The Free J-School Manifesto

MISSION & PHILOSOPHY

At the end of 2008, when I decided to start this website, a year at one of the nation’s elite journalism schools cost about as much as a black market kidney.

If you included books, rent and board, Columbia came in at $67,440, USC at $58,944 and Northwestern at $40,281. If I understood their convoluted formula, NYU was about $33,222 (PDF), but without a roof over your head. Missouri, as far as I could tell, was too embarrassed to give any hint of their tuition on their web page.

Even the master’s program at state-funded U.C. Berkeley, my undergraduate alma mater, came in at $31,702 a year for residents, with further hikes just one more state budget crisis away. CUNY's new graduate program is one of the most affordable at $13,267 a year for non-residents (I'm from California), but that's before factoring in NYC rent.

These figures have been in the back of my mind since I joined my junior college newspaper and fell in love with the craft. I’ve turned them over in my head a lot, but no matter how I look at it, I can’t find the value in paying a year to study journalism—or even a fraction of that.

It’s not that I don’t feel the pull. Many a j-school faculty makes me drool. U.C. Berkeley’s underrated lineup, for example, at the time included Cynthia Gorney, Michael Pollan and Dan Gillmor. The chance to get my work put under their microscope is awfully tempting. Plus, in a field that should be a competition of pure merit but often boils down to who you know, journalism school is an unquestionable boost.

But why should I drop a kidney for a nice Rolodex and some one-on-one editing? Most schools' yearly tuition compare unfavorably with graduates' first year salaries (PDF, pg 8). And that is assuming, degree or not, any journalist can get a job in this current market. Ultimately, I asked myself this theoretical: If journalism school was free, would I attend? The long pause that followed settled the debate.

Yes, j-school is a lot more than an editing service and some choice connections. But I realized I could get most of the rest for free. NewsU courses aren’t perfect, but they don’t cost a dime. I have no love for unpaid internships, but they beat paying to write for a student news wire. While I’ll miss the classroom discussions, I don’t need any help to find and read journalism's classics.

Video killed the radio star. The internet is killing the newspaper monopoly. Will it also kill the journalism school? Maybe, but probably not. Journalists may be autodidacts, but many get their start in a classroom. Some of my most beloved writers are master’s grads. Yet we’re living in an age where language lessons, courses at top universities and every word ever written by George Orwell are just a mouse-click away. Why not harness that power?

My model has faults. I am trying to play both student and professor. This endeavor has the potential to become simply an echo chamber. That is why I’m relying on you. Whether old or young, veteran or buck, I want your feedback. Correct my spelling errors, my grammatical stumbles, argue my points, suggest your own favorites, point me in new directions, etc. You’re now a professor at The Free J-School. There is, of course, no pay, but expect lots of benefits. And if you want, you can be a student too.

Let the classes begin.

--Michael Kay