Classes I Missed During College

Just over six years ago, I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I earned my BA in journalism and mass communication. As one of the most popular majors for students at the university, the School of Journalism was home to some of the best professors at UNC, talented and promising students (I see one of my former classmates as a reporter on our local news all the time) and some of the most interesting classes offered at the university. One my classes - Censorship - was a coveted class that typically only seniors were able to enroll in (seniors got first dibs during semester registration). I took classes in advertising (my concentration), editorial writing, media law, women in advertising, first amendment issues, and copy writing. I loved my major, and wouldn't have opted to graduate with any other degree. Between the coursework and the professors, I couldn't have asked for a better educational experience than the one I received at Carolina.

However, on thinking back on my degree and college experience, I'm afraid that I might have missed some critical coursework on my way to becoming a journalist. After all, I don't currently work in the field of journalism. Did my class selections more than six years ago prevent me from becoming a reporter or a high-powered ad executive? Did I shut myself out of journalism so many years ago and did not even realize it? Perhaps if I had taken the following classes, I would be a news commentator right this very moment.

Spinning 101. The objectives of the course are to equip students with the artful tactics of spinning a news story to meet either 1) your personal agenda or 2) the agenda of the news outlet you work for. Students are expected to master spinning techniques such as editorializing, miss-characterization, and politicizing news stories. This course has Math For Journalists as a prerequisite.

Rewriting History 141. In this course, students will learn how to take an otherwise reliable source for a news story, throw it out the window, and write the story you really want to write, regardless of the factual information at hand.

Smear Writing 132. Students will learn the art of smearing a political candidate, regardless from what party, to fit the agenda of 1) you or 2) the news outlet you work for. In this course, you will learn the ever popular method of smear writing in the blogging world.

Math for Journalists 165. This course teaches students how to skew statistics, recalculate figures, adjust political poll numbers, alter dates and times, and in some instances, eliminate important numbers all together.

Reporting From the Pedestal 212. This graduate-level course will teach students how to elevate themselves to "elite journalist" status. During this course, students will learn how to look down on the common man, look up to admired politicians, avoid criticizing these admired politicians, and associate strictly with other elite journalists. Students will also learn the importance of incorporating The New Yorker, The Economist, the New York Times and MSNBC into everyday news media intake.

Maybe I did shoot myself in the foot all these years ago. After all, most of the "journalists" I see on television embody the above principles. Most articles that appear in mainstream newspapers and news websites are written with an agenda (usually a liberal agenda). Journalists are not journalists any more. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow and Katharine Graham. Gone are the days when what you heard on the nightly news was actually...gasp!...factual and not dripping with a political agenda. What's left today is a glut of information that consumers have to wade through in order to get to the real truth. That is, if consumers take the time to actually research what they hear on television or read about online.

Now, I admit, that a lot of my posts center on politics and conservative ideals. I'm a proud member of the GOP. I am pro-life, a Christian and a proud wife to a God-fearing, Christian man. I have strong views about the world and society, and opinions on everything from the Olympics to the economy to UNC football games.

But I don't claim to be a journalist. We all have our own opinions and ideas about the world, but journalists are suppose to leave their opinions at the door and deliver unbiased stories to the public. But all too often, journalism students are educated at increasingly liberal universities (and I don't exclude my own Alma mater here) and then join liberal media outlets upon graduation. Perhaps it would behoove everyone - journalists and consumers alike - to cancel classes such as Spinning 101 and Reporting From The Pedestal 212 so that, finally, consumers can decide for themselves, and not have to wade through biased stories from mainstream news "journalists."

UPDATE: Check out this gem from Michelle Malkin. The perfect punctuation for this post.