Do I Need Experience to Teach Journalism?

Q: I'm a junior undergraduate student majoring in journalism. Your section, as well as all of Poynter actually, has been really helpful for me, so thanks.

My question is this, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do in the journalism field, but I definitely think I want to eventually teach at the college level. Is it better to try getting my Master's or PhD after I work in the "real world" for a few years, or go ahead and get it now? Also, in terms of clips, what matters most: quality or the date you wrote them?

Thanks again for your advice!

Beth

A:And thanks you for your kind remarks.

Newsrooms of all types benefit greatly from good work done by excellent profs, so I appreciate the question.

The best professors of journalistic skills have a healthy balance. (Teachers of theory and research are a different matter.) Teachers of skills know both theory and practice. They can aim for the mountaintop, but they have worn out their own shoe leather chasing down stories. They know, firsthand, what it is like to make the edits that save someone else and to be saved by an editor.

They knowledgeably discuss a-matter, b-rolls and chi-squares. They have learned from other good professors as well as veteran reporters, cranky assignment editors and the amazing array of people they have met on their beats.

They have seen and heard a thousand things on the street and in the newsroom -- but are wise enough not to bore their students with all of them in the classroom.

They know how journalism has gotten to be where it is today and they have an idea about where it is going.

To be able to do all this, a person must be schooled in both the classroom and the newsroom. Before you get a master's degree or a doctorate, you ought to work in a newsroom. In fact, you might not ever need the doctorate to be a great journalism professor. But you can't skip the newsroom. If you do, you'll be teaching second-hand, and your students will know it.

On clips: It all depends. How good is good, and how old is old? If you're choosing between good but old and new but weak, it sounds like you need to get busy generating some good, new clips.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Don't forget to change your bookmark.