Education for changing media

Our current media world is one that is constantly evolving. Students who enter media-related disciplines their freshman year will enter a very different landscape by the time they are seniors.

Our educational structure at IU must better prepare students for this.

A proposed School of Communication, Media and Journalism would foster more collaboration and reflect the convergence that has been occurring between these disciplines in the media industry.

According to the CMJ proposal presented to the provost’s office, the School of Journalism has grown beyond the extent of Ernie Pyle Hall’s resources, forcing it to “cannibalize production and research space” for offices and classrooms.

The Department of Communication and Culture is currently headquartered in an unnamed building, where it is given little priority.

A lack of classroom space for telecommunications classes creates difficult

learning environments for students and forces teachers to structure classes in ways that decrease productivity.

I don’t care if the journalism school is worried about losing its prestige or integrity by associating itself with other programs. To insinuate such a thing in the first place is an insult to the talented faculty who staff those two departments.

All of these departments can find common ground that results in a media education that not only attracts the attention of hungry high school seniors, but of media programs across the world.

I remember being one of those seniors, visiting Ball State’s Letterman Building and being wowed by the amount of media activities under one roof. If only the city of Muncie could wow me.

The university’s College of Communication, Information and Media not only houses the journalism, telecommunications and communications departments, but also the school newspaper, student radio station and more, all contained within three conjoined buildings on campus.

My sister Kelly, a journalism student at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, learns in a similar consolidated environment called The Scripps College of Communication.

She plans to die a writer in the newsroom, but she has also benefited from the varied approach that will prepare her for a media climate different from the one she entered three years ago.

Our educational structure must follow suit with our converging media world. Let’s combine the massive amount of talent we have on campus to create a more productive, helpful media education for ourselves and for many high school seniors to come.

­— chagiff@indiana.edu