JOURNALISM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8204, 29 July 1915, Page 3

JOURNALISM.

A UNIVERSITY SCHOOL

(By Our Travelling Correspondent.)

A few years ago a proposal to establish a school ol journaJism in connection with one or the 'University, colleges in the Dominion was discussed by the University Senate of New Zealand. The proposal, although not adopted, was generally approved. The position at present is that the subject is not altogether dead, but sleepeth. With the object of drawing public attention to the question, and perhaps once more galvanising it into life, I append a few notes of a conversation I had with Dr. Walter Williams, Professor of History and Principles of Journalism, and Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, in the University of Missouri, Columbia, U.S.A. Dr. "\villiams is a practical journalist, having commenced work in a, newspaper office at the ago of 13, and occupied every position from that of printer's devil to editor: He is the President of the International Press Congress at the Panama Exposition, and it was while attending that- Congress at San Francisco that I met and talked with him on the subject of a school for teaching journalism. Purpose and General Scope. i The purpose of the School of Journalism, said Dr. Williams, is to train men and women for journalism. The organisation of the school comprises a faculty of experienced newspaper men, students working for the degree of B.J. (Bachelor of Journalism), and students from other divisions! of the University taking one or more courses in journalism. The laboratory of the school is a real newspaper office, from which is issued a daily evening newspaper, the " Universky Missourian." covering both the town and University news fields.

The courses deal with the history of journalism, editorial writing, reporting, copy reading, illustration, advertising, office management, and other phases" of newspaper work. In addition, the student must take, in the College of Arts and Science, certain subjects that will be helpful in his later professional work, such as history, sociology, economics, and modern languages. The requirements place the school on a par with the other professional schools of the University, two years of college work being required for entrance in each. The journalism student should then complete two years of work ,iv professional and closely allied subjects chosen with the approval of the dean. In other words, a freshman entering without previous college training may complete the entire course, both college and professional, and obtain the B.J. degree in four, years. A student who has already had the required college training may complete the professional work and win his de- ' gree in two years. While it is strongly advised that every student, no matter what his preparation, should spend at | least two years in professional school i work, it is possible for a student holding "the 13.A., B.Ss., or equivalent degree from the University of Missouri or any other approved institution, to complete the professional requirements for the B.J. degree in one »year. Students doing their college work in the University of Missouri may, by the selection of the. proper .subjects, receive both the B.A. and B.J. degree-in five' years. . . „v.,j, v . .. ... . Aims and Methods. The laboratory product of the School of Journalism is a general, all-the-year-round newspaper, self-supporting, upon which all the work, other than mechanical, is done by students of the school under the direction of the faculty. This newspaper is not a college journal. It covers every afternoon the entire news field of the town of Columbia, Missouri, which has 12,000 inhabitants. It is maintained by receipts from subscriptions and advertising. In other words, it is a real newspaper edited and published for real people and dealing with real news and business conditions.

As bedside instruction in a hospital to the student of medicine, as the practice school to tho student of education, so, said Dr. Williams, is the " University Missourian" to the student of journalism at Missouri. This is one of several distinctive features of the school. The student learns to do by doing. He learns in classroom the principles of journalism; he learns by actual work upon a newspaper the practice of journalism.

Other and earlier methods of training for journalism have their value. Tho formal lecture, the conference, the theoretical assignment, the courses in Jiews writing, are all worth while. Gathering and. ■ writing news, criticism, interpretation, comment by students under faculty direction and for class discussion, have value, oven though the copy turned in goes no farther than' the teacher's desk. The plan at Missouri includes all these methods, but also and chiefly the use of the newspaper itself.. The supreme test in journalism is not how the copy-of the reporter looks to the man on the desk, but how the finished product in the newspaper appears to the intelligent reader. Practical Organisation. Besides acquiring a background of knowledge, helpful in any calling and j essential to the highest success in journalism, through courses in history, the modern languages, political science, economics, logic, psychology, and the like, the student is grounded in the technical principles of his craft —and practices what he learns while he. is learning it. The school is organised like a newspaper office, and hence has something of the newspaper atmosphere that can best be given when work is being done for an actual newspaper. The student out on assignment meets real conditions, and is treated as a reporter only when ho represents a real newspaper. With the needs of the real newspaper in view, students can be taught to gauge the relative importlance of news. A story worth a column one day may, tho next day, when overshadowed biJ other news, be worth only a dozen lines. The student writes his story with the needs of the newspaper, on tho particular day in which he writes, in mind. Writing for publication gives the student a motive, an incentive to endeavour, which writing for the waste basket lacks. Students see problems in the concrete worked out every day in full view of the public—problems, of news presentation, make-up, and effective typographical display. . They must, write headlines that fit. The most attractively-written head is of no use if it is one letter too long for the space allotted it. Type-effects are studied at close rango on the' newspaper. .All-Round Journalism. Besides journalism, or the purely literary side of • newspaper work, courses in advertising, illustration, and

other features of the business side of a newspaper are provided. Newspaper management is discussed ; . circulation problems are considered. The "University Missourian" must come out on time, it must catch the mails, it must have enough subscribers and carry enough advertising to meet its publication expense. The ethics of journalism is taught all the while. The newspaper must be representative of the best in journalism and yet pay its way. And the " University Missourian" —on which the students have their continuing try-out—moots these conditions!! ; This" is the course of study, said Dr. Williams -in conclusion,' by which we turn oiit 'practical journalists.