Colleges and Journalism

The United States Department of the Interior, through its "Office of Education," has been making a survey of the field of journalism, with the purpose of "giving the opportunities and limitations of writing as a career. There are more than 28,000 men and 5,000 women who write for 20,000 newspapers, magazines, trade journals and similar publications--nearly 2,300 of these being daily papers with a circulation of 44,000,000 copies. This means that one person in every three buys a daily newspaper--or, omitting children under under fourteen years of age, one in every two. But as one paper has often several readers, it may be assumed that nearly every literate person in the United States has a newspaper daily under his eyes.

There are 6,000 men and women "studying journalism" in schools and departments of journalism in colleges and universities, the approved schools offering a four-year course leading to the bachelor's degree. Professional courses are put first in the curriculum of these schools, but if the advice of Charles A. Dana is followed--and it is the soundest advice--the courses called "supplementary" which it is suggested would prepare the reporter for better service--in history, economics, government, politics, sociology, literature, natural science and psychology and philosophy--should be the basic disciplines.

His definition of a well-trained newspaper man is an follows:

"A journalist must be an all-round man. He must known whether the theology of the parson is sound, whether the physiology of the doctor is genuine, whether the law of the lawyer is good law or not. His education, accordingly, should be exceedingly extensive. If possible, he should be sent to college. He must learn everything the college has to teach: but what is more important, he should be sent to the school of practical life and of active and actual business. He must know a great many things, and the better he knows them, the better he will be in his profession. There is no chance for an ignoramus."