Why Journalist Are Deterring Students From the Field of Journalism

Many of today’s journalists don’t want to face the fact: the field of journalism has changed and is continuing to change daily. Tim McGuire, the former editor-in-chief of the Minneapolis Star Tribune turned professor, is not one of those people.

In a recent article, McGuire states that journalists, who have a negative view on journalism’s transformation to a digital field, are deterring students from entering into the field.  If the press began seeing the digital transformations as exciting, so would students. All that matters is how the development is spun.

Mainstream media is comfortable with their set-up and doesn’t foster the idea of renovation, making it difficult to move media in new and exciting directions.  With the rise of digital media, there have been two dramatic developments: media is no longer one-way and simple; instead, media is about interactions between writers and their readers. Secondly, the news used to be done on the media’s schedule, now it is all up to the viewer as to when they receive it.

While McGuire believes print media will last a little longer, there is no way for media to return to its glory days; the world of digital is inevitable and mainstream media needs to structure themselves like startup companies, in order to maintain their significance in a world where access to information is effortless. The field of journalism has undoubtedly changed, and the media needs to adjust to these changes or get left in the dust.