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Following a week of speculation as to which program would be cut from its ranks, the School of Journalism and Communication Board of Trustees has unanimously decided to cut journalism. In a blogger conference issued this morning, Dean Tim Gleason@@http://uoalumni.com/s/1202/index_nbc.aspx?sid=1202&gid=1&pgid=779#gleason@@ voiced the board’s position by admitting that “the (journalism) program is a dying horse. The value of contemporary journalism no longer appeals to the mission of our school.”
Gleason cited the trend of citizen journalists as a factor in the board’s decision.
“Everybody knows that the horse has a gimpy leg. The jockey knows it, the trainer knows it, the owner knows it — and we are the poor suckers that keep betting on a long-shot win.”
Gleason speculated that journalism will soon be consumed by amateur bloggers and cellphone media producers. Many industry professionals backed the move via Twitter.
“Journalism is like a horse on the way to the slaughter house. #futureglue,” University alumna Ann Curry (@anncurry) wrote on Twitter.
“It’s not just the amateurs, the whole profession sucks now. It’s like riding a horse bareback — nobody is having any fun,” Gleason said candidly to the students and faculty in attendance.
The industry has been faced with several critical issues in recent years, none of which have been handled well. The economic struggles are as troublesome as always for print journalism. Additionally, there has been a consistent decline in quality as technology has increased news turnover rates. In a recent poll, 75 percent of the two news editors surveyed agreed that the morals of the industry have been compromised.
The new makeup of SOJC majors will consist of advertising, public relations and one new major. The political science major, currently being offered by the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), will be brought into the SOJC fold in preparation for the upcoming presidential election. The new addition will be offered with a choice of two concentrations for undergraduates: “The Colbert Report” or “The Daily Show.” The concentrations highlight a national preference for serious communication.
According to Gleason, “This isn’t exactly a new horse, more like the runt of the old horse’s litter that tainted its pure blood when it broke out of the barn and got a hold of a pony.”
When asked where the journalism program would end up, interim University President Robert Berdahl@@http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/12/robert_berdahl_appointed_inter.html@@ hinted that it would either be absorbed as a certificate within the folklore program in the CAS, or it would be “taken behind the barn and put down.”
Due to the fact that the “J” in SOJC will no longer be relevant, the school will likely be renamed the “School of Nike Communication.”