If a virus were to strike our universities tonight, wiping out--by tomorrow--all schools of medicine, would the sudden disappearance of med-school graduates throw America's hospitals into crisis? Of course, and you'd better believe it. But if, instead, the virus were to kill off all our schools of journalism, would America's newspapers seize up? Of course not--in fact, you'd probably find distinguished observers who'd be prepared to celebrate the J-schools' demise.
So true. J-school is fairly irrelevant to learning how to do newspaper work. (Though it will get your foot in the door a little higher up the food chain.) I didn't go to J-school, and I'm proud of that. It means I got here through my own hard work, and not because one of my professors is a former colleague of someone who might hire me. (For the record, I went to a small college you've probably never heard of unless you follow I-AA football.)
