A few days ago, I was sitting in my high school journalism class, daydreaming while the teacher droned on about inverted pyramids and leads, when I suddenly thought to myself, “What in the hell am I doing here?” I quickly remembered that I needed to take this in order to pass, but it got me thinking on a bigger scale.
Journalism, or at least a pretty good imitation of it, has really exploded over the past couple of years. Countless people are blogging, shoving their thoughts and opinions on what is happening or what they’re thinking about onto anyone who cares enough to click. Sites like Squarespace, WordPress, or, that’s right kids, Bitmob are letting people disseminate what would otherwise be left fermenting inside their heads.
So, with all of these competitors out there, what is the only way to succeed? Find something about yourself that nobody else has, and use it for all it’s worth.
Guess what doesn’t teach you how to do that? That’s right, journalism classes.
Granted, certain things are necessary to learn in order to be readable, such as writing leads or doing research. The thing that gets me annoyed about these classes is that we have already covered this, and we still have three months left in the school year. That means that for the rest of the year, we’ll be learning about “How to Write an Op-Ed” or “How to Write a Restaurant Review”, all of which will be useless, since we’ll all be writing the same thing, unless we want an F.
So, what do I suggest? Don’t change journalism classes. Get rid of them altogether. If you want to write better leads or need tips on researching, there are hundreds of guides online for free. Other than that, the best way to learn how to write is to read what other people are writing, and think of ways that you could do it better or different.
Better or different are the only two things that can make your writing stand out (better and different—now that’s even better!).And unless your writing stands out, you’ll just fade into the background noise of the blogosphere.
This is why I love Bitmob so much. It actually one-ups what I suggested earlier; not only does it let you read the work of other writers, but you get to practice writing yourself and develop a voice, another necessity to stand out.
So come on, Board of Education. Get rid of Journalism class. We won’t get anything useful out of it that we can’t get from a quick Google search or a website like Bitmob. Free up some room in our schedule for something useful, like... oh, I don’t know…. Videogame Appreciation?
Journalism courses teach some very important concepts: ethical reporting, story organization (which is really the proper organization of your thoughts, a valuable skill for any field), how to avoid libel, and in proper courses, how to use laws such as the Federal Freedom of Information Act or the Brown Act open-meeting law in California to proper report on the activities of government.
Blogging is more like a rough, malformed, bell-ringing approximation of journalism than a "pretty good imitation". If more people in game press had qualified for their jobs through education and experience rather than enthusiasm and proximity, maybe the state of writing in the industry would be better.
A journalism class in high school? Is that a common thing? My high school didn't offer journalism classes. I graduated in 2004, so maybe they started popping up after that.
I haven't taken any journalism courses in college, but I did write for the school paper for a brief period. I learned some valuable concepts (except what "libel" means, which Jason can vouch for if he remembers our Skype chat), but it was mostly of my accord. They just let me start writing articles without giving me any basics about AP style, and my lessons on inverted pyramids and ledes boiled down to the E-I-C asking me if I knew what the terms meant. However, I still think writing for the paper gave me some good journalistic experience.
Journalism courses aren't necessary if you want to be a journalist, but I think they have value. Like Jason said, your journalism course is teaching you valuable concepts, especially if you want to write professionally. It might feel like a waste of time now, but it will prove useful later on.
You’re right when you say finding your voice is the most important aspect of writing. I think you are well on your way, since you are writing at a very high caliber for a high school student. No offense, of course. :)
You can't get by without school anymore, especially when courses pertain to the job you want. It may have worked in the 90s, but not anymore.
The thing about journalism is you should have a well-rounded education. You should know history, economics, poli-sci, English, philosophy, some math and science, and, if possible, a foreign language. Good programs in college give you a lot of electives to pursue these fields.
My professional writing program let me explore just about every kind of writing, with only a few elective options. I used most of them to do MORE writing courses, with a few devoted to basic Japanese and some Greek mythology.
In retrospect, I should have been an electrician.
Journalism class is good EXPERIENCE and when you begin looking for a job that's what they look for.
Studying journalism looks a lot better then writing for a blog anyone can contribute to.
Learning the basics is important! Sure, some of it will be dull, but like Jason says, the classes you take in high school and college will give you a well-rounded education. Even those boring op-ed pieces will improve your writing in surprising ways.
Keep writing on Bitmob, Liam, keep reading on your own, and keep learning technique in your journalism classes. All of these things will help to make you a better writer.
I'm with Nick, I had no idea they were teaching journalism in high school these days. That would have provided for a lot more indulgent experience than the elective classes I took, which mainly consisted of reading books like The Hobbit.
I never really appreciated my high school journalism/ newspaper classes until I was in college. As a communication studies major I do A LOT of writing and if I hadn't had classes like journalism giving me practice in high school I don't know how I would have gotten through it all early on.
Journalism school is basically as good as the people that are involved in it. The J-school faculty at my university is filled with experienced writers, editors, scholars and even the occasional lawyer. You can learn so much from those who have been around the block before you - much more than a simple how-to guide found online.