The financial scare of 2008 created an echo that has been resonating in the minds of college students ever since.
The idealism that marked the prior decades has been replaced with a pragmatic approach to education. Students are looking for jobs that hire a large number of recent graduates and offer career advancement opportunities.
If you speak with an Indiana University journalism professor, you will find that about 75 percent of current students are seeking a public relations specialization. That leaves just 25 percent of current students who are trying to become full-fledged journalists.
I should know, because I was also one of those students who thought public relations would offer a fulfilling career. Journalism educators must come to grips with the ethics of what a dwindling pool of journalism graduates will mean for the future of journalism.
Pragmatism is causing many students to isolate themselves from the ethical concerns that come with choosing a career in public relations instead of journalism. Journalists must question the reality that they see before them, but public relations professionals seek to make the most of tailoring the truth to influence public opinion.
Journalism students are too preoccupied with learning how to make content instead of what ethics means for multimedia.
Student debt weighs heavily on students’ minds. According to the Wall Street Journal students who graduated in 2015 are the most indebted graduates ever, and the problem continues to grow.
Public relations is now seen as the only way to make a living in the world of multimedia. It has infected the minds of students who see journalism as an archaic industry that doesn’t have a place in modern society.
This is why I’m calling for an end to this pragmatic approach to education. Instead of group projects that mimic office meetings students should be gaining the confidence to question and confront the world views of their peers and their professors.
Pragmatism is killing the spirit of journalism education. It should be more than just pre-employment training. It should free students from the folly of putting profitability ahead of duty and the truth.
