Discussion on new media in old institutions

A classmate pointed out this post on Columbia’s attempts to stay culturally relevant while retaining journalistic integrity.

The discussion is a valid one – whether Columbia Journalism School should be teaching its students new media practices or sticking to values, which it’s been so good at?

My question is, why not both?

Duy Linh Tu is quoted in the article as saying it’s an argument between the old and new schools of thought, but why should it have to be that way?

Why can’t you teach good reporting and ethics to a generation of journalists who already have the tech savvy to produce for online, while also helping them fit their digital skills to telling good stories?

To me, it’s a battle of two bull-headed groups in a machismo power struggle – one trying to hold on to the “golden days” and one trying to be true to its culture. But neither wins. And who loses?

The students.

I couldn’t agree more with the school’s dean, Nicholas Lemann, who said he doesn’t want to offer courses the Learning Annex can provide.

But I couldn’t disagree more with his implied sentiment that it’s impossible to teach new media techniques and ethics at the same time. Offer a class that teaches me in a practical way how to produce content for the Web in a way that stays true to the values you’re trying so hard to hold onto. Is that so hard?

Clearly, if Erica Orden is any indication of Columbia’s reporting ethics, Columbia has a lot to worry about. If they can’t even teach a writer not to include hearsay (the stuff the professor reportedly said in class, according to ONE student), without even getting the professor to admit whether he actually said it, they better take his alleged statement as a mantra and stay out of the new media business altogether.