Preparation for the profession: an examination of the triangulation among University of Utah journalism educators, their students, and the Salt Lake Valley media practitioners who hire them

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Title Preparation for the profession: an examination of the triangulation among University of Utah journalism educators, their students, and the Salt Lake Valley media practitioners who hire them
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Humanities
Department Communication
Author Kuban, Adam Jeremy
Date 2012-12
Description Journalism educators must make critical decisions about their undergraduate curricula, determining how to best prepare their students for professional careers. Present scholarship indicates that a disconnect exists in what journalism students think they ought to know and/or be able to do upon graduation, what educators think they must teach their students, and what current practitioners identify and value in entry-level journalists. This case study addresses a void in scholarship, as it explores what constitutes adequate preparation in a local context: via perceptions of journalism students and educators at the University of Utah as well as journalism practitioners who work in the Salt Lake Valley. Multiple methods-focused interviews, descriptive surveys, and direct observations-illuminated students', educators', and practitioners' perceptions of preparation and revealed, contrary to other researchers' findings, overall agreement among these three communities. Entry-level journalists, according to the data, must have stellar reporting and writing skills, exercise critical-thinking skills, remain curious about the world around them, understand basic governmental processes and protocols, and practice their craft-on their own and in professional opportunities as they emerge. Eight specific suggestions resulted from the data that may improve the existing undergraduate journalism curriculum at the University of Utah.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Educators; Journalism; Practitioners; Preparation; Skills; Students
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Adam Jeremy Kuban 2012
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 2,216,209 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3436
ARK ark:/87278/s6671nfv
Setname ir_etd
ID 196992
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6671nfv
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