When Tufts alum Jeremy White (LA '09) graduated from the university in the spring of 2009 after serving as a news editor for the Daily, he hoped to find a job in journalism. But after White sent his résumé out to newspapers around the country and was met with no response time and time again, the harsh reality began to set in: His dream job would have to wait.
White's predicament is part of a nationwide trend in which a shrinking job pool has increasingly left qualified prospective journalists out of employment. According to a study from the University of Georgia, full-time employment in journalism in 2008 was at its lowest point since at least 1986.
In the face of these daunting statistics, it seems that students would be less likely to pursue a graduate degree in journalism. However, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported last week that journalism schools across the nation are actually having increased rates of application — a sign that students more and more are looking to graduate school in the depressed job market.
White himself, who admits that he previously had "no plans at all" to attend journalism school — or "J-school" — applied and was accepted into Columbia's graduate program, which reported a 44 percent increase in applications for this fall's class.
"I was sort of fruitlessly applying to all of these different newspapers, writing all of these obsequious letters, begging papers with a circulation of 5,000 to hire me," White said. "But I wasn't getting anything back, and I figured if I'm serious about trying to be a journalist, this is the type of opportunity that I really can't turn down."
White was encouraged to apply to Columbia by another member of the Tufts Class of 2009, Sarah Butrymowicz, who was a managing editor on the Daily. Unlike her classmate White, Butrymowicz from the start had wanted to go to J-school, especially at a reputable institution like Columbia.
"I think that Columbia has a great network that you get put into the second you come here," said Butrymowicz, who during her years at Tufts had internships at both USA Today and a local paper in Green Bay, Wis. "I think that, in the long run, hopefully it will make it easier for me to rise up at slightly more prestigious places."
Part of the reason that students are so enthusiastic about applying to journalism school is because of programs that embrace the digital age of "new media." In 2007, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University announced plans to re-vamp its curriculum, an attempt to provide its students with the technological and marketing prowess needed to excel in today's journalism landscape. Since then, other J-schools have followed suit.
Professor Susan Eisenhauer, assistant director of the Communication and Media Studies (CMS) program at Tufts, received her degree in journalism before this wave of new media took hold and recognizes that the industry has changed drastically.
"Increasingly the jobs that will be available will be multimedia based," Eisenhauer said. "If students can add photography and video to their reporting and writing skills, it definitely helps."
The CMS program provides plenty of opportunities for Tufts students to get experience in the field. CMS runs the largest internship program on campus, placing students in newsrooms around the country and also locally at Somerville and Medford papers. Eisenhauer maintains that with all of these resources, as well as with the multitude of Tufts publications that students can work with on campus, motivated Tufts students can get adequately prepared for a journalism career.
"A number of students choose to do journalism projects here, or minor in Mass Communications," Eisenhauer said. "Many students get practical experience as well. We've had students work at WBUR in Boston and at the Somerville paper, which will give writers a camera and a notebook and put them in the community."
But if Jumbo journalists are so well prepared as undergrads, what is the need to spend the nearly $50,000 to go to a J-school like Columbia? For students like White, journalism school is a last resort, a way to springboard a career in journalism when job prospects are dim. For others, like Butrymowicz, going to journalism school is an opportunity to learn new techniques and face new challenging demands of accountability.
"It's a different type of reporting than I've ever done before. A lot more is expected of me. It's not OK to go back to my professor and say, ‘The credit office didn't get back to me, I'm sorry, I can't fill in this part of the story,'" said Butrymowicz, who at the moment is working on a story about the quality of school lunches in New York City.
Butrymowicz has made numerous calls to school administrations about her story but to no avail. After her interview with the Daily yesterday morning, the budding reporter planned to spend the day sitting outside schools in the Upper West Side with her tape recorder, gathering quotes from students and their parents.
"I feel like there's a lot more creativity required and a lot less dependence on phones," Butrymowicz said. "Usually, most of my other stuff has been sitting in an office or in my dorm room calling people, but that's changed now."
When they first got to Columbia in August, Butrymowicz and White went through a three-week "Audio and Photography Boot Camp" from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day to learn about photography, audio and video media. Students were taught about the basics of a good photo, like how to work a camera and control shutter speed, and about what makes a good audio piece, including how to edit and create their own audio slideshows.
Butrymowicz's "Reporting and Writing" class already has plans to create its own Web site, complete with audio and video materials. These students hope that their multimedia skills learned at Columbia will allow them to succeed and adapt to a profession in the midst of a fundamental transition.
"What you learn in August, because your class has a Web site, keeps going all semester," Butrymowicz said. "I've learned a lot about digital stuff already, and I think that I'm only going to learn more."
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The photo in this article was originally credited to Rebekah Sokol. This was corrected on 10-2-09.
