor in Science is designed to produce graduates who excel at their craft. A B.S. in journalism from a career-specific college would mean more than a degree from a communication school with a wide range of disciplines, because the students would gain more rigorous training. A school of journalism would allow for more specific classes that would connect journalism to relevant fields, such as history and international relations. It would also allow for classes to further explore vital elements of the field, by devoting several courses to media law and others to ethics, rather than just offering one broad class.
A specialized school would vastly improve the learning environment. Faculty-to-student ratios could be cut down dramatically. More close-knit classes with students devoted to the same career would create more effective dialogues. Journalism is sometimes best learned by collaborating with peers.
However, a journalism school’s pioneers must be careful not to limit students’ education. Extensive liberal arts requirements must be a part of the schools’ curriculum, because working journalists must cover a wide range of subjects.
A journalism school would probably not enroll many students who are undecided in the field of communication, as COM currently does. However, these undecided students could enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of General Studies, which offer the diverse education needed to figure preferences out.
More so than in many fields, journalism is one in which learning from the experts is extremely valuable. World-renowned reporters like Robert Zelnick support the idea of an isolated journalism school. Many of the top journalism programs in the country, such as those at Columbia University and the University of Missouri, have colleges specifically devoted to this field. BU should learn from the best in the business so its future journalism students will be able to do the same.