Story 8: Which Diploma's Better?

So you are enrolled at a well recognized University.  However, you are considering transferring to another school so that you can graduate sooner because you already have a job lined up upon receiving your diploma.  What do you do?

That is the focus of Chip Scanlan’s article, Which Diploma’s Better? Scanlan admits that a University’s name may provide great opportunities in the future for some students, but in no way will it guarantee success in journalism.

Scanlan reminds readers that reporting is one of the few areas of study that does not require a professional degree or even a diploma in some cases.  Scanlan gives these suggestions to aspiring journalist:

• Study journalism, but study another profession as well and become an expert or at least very knowledgeable in another area.
• You do not learn to be a reporter in journalism school
• You learn to be a reporter through experience with editors, colleagues, sources and readers.
• Journalism school will give you the basics of writing and more importantly the role journalists play in a democracy.

Scanlan says that he learned the most about his profession in his years after journalism school.  Although he learned so much from his editors and other reporters Scanlan also says he would not give up the grounding he received from his journalism education for anything. 

The bottom line is this.  Journalism students should do whatever it takes to ethically tell a great story and write it well.  If a student can accomplish this, his or her education is irrelevant.  Respect the grounding you receive in school, but remember the majority of your learning comes later.