The Missouri School of Journalism is among the best journalism schools in the world, not to mention it is the world’s first J-School, founded in 1908.
We all know that. We’ve heard it at least a million times. That’s why we’re here, after all. Mizzou’s journalism school is one of the best and we want to be the best. The J-School can make no mistakes, right? Wrong.
I want to take a moment to clarify what J-School Buzz is all about. The story we posted Friday about the “fake” J-School Facebook page cast our journalism school in a negative light, as we saw on Twitter. That is precisely what has to happen in order to inform students and keep a watchful eye on how the J-School is running things.
This has been one of the most consistent and short-sighted criticisms of J-School Buzz since the very beginning. “You guys make the Missouri School of Journalism look bad,” snivel countless commenters.
We strive to bring you stories that are entertaining as well as informative. That means we are not PR for the J-School. You can find plenty of that floating around already. We are instead the essential “watchdogs” (groan) for Mizzou’s journalism school.
It is not our job to make the journalism school look good. We are bloggers, always digging for the truth. However, we do hope that the quality of our journalism education will be reflected through the questions we ask and the stories we publish.
J-School Buzz is run out of a “commitment to keeping this journalism school as one of the best in the world,” as we state in our editorial philosophy. We are on your side. We want to see the J-School do well. We are thrilled when we hear good news about a current student or alum doing great things in their field, but that doesn’t mean we will ignore the major problems at hand.
We report on the Missouri School of Journalism’s deficiencies because we want the J-School to fix them, not to simply embarrass the J-School. That is the only way our Mizzou journalism experience will become even more useful and relevant.
There has to be a balance between bragging on the J-School and criticizing it, and we are striving for that balance here at J-School Buzz. With the new JSB Editorial Board, we hope to continue to bring you content that is fierce, fun and factual.
We want to be a student voice for the Missouri School of Journalism, and we welcome conversation as well as debate. We want to engage readers and create a site that fosters the dialogue for our amazing school that brings in the best students around.
We have a lot of great stories coming your way, so stay tuned and enjoy!
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“She is an absolute nerd and loves film, literature and the Oxford comma.” You didn’t use the Oxford comma in that sentence I couldn’t help but notice. Seriously, do you think that makes you sound cool?! You love FILM and LITERATURE? Nobody takes this site seriously anymore and now they’re definitely never going to.
I purposely didn’t add an Oxford comma in my bio, because it isn’t technically correct. And I simply listed things I spend a lot of my time doing (which is reading and watching movies). I’m not trying to “sound cool.”
Your posts have been hateful and really unnecessary. I’m sorry you think this site is not “taken seriously,” but you demeaning me for absolutely no reason at all does not discredit me, but rather discredits you for trying to talk down to someone you don’t even know.
I feel like you shouldn’t criticize Ali’s grammar when you used a pretty obvious run-on sentence in that comment.
Please stop posting the same false comment on this site that “nobody cares” about JSB. You don’t speak for everyone, so that’s the first and most obvious reason you are wrong. That you waste your time (and ours!) is proof enough that you do take JSB seriously enough to post your comments *repeatedly.*
But also, in just the last week, JSB has been written about on Romenesko, Poynter and College Media Matters, not to mention HuffPost College and PBS MediaShift before that, further refuting your point that “nobody takes this site seriously anymore.”
So please, don’t pretend to speak for everyone around you, just speak for yourself. And when you do speak for yourself, try to make a convincing point. Preferably just once.
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Have you ever thought about letting students from other j-schools around the country contribute to JSB? I am sure a lot of the problems you report happening at Mizzou happen at other institutions, and it’s always good to hold j-schools accountable.
We have plans to potentially expand JSB to other schools. We agree with you; other J-Schools should have that accountability as well!
Seriously, let me know if you are interested in bringing JSB to your journalism school, or if you know a few good people. We are looking to expand, if we can find the right editorial teams at the right J-Schools. Email me: davidteeghman [at] gmail [dot] com.
I am an alum, and don’t know many students at my alma mater anymore, but I see a lot of the same issues you see with your alma mater. I will look into it, but can’t guarantee a reliable editorial team for your purpose. Are you interested in having your team at Mizzou covering news at other J-Schools if you’re provided with good tips?
No, we don’t want to have Mizzou students covering other J-Schools. We want to bring that insider coverage to journalism schools across the country. That would mean editorial teams based at any J-School that would have its own JSB site. Let me know if you know anyone at your alma mater who might be a good fit. What school did you go to?
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