The iPhone - a journalism school essential?

Chatting to journalism students is always an eye-opener, because, despite the enthusiasm and the clear commitment to their career, there's very often a rather romantic view of an industry that doesn't really exist any more. It's a world of smokey bars and clattering Fleet Street typewriters battling against a daily deadline, or, very often, a rather glamorous late night gig review by a wannabe music journo.


The University of Missouri wants all journalism students to have a multimedia device. Photograph: foundphotoslj/Some rights reserved

The reality, of course, is very different. Even without the economy nosediving, the news industry was in a generational crisis of its own, but there are still new opportunities. Community management, user interface design, crowdsourcing, data mining and investigation on top of writing and reporting from a traditional skills base but with an outlook and construction that suits the web. And all of those demand a curiosity in and an appetite for exploring new technology. You don't have to be a technophile, but I do think a natural curiosity and openmindedness should be part of being a journalist.

As the Guardian's editor in chief Alan Rusbridger has said - look at the technology journalists to see how the rest of the industry will be working several years down the line.

At the oldest journalism school in the US, students are to be asked to provide an iPhone or iPod Touch as part of the curriculum. It's the first time a specific electronic device has been included as a mandatory requirement at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and though the decision was voted in by 40 to 9 of the faculty's staff, it has proved slightly controversial.

Between 85-90% of students have devices anyway, so the argument that students will face an extra financial burden is slightly redundant, but the controversy was an endorsement of a particularly manufacturer - until the school clarified that a Microsoft Zune or Blackberry would suffice.

"It's like asking an engineer to buy a calculator," Brian Brooks, associate dean for undergraduate studies, told the AP. "We are doing this requirement solely to benefit our students' learning."

What will the students be using the iPhone or iPod for, according to the school? Listening to podcast lectures, watching course-related video outside classroom time and using the web to research stories on the ground. Not a radical implementation, and the $229 cost is equivalent to two or three substantial text books, but a signpost for the importance of technology to the journalism profession. Let's hope there's an app development course on offer too.

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