Craig Newmark Donates $10M to Help CUNY Journalism School Become Tuition-Free (observer.com) 37
Craig Newmark posted an announcement last week on LinkedIn. "Okay, my deal is that I'm contributing another $10 million so that the City University of New York journalism grad school can go tuition-free for half the student body next year...
"Tuition-free means more seriously good journalism education for students from all income backgrounds..."
More details from the Observer: The New York City-based institution today announced plans to grow its endowment to $60 million by 2026 to cover the tuition of its full student body in perpetuity.
Founded in 2006, the Newmark Journalism School has long offered a public alternative to private, elite journalism programs across the nation, according to its dean Graciela Mochkofsky. "After the pandemic, we realized that even though we were one of the most affordable schools in the country, we were seeing an increasing need from our students," Mochkofsky told Observer. "We started thinking about how to get to tuition-free...."
"One-time grants to schools and newsrooms are an important piece of the puzzle," Newmark told Observer. "But if we're serious about the future of trustworthy journalism as democracy's immune system, we've got to create ways to make the pipeline and product more resilient to economics and shifting moods. Endowments help do that...."
The Newmark Journalism School has been gradually inching towards free tuition for some time. Tuition was covered for 20 percent of students in the class of 2023, 25 percent of the program's current class and 35 percent of the new class being enrolled. If the school's goal of raising $30 million in the next two years is achieved, this figure will reach 100 percent by its 20th anniversary in 2026...
It is additionally fundraising for other initiatives related to research, faculty, facilities and new programs. Curriculums that reflect the emergence of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the technology's effect on journalism are of particular interest.
"Tuition-free means more seriously good journalism education for students from all income backgrounds..."
More details from the Observer: The New York City-based institution today announced plans to grow its endowment to $60 million by 2026 to cover the tuition of its full student body in perpetuity.
Founded in 2006, the Newmark Journalism School has long offered a public alternative to private, elite journalism programs across the nation, according to its dean Graciela Mochkofsky. "After the pandemic, we realized that even though we were one of the most affordable schools in the country, we were seeing an increasing need from our students," Mochkofsky told Observer. "We started thinking about how to get to tuition-free...."
"One-time grants to schools and newsrooms are an important piece of the puzzle," Newmark told Observer. "But if we're serious about the future of trustworthy journalism as democracy's immune system, we've got to create ways to make the pipeline and product more resilient to economics and shifting moods. Endowments help do that...."
The Newmark Journalism School has been gradually inching towards free tuition for some time. Tuition was covered for 20 percent of students in the class of 2023, 25 percent of the program's current class and 35 percent of the new class being enrolled. If the school's goal of raising $30 million in the next two years is achieved, this figure will reach 100 percent by its 20th anniversary in 2026...
It is additionally fundraising for other initiatives related to research, faculty, facilities and new programs. Curriculums that reflect the emergence of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the technology's effect on journalism are of particular interest.
Ivy League Endowments (Score:3)
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SUNY CUNY
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Hunh, not-equals doesn't render. Anyway, SUNY and CUNY are not the same thing.
Yet another sign... (Score:4, Funny)
The bastards.
Wonder if they teach journalism? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Here you go:
Course Catalog - Newmark J-School [cuny.edu]
The lack of journalists has a multitude of factors but people who are committing to a 4-year journalism degree are more than likely passionate about it, it's not journalism is a super lucrative career choice. Just seems like there is less and less of a demand for it from the general public and the conglomerates who we let capture so much of the industry.
Lack of journalists? (Score:5, Informative)
The lack of journalists has a multitude of factors but [...]
Lack of journalists - are you nuts?
Everyone with a cell phone is now a journalist. Many high profile, highly regarded online news/opinion bloggers started out when someone with a cell phone went to a newsworthy event and discovered that the reality didn't match the MSM reports.
As one blogger noted (don't remember who), early on he went to a political rally and it was unimpressive relative to the MSM reporting. He then went to a rally for the opposing side and noted that it was a) much larger and b) completely unreported in the press. He said something like "wow, I'm reporting real news" and that feeling/experience led him to a career in amateur journalism.
The MSM is trying to promote a narrative, both left and right, all the while bloggers are showing unedited clips of things actually happening.
Lack of journalists? You must mean lack of "professional journalists at legacy media".
We can do without most of those.
Re:Lack of journalists? (Score:5, Insightful)
You must mean lack of "professional journalists at legacy media".
Yes and one, in my opinion, cannot hold this opinion in one hand and complain about any lack of actual journalism or media bias in the other. There are some actual bloggers out there doing good work but from what I can tell they are far an in between and the vast majority of them are just another group of pundits or experts simply writing about the things the "legacy media is reporting" (many of your medium.com folks) and plenty of others who are on the ground but without any corporate sponsorship are able to just go full on partisan propaganda mode (your Andy Ngo types).
Alternative media has it's advantages but it has piles of disadvantages as well. Free from oversight means being free from standards just the same.
Everyone with a cell phone can be a journalist but that doesn't make them one.
Who is this blogger you speak of and what story did he break?
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Hear, hear. There's a lot to learn about being a good journalist, including how to be or work with an editor. Which even alternative outlets often have, and benefit from. People can pick it up on the job, but making journalism school available to more people can only be a positive.
Re:Wonder if they teach journalism? (Score:5, Insightful)
Or do they actually teach activism and ideology.
The problem is that millions of morons today equate facts with "activism and ideology."
So if someone reports facts about the net positives of immigration on the USA or how sex education reduces the abortion rate or the success of mass vaccinations or a hundred other examples those reporters are accused of "activism and ideology" when it isn't that at all - It's the presenting of facts.
In 1972, when Walter Cronkite stated facts and introduced reporters providing expert analysis no one accused him of "activism and ideology." Today they absolutely would.
Re:Wonder if they teach journalism? (Score:5, Informative)
Or do they actually teach activism and ideology.
The problem is that millions of morons today equate facts with "activism and ideology."
or a hundred other examples those reporters are accused of "activism and ideology" when it isn't that at all - It's the presenting of facts.
The problem with this oversimplification is that the presenting of facts can be inherently biased. Doing per-person interviews with people who have been victims of racial crime in cities is going to yield very different responses than interviewing people who have no personal experience, even though both testimonies would be factual. Getting statistics from border states vs. inland states can both be factual while painting two different stories. Getting information from wrongfully-arrested immigrants will tell one story, getting information from victims of crime perpetrated by immigrants will tell another. Writing a story that's a firsthand account of ER nurses in 2020-2022 will tell one story, a story told from a group who lost their livelihoods due to a vaccine mandate will tell another.
The 'activism' element of it is the selection of the data, both regarding what is included, and what is not. It is entirely possible to have the very kind of story you're claiming to want, which validates a narrative
In 1972, when Walter Cronkite stated facts and introduced reporters providing expert analysis no one accused him of "activism and ideology." Today they absolutely would.
Yes...because he went to pretty great lengths to remain actually-neutral, something that neither Fox News nor MSNBC seem terribly interested in doing. Arguably Cronkite's most famous moment in his entire run was when he announced JFK's assassination, because he choked up when he heard the news - it was, quite possibly, the *only* time he was on air where his opinion was known to the audience, because the rest of the time, he respected his audience enough to present an array of facts and let the audience decide how to respond.
The question being asked by the GP is whether the free journalism school will seek to instill the neutrality, and the willingness to present uncomfortable investigation results, that's needed for good journalism. A journalist with integrity will be equally willing to publish an article that indicates that immigrants improve the local economy, as they are to publish an article that immigrants are a net negative on the economy. A journalist with integrity will be as willing to publish an article regarding the positive effects of sex education on STDs and abortion rates, as they are to publish an article indicating that sex ed is damaging toward relationships. A journalist with integrity would be as willing to publish an article on the effectiveness of mass vaccinations on reducing Covid deaths, as they are to publish an article on the chilling effects of the lockdowns and mandates.
Re: Wonder if they teach journalism? (Score:2)
That is wise and very well written. It's comments like that that keep me reading /. Kudos to Voyager529.
Multivariate facts (Score:2)
The problem is that millions of morons today equate facts with "activism and ideology."
So if someone reports facts about the net positives of immigration on the USA or how sex education reduces the abortion rate or the success of mass vaccinations or a hundred other examples those reporters are accused of "activism and ideology" when it isn't that at all - It's the presenting of facts.
Most topics are multivariate and can be marginalized to highlight certain aspects with the intent to mold public opinion.
For non-math people, the data of a concept is usually multidimensional: if plotted, it becomes a multidimensional object. You can shine a flashlight on the object and look at its shadow on the wall - effectively collapsing the multidimensional object to two dimensions by ignoring the other dimensions. Since the object is multidimensional, you can shine the flashlight from a number of dire
Nvidia and AI companies should pay for university (Score:2)
Kind of a low to no sum. (Score:2)
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CUNY lists a 4 year resident degree at $27,720 ($6,930/yr)
https://www.cuny.edu/admission... [cuny.edu]
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CUNY lists a 4 year resident degree at $27,720 ($6,930/yr)
Plus another $20k/year for living expenses in NYC.
Re:Kind of a low to no sum. (Score:5, Interesting)
This is CUNY though so I don't know if they publish the full numbers but having gone to a CUNY school for a bit myself I can pretty confidently guess that 80%+ of student body are already NYC residents so the cost of living is baked in regardless.
CUNY schools are attractive in part because it's easy to just commute to school from your parents house. Every borough has at least one.
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Re: Kind of a low to no sum. (Score:2)
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Yeah having grown up in NYC I found it wild that people would pay to go to out of state schools without having tons of scholarships when CUNY and SUNY are right there.
A big part of why I support making college tuition free (or heavily subsidized) but only for local community colleges.
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The students merely want to get away from their parents.
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Well I can understand that but that's also cost's $$$ so if you are in NYC do what most students do and get an apartment with 3-6 roommates to get yourself through school.
Great, but where will they work? (Score:2)
Physical newspapers are largely a thing of the past, and online journalism is having serious problems.
"Record number of media job cuts so far in 2023"
https://www.axios.com/2023/06/... [axios.com]
People seldom want to pay for subscriptions so that leaves ads as a source of revenue, and making money from ads requires an awful lot of eyeballs. Websites like google and FB are moving to eliminate linking to news sites, which means fewer visitors.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/serv... [cnet.com]
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Nonprofits have been stepping up for a while: https://findyournews.org/campaign/inn-network-directory/ Not making up for every for-profit that closes, but they are providing paying jobs for journalists. (Journalism work and/or degree is also useful for jobs in public relations and many other communications fields.)
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Physical newspapers are largely a thing of the past, and online journalism is having serious problems.
And even before that, journalism paid poorly. The reason journalism doesn't attract the best and the brightest is because there's no money in it, and making tuition free won't fix that. If anything, it might attract more people who aren't bright enough to get scholarships, and drag the whole program down.
We don't need more money for J-schools. We need more non-corporate money for news outlets.
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2006 article: "Craigslist is wiping out newspapers by taking away the classified adverts they need to keep afloat."https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/feb/19/news.theobserver1
Craig Newmark founded craigslist.com
City University of The New York journalism grad sc (Score:2)
As above.
CU in the Northern Territory (Australia)
it's a guilt trip (Score:2)
It's just a guilt-assuaging trip, because Newmark is what put newspapers out of business with Craigslist, killing their most lucrative classified advertising revenue stream.