The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism is undergoing an overhaul of its curriculum to accommodate the changing field of journalism as well as the switch to semesters.
Papers are downsizing nationwide, and many are going out of print entirely.
Newspapers
as companies have been relatively slow to responding to the changes said Bob Stewart, associate director of the School of Journalism.
To survive, newspapers need to use the Internet and attract a younger audience through multimedia, such as video or some sort of interactivity. This has always been a difficult task for newspapers to accomplish.
We have to provide the opportunity for our students to develop some of these ways of presenting information
Stewart said.
Talks about change started last fall and are culminating in five faculty meetings this quarter where specific changes will be decided, Stewart said.
It has the potential to be a complete overhaul
but after we're all done discussing it and we compare it to what we currently have we might see that it is an evolution instead of a revolution
he added.
They held off on an overhaul of the curriculum because of the difficulty of having two groups of students under two curricula. The possibility of changing to semesters was also a factor, he said.
It was easier for students. We can't force students to change their plans
he said, adding, Now we have to change to semesters
so there's going to be disruption
anyway.
With the change to semesters, they decided to explore
essentially revolutionizing
the curriculum
