The Foundation-Inspired “Teaching Hospital” Discussion

Before and during the Chicago convention, the Newspaper & Online News Division’s email list had a spirited discussion inspired by Howard Finbeg of Poynter in response to an “open letter to university presidents” from executives of several foundations.

The foundations endorsed  a “teaching hospital” model of journalism education and cautioned university administrators, “Schools that do not update their curriculum and upgrade their faculties to reflect the profoundly different digital age of communication will find it difficult to raise money from foundations interested in the future of news.”

Here are some key links for the discussion:

• Open Letter to University Presidents
• Knight Foundation blog by Eric Newton
• Finberg’s article about it at Poynter
• August discussion email list archive, with contributions from Howard Finberg, Dane Claussen, Bill Reader, Carrie Brown, John Russial, John Zibluk, Bob Stepno, Ann Brill, Chris Roberts,  Andrew Ciofalo, Gary Kebbel, Brian Baresch, Skye Dent, Kathleen Hansen, Howard Schlossbert, Michael Abrams, Larry Dailey, Robert Picard, Maureen Croteau, Daryl Moen, and perhaps more by now.

The original foundation letter signers, and their organizations:

• Eric Newton, senior adviser, Knight Foundation
• Clark Bell, journalism program director, McCormick Foundation
• Bob Ross, president and CEO, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation
• Mike Philipps, president and CEO, Scripps Howard Foundation
• Linda Shoemaker, president, Brett Family Foundation
• Davis Haas, chair, Wyncote Foundation