“Communication.”
This was the answer I once received from a J-school higher-up when I asked why advertising and public relations are part of the University’s School of Journalism and Communication. Apparently, the two are forms of communication.@@J-school? J-School? J school? Jay-school?@@
Well, aren’t foreign languages and sign language forms of communication as well?
If you were to look at what the forms of journalism education at the J-school are taught — that is, new media, reporting, editing, media law and media ethics, etc. — these are classes designed to give students the tools they need to be successful in today’s news media world, be it at a newspaper, a magazine, a television station or a blog.
And if you were to look at what is offered from communication studies — what typically, one would think, is referred to in the University’s partial title — students learn, among other things (R.I.P., Info Hell), various theories of mass media communication, what role advertising plays in society, media history, the consumer culture and political economy of the media. In other words, students are taught how to be media-savvy and critical of what information is presented to them.
And then you have advertising and public relations.
Of which mass media is only one facet where these two are applicable.
In fact, it is rather ironic that advertising and public relations are being taught in the J-school. It’s almost as if we are feeding the beast while it remains part of the “communication” branch of the J-school.
Of course it is communication — more often than not for the benefit of businesses, government, organizations and the occasional individual. But teaching advertising and public relations in the University’s School of Journalism and Communication really goes contrary to what journalism and communication studies (outlined above) are supposed to do: develop sharp, critical thinkers who look at information provided to them with a skeptical eye instead of blindly taking information provided to them — which is provided to them at times from advertisers and public relations personnel.
Should we automatically trust this information? Of course not. Classically speaking, students at the J-school are learning to dispel and deconstruct a lot of information provided to them, and in the J-school, this is paramount.
But having things as they stand now at the J-school feels as if it is stabbing itself in the back.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a personal attack on any of the staff who teach advertising and public relations. I have met some and the ones I have met are really quite nice.@@quite@@ I also see the value of advertising and public relations in general.
But I think they need to exist outside of the J-School, for reasons outlined above.
Will the University’s School of Journalism and Communication lose financial support if this were to happen? That is a good question. What needs to be looked at is what percentage of all money going to the school is because of its advertising and public relations curricula. Or, rather, what aspects of the J-school as it currently operates rakes in the dough?
I mean, what would happen if advertising and PR were to be shifted to a branch within, say, the business school? I am sure the business school would love it since it would be easier for business students and teachers to work hand-in-hand with advertising and public relations students and professors to create a better message for, ultimately, consumers — which are citizens in business-speak. It is right up their alley.
It is not to say that advertising and PR classes are strictly geared towards for-profit companies. To be fair, the PR teachers I have spoken with are adamant that what they teach is related to nonprofits.
Of course.
But in a weird way, such an outlook is PR in practice. I mean, it is almost as if they are trying to convince us that this is the case so that they feel better about teaching public relations and the great reputation it has. Because remember, the NFL is a nonprofit too — that bastion of operational purity. @@Which is utter NONSENSE@@
To the higher-ups in the University’s School of Journalism and Communication: Let advertising and public relations go. They don’t belong in the J-school. They are not journalism. They are not communication studies. Saying advertising and public relations is “communication” is disingenuous to the school, and I don’t buy it.