I Am Going Back To Teach at The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University

Posted December 14, 2015

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Though he may come to regret it (I hope not), Columbia University Journalism School's Vice Dean, Prof. David Klatell has asked me to join him in teaching a news and television course this spring.

I have not been at Columbia since 1993 - the last time I taught there.  (Full confession - I am actually a graduate of the J School, class of 1983).

I have not been back to Columbia for many years, but clearly, things have changed. First, they no longer have manual typewriters (which is what we banged out our stories on when I was a student there in the 1980s). Second, there are a lot of new additions, like the Tow Center for Digital Journalism   which, at first glance, looks like an advance of about a thousand years since I was last in the building.  

I was actually asked to leave the school during my last teaching round because, in the words of then Dean Steve Isaacs, "you are telling the students that what we are teaching here is wrong"

Well, it was. 

But, as I say, things seem to have changed rather radically, and I am looking forward to re-connecting wth my alma mater.  From what I can see so far, I may get as much out of it as they will, and you can be sure that any insights or information I glean along the way will make its way to TheVJ.com!

In the meantime, I will keep you posted on the revival of my academic career.