PBS Mediashift is running a special series called Beyond J-School, taking an in-depth look at journalism education in the digital age. The series was kicked off by a piece I wrote on how to teach social media at journalism schools: Teaching social media is more than showing students the mechanics of Twitter. Rather, they should learn how to build a network of relevant followers and how to interact with them

The state of the media in the US was the focus of one of the panels at the AEJMC annual conference. Bob Papper of Hofstra University reported on the state of TV news in the US from a survey of local TV stations. His message was that things aren’t as bad as they seem. TV news was still making money, though there has been a slight decline in revenue, coupled with

John Russial of the University of Oregon posed a provocative question at the AEJMC annual conference. In a research paper, he and co-author Arthur Santana studied whether the industry wants every journalist to have cross-platform skills. In a survey of 210 US newspapers, he found that different members of the newsrooms rated skills differently. Russial argued that if role convergence was real, then newsrooms would share a common view of the

At the AEJMC conference, Serena Carpenter of Arizona State talked about her experiences in teaching social media. She only spends between 6 to 8 hours teaching social media but tries to weave it into other parts of the course. Her main areas of focus are blogging, Twitter and reputation management. Carpenter said students tend to treat all social media like Facebook, so it is important to teach them the different

During a panel at the AEJMC annual conference on rebooting journalism education, Rich Beckman from the University of Miami in Florida highlighted one of the big issues in journalism schools. Beckman spoke about the need to have faculty with the skills, knowledge and experience to teach new and emerging forms of digital journalism. He argued that re-educating existing faculty members is a myth. In his view, taking a weekend course does not

An early morning session at the AEJMC conference, educators discussed one of the big issues in journalism education: what do journalism students need to learn to succeed in the industry. Amy Eisman of American University outlined six challenges to rebooting the curriculum within an academic environment: Glacial pace of change at universities Belief that established ways of doing things are best Slow acceptance of game changers such as wikileaks Hesitation

Here are the slides from my presentation at the AEJMC annual conference in Denver for the panel on planning, launching and running a converged student news website. AEJMC: Planning a student website View more presentations from Alfred Hermida. The panel is on today, Wednesday 4 August, from 1.30pm-3.30pm, room Plaza Court

The final panel at the pre-AEJMC conference workshop on the role of journalism schools as news providers looked at innovative initiatives. Joe Bergantino gave some background to the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University. It works as a 24/7 newsroom run by professional journalists with students as researchers and trainees. Students learn by working with at the center. Looking ahead, the center is working to develop products

I am delighted that my friend and colleague Jane Singer has won a contest on the future of journalism held by the AEJMC. Singer, from the University of Central Lancashire and University of Iowa was voted the winner for her entry, entitled, Bird’s-Eye View. In her contribution, Singer is positive about the future of journalism, while acknowledging that shape of the industry is going through a period of upheaval and

On Saturday, I was part of a stimulating panel at the AEJMC annual conference in Chicago discussing the digital dilemmas raised by social media.  My contribution focused on how journalists use social networking sites as part of the newsgathering process and publish material which users may consider private. The text of my talk is available after the jump (or download as PDF). The presentation is on Slideshare