Synopses & Reviews
Marking the centenary of the founding of the Columbia University School of Journalism, this revealing study sets the story of the school's origins and development against the backdrop of the long, unresolved argument about a basic question: Can (and should) journalism be taught? Originally known as "the Pulitzer School" in honor of its chief benefactor, the newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, the Columbia School of Journalism has been for a century a significant presence in the world's most visible journalism community. Assailed by critics for being disengaged from the real world of working journalists and hailed by supporters as upholding journalism's gold standard, the school has had a turbulent, even contentious history. Granted unprecedented access to the school's records, James Boylan takes the measure of the diverse views of the school and its roles, up to and including the recent debate initiated by Columbia's new president, Lee Bollinger.
Synopsis
Marking the centenary of the Columbia School of Journalism, this history sets the story of the school's origins and development against the backdrop of the long, unresolved argument: Can (and should) journalism be taught?
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-317) and index.
Synopsis
Marking the centennial of the founding of Columbia University's school of journalism, this candid history of the school's evolution is set against the backdrop of the ongoing debate over whether journalism can -- or should -- be taught in America's universities.
Originally known as the Pulitzer School in honor of its chief benefactor, the newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia's school of journalism has long been a significant and highly visible presence in the journalism community. But at the turn of the twentieth century, when the school was originally conceived, journalism was taught either during an apprenticeship at a newspaper office or as a vocational elective at a few state universities -- no Ivy League institution had yet dared to teach a common trade such as journalism. It was Pulitzer's vision, and Columbia's decision to embrace and cultivate his novel idea, that would eventually help legitimize and transform the profession. Yet despite its obvious influence and prestige, the school has experienced a turbulent, even contentious history. Critics have assailed the school for being disengaged from the real world of working journalists, for being a holding tank for the mediocre and a citadel of the establishment, while supporters -- with equal passion -- have hailed it for upholding journalism's gold standard and for nurturing many of the profession's most successful practitioners.
The debate over the school's merits and shortcomings has been strong, and at times vehement, even into the twenty-first century. In 2002, the old argument was reopened and the school found itself publicly scrutinized once again. Had it lived up to Pulitzer's original vision of a practical, uncompromising, and multifaceted education for journalists? Was its education still relevant to the needs of contemporary journalists? Yet after all the ideological arguments, and with its future still potentially in doubt, the school has remained a magnet for the ambitious and talented, an institution that provides intensive training in the skills and folkways of journalism. Granted unprecedented access to archival records, James Boylan has written the definitive account of the struggles and enduring legacy of America's premiere school of journalism.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: "I have selected Columbia" -- Chapter 2: Schools for Journalists? -- Chapter 3: "Dealing with a wild man" -- Chapter 4: "A posthumous affair" -- Chapter 5: "We will start right away" -- Chapter 6: A building called "journalism" -- Chapter 7: "What journalism will do to Columbia" -- Chapter 8: "If seditiion is to be excluded" -- Chapter 9: Red apple and maraschino cherry -- Chapter 10: The first dean -- Chapter 11: "Ackerman hails stand of press" -- Chapter 12: The graduate school -- Chapter 13: Speaking to cabots -- Chapter 14: "My dear dean" -- Chapter 15: Outpost in chungking -- Chapter 16: "Sweat and tears" -- Chapter 17: Postwar ventures -- Chapter 18: The dean and the prizes -- Chapter 19: "Training ground" -- Chapter 20: "The Pulitzer mandate" -- Chapter 21: From dropout to dean -- Chapter 22: Short-changed -- Chapter 23: "Why a review?" -- Chapter 24: Era of expansion -- Chapter 25: Edging toward the abyss -- Chapter 26: Fallout -- Chapter 27: Desperately seeking a dean -- Chapter 28: "Welcome to the joint" -- Chapter 29: Hohenberg and the prizes -- Chapter 30: Meeting fatigue -- Chapter 31: "It appears you have a new dean" -- Chapter 32: CJR-from new management to old -- Chapter 33: "Sour apples" -- Chapter 34: Showdown -- Chapter 35: To the exits -- Chapter 36: The conglomerate -- Chapter 37: "Deans' Row" -- Chapter 38: Trying to stretch the year -- Chapter 39: "Clearly insufficient" -- Chapter 40: Has the Pulitzer idea survived?