In deciding on the school I’d attend for a master’s, I read a lot of opinion pieces by reporters and (more frequently) former reporters as to whether or not a master’s degree was a worthwhile endeavor in journalism.

I can say, rather confidently, that graduate school is helping me become a better reporter. I can also say that doing anything else in the industry would lead to many of the same lessons and experiences.

For background, I want to cite some of the sources I consulted in my decision-making as to if I should attend journalism school, and to get some sort of selection criteria.

I read Ezra Klein, who has a very populist, craft-first understanding of the field and who wrote that “letting someone pay you a bit of money to become a journalist, or even pay you nothing at all, is better than paying a j-school a lot of money to become a journalist.”

I read the CJR issue that debated the value of journalism. The most valuable thing I took from it was Alexandria Nealson’s argument that, especially for people in social groups that face various forms of social oppression, J-school helps you secure a place in the queue of people considered for jobs.

I read Hamilton Nolan, who argues the following: “As a profession and as a society we should be actively discouraging young people from going to J-school. It’s unnecessary! It’s a big ripoff! And it contributes to a lack of diversity and an economic elitism that is detrimental to the goal of equality in news coverage! It’s all fucked up!”

Recently I found Jay Yarow’s argument that J-school can teach you a lot about reporting in a condensed time that a freelance gig cannot.

Other takes:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-cox/is-journalism-grad-school_b_839356.html
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/journalism-school-2315974
https://newrepublic.com/article/72485/j-school-confidential

A common strain among all of these were arguments as to whether or not it was a worthwhile choice for individuals to decide to go, and whether it would make their reporting better.

I write for a daily at Mizzou, and within this context I’ve learned a lot. Editors’ comments, in just two months, have helped me chisel out workflows that make more sense and that lead to better newsmaking.

I know, however, that these are things I could learn at a daily with a staff writer position. My editors might be less talented there, but I also wouldn’t have to manage the nigh-impossible task of balancing about 10-12 hours of reading a week at the absolute minimum with trying to turn stories around at normal newsroom speeds.

Still, reporting acumen was not why I decided to go to J-school. I knew I could get that in or out of the classroom. Journalism is more than writing things down.

To say otherwise, to me, ignores the idea that academia in various industries and the creation and deliberation over theory actually lead to societal good (an idea, I’d note, that is foundational to the creation of modern society.) It ignores the importance of trying things out without having to worry about surviving at the end of the day because you didn’t turn enough stories around while you freelance. It ignores the value of questioning the core values of journalism and seeing how those values have changed with time. These are all extremely vital components of the journalism school experience.

In J-school I have been given a chance to figure out audio editing on my own, outside of the classroom, and not feel like I was wasting my time doing it. I’ve been able to grapple with the worst instincts of our industry, like in a recent class where we debated whether or not the horse-race coverage of major outlets is doing service to democracy. I’ve been able to talk to people who are questioning what the industry will look like in 10 years in an era with fundamentally different consumption habits than we see now.

Because I’m at a land grant, public university, I’ve also been able to do this while avoiding the subject of the most blistering critiques of journalism schools: the cost. At Mizzou, a degree is maybe a third of the cost of other major universities. As a result, I don’t feel like I’m setting myself up for a huge financial struggle after graduation.

I’m going to write more about this. When I have any sort of personal time (ha. haha. ha…) I’m going to write something at length where I summarize arguments for and against, and relate my own experiences without trying to indict the J-school industry as a whole. For now, though, I feel relatively confident with my decision to attend Mizzou.