Scripps school prepares for digital future

By Meghan Louttit, Adviser

April 15, 2005 | 10:23 a.m.

When television first infiltrated the homes of average Americans, anchors were those who were trained in radio broadcasting. Eventually, universities got wise and began educating their students in how to do news for television. Think of the Internet as the new television.

Since its inception, the Internet has revolutionized nearly every aspect of life, from chatting and shopping to games and homework. In the mid-90s the faculty at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism realized that this new medium was also revolutionizing the way people receive their news. This led to the creation of online classes, which were precursors to the online sequence created two years ago.

"We recognized that this was a field of journalism that wasn't going to go away; it was going to grow," said Robert Stewart, a Sing Tao Professor of International Journalism and Director of the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University.

By creating this sequence, OU led other top journalism schools, like Northwestern and Syracuse, in an effort to educate students in the newest area of the journalism profession. Today, every area of journalism, whether newspaper, public relations or television broadcasting, is sure to have an online component.

Nearly all of the current online writers were trained in the newspaper or magazine fields. This means that the students coming out of this new program will be the first generation of students to graduate with an education specifically in online writing and the creation of online content. There are only 17 students presently majoring in online. Stewart doubts whether "there will ever be a huge number [of online majors] but we will always have a large number of people taking online electives."

Recent graduate Joy Billings switched her major to online going into her senior year. "I wanted an opportunity to combine both online and journalism because the future is digital," stated Billings. After jumping into online she decided to start an organization to meet the needs of students who chose to pursue this field and the Online Journalism Student Society (OJSS) was born.

OJSS is a way for anyone, not just students who have chosen the online sequence, to get a background in putting together stories and multimedia content for the Internet, and, as a result, any student who chooses to take advantage of this resource will be instantly more appealing to future employers. "Being a part of OJSS will give members valuable and marketable experience that can be applied to resumes, internships and eventually, a great career," Billings said.

Students saw further evidence of the digital future when OJSS hosted Rob Curley, a web innovator in charge of the highly praised Lawrence.com, on Feb. 24. He spoke to online students, OJSS members and the Speakeasy team on the importance of media convergence; the idea of the web incorporating writers and photographers along with those who are well-trained in all types of visual communications, such as Adobe Photoshop and Flash. According to Curley, journalists not only need to be exceptional writers, but they also need to think outside the box when it comes how news is delivered.

This is the driving force behind OJSS and Speakeasy -- to help train and give this kind of experience to the next generation of journalists. It's also another way to gain practical experience in this exciting new field. When the next wave of students graduates, according to Stewart, "there will always be jobs for the right people."