Dizzy Dreams

The University of Maryland's Lee Thornton reflects on the dramatic changes in journalism education in the October/November issue of the American Journalism Review. He suggests that the increase in professional training opportunities offered by J-schools prepares students to work on multiple platforms and carve out individual specialties. Thornton also reminds us that Sarah Palin, a 1987 University of Idaho graduate, is the first journalism degree holder to appear at the top of the ticket for either of the two major political parties.

In spite of the economic woes rocking the news media world, enrollment in university journalism/mass communications programs remains strong. The spike in student interest puzzles working journalists and challenges journalism educators to confront a shifting professional environment. An online site asked the journalists of tomorrow to describe an ideal job. One interesting posting cited the need for flexible training and a dream job that offered variety, new technology, working with people, visual platforms, the spirit of teamwork and lots of money.