One Century DOWN

BY CAROLINE BISSONNETTE & MCKENNA CHRISTY PHOTOS BY SAM WARREN DESIGN BY RACHEL RECTOR

Ohio’s oldest university is celebrating 100 years of its journalism school. The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University welcomes those who look to strengthen their writing, reporting and public relations skills to enter the professional field.

The title of oldest journalism school in the United States goes to the University of Missouri’s school of journalism. The Missouri School of Journalism was founded in 1908 by Walter Williams, according to the university’s website, and offered the world’s first journalism degree.

Journalism has been met with, and adapted to, many technological advancements throughout the centuries. From Johann Gutenberg, who invented Europe’s first printing press in to Tim Berners-Lee, who published the first website journalists have been there for the entire ride while sharing information in new ways.

Some pupils studying journalism enrolled in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, such as Edie Sawyer, a sophomore on OU’s Swim and Dive team, always knew they had a passion for the skills required to follow a career in journalism.

“Ever since I was little, I always enjoyed writing,” Sawyer says. “That was one of my favorite things to do in school.”

The appeal of the E.W. Scripps School’s opportunities to study either strategic communication or news and information, helped Alyssa Goodenow, a junior studying journalism strategic communication, find her official major after changing it “like 14 times,” and she’s “not even kidding.” Goodenow started her college career at Kent State University studying criminology, and after taking a career quiz, she found advertising was the best fit for her interests and skills.

“When I came here, I did not realize that there’s not a lot of schools that offer just an advertising or public relations degree,” Goodenow says. “The closest thing I found was strategic communication. So that’s why I started looking into that major and that just happened to fall under journalism.”

Goodenow, now committed to being a journalism major, works for the audience engagement section of The Post and is currently the vice president of finance for Scripps PRSSA. She credits her involvement in student media groups as a reason she stays organized in school.

“I feel like coming here and being involved in these things, it’s really forced me to, I know it sounds so cliche, but really step outside of my comfort zone,” Goodenow says.

Sawyer, who is also on the strategic communication track, is not as involved in student media as she would like to be. Sawyer is interested in both reporting and advertising, so when classes allow her to explore both, she says it is beneficial.

“I definitely am figuring all out what exactly I want to do,” Sawyer says. “I really like how our classes give us exposure to both sides.”

Journalism has been regarded as a competitive field, meaning resume building in college is a task that adds pressure to an already stressful experience. Goodenow says she did not realize how competitive the major was until she felt behind.

“I was like, ‘I need 14 internships’,” Goodenow says. “I need to be in 62 clubs. I was like, ‘I need to be involved in everything’.”

The natural competitiveness of applying for executive positions within student media organizations, internships, jobs and more and the observed differences of news and information and strategic communication majors could be met with more cooperation.

In the future, respective news and information and strategic communication majors may find they switched the tracks they studied when hired for a job.

“I’ve really noticed that both of them actually intertwine,” Sawyer says. “I’ve learned that there’s so much more than just [what] the title says.”

When journalism students become alumni, they may be asked to help the people whose shoes they were once in. Being a past, present or future journalism student at OU brings almost a certainty that there is someone advocating for the success of someone else.

“People who are alumni, they will help you,” Goodenow says. “They will help you, and you don’t even have to know the person.”

To ring in 100 years of journalism, the Scripps College of Communication held a Centennial Symposium in early April. Students gathered to hear OU alumni speak about their college experiences and leaving the bricks to pursue successful careers in news and strategic communication .

There were several sessions in which all students were invited to attend. Grouped together based on their careers, professionals from the field shared stories and offered advice to those hoping to achieve similar success.

Meryl Gottlieb graduated from OU’s journalism school in 2016 and came back to talk about her time working toward a career in business journalism. She is currently Insider’s senior partner manager of business development.

Gottlieb knew she wanted to end up in New York, so she did what she could as a student to snatch the key to the city. During her time at OU, Gottlieb spent her time in The Post’s newsroom and eventually became the culture editor.

“You get to bond over the level of commitment and care that you put into each product,” Gottlieb says.

Members of campus publications always look for the next story, and they all want to tell it in a way that will get people reading. However, this does not mean everyone in the newsroom ends up in the same place after graduation.

Molly Cronin, an adviser for the Ohio Honors Program at OU, graduated from OU’s Honors Tutorial College with a journalism degree in 2003. She values the skills she acquired, but she did not find herself longing for a professional byline.

“Moving forward as a teacher and a professional in higher [education], knowing how to seek-out, discern, gather and utilize information has been a core tool that I’ve always been glad to have in my toolbox,” Cronin says.

Between the program’s founding and now, OU’s journalism school has climbed in the nation’s ranks as many students have gone on to find success with the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism on their resumes. Journalism courses help to prepare students for the rigor of the professional world, but students working for campus publications get added authentic real-world experience.

“It seems like journalism students are always doing one thing or another, and they are always busy,” Benjamin Lowry, a senior studying psychology, says. Lowry has been surrounded by journalism students since his sophomore year when he lived with one. Now, he lives alongside many more as a resident assistant.

College can be overwhelming, so seeing people do more than them may make it worse for those struggling to stay above water.

“I do think there was a little bit of a lack of identity as to who I was as a journalism student because I didn’t have a very clear path,” Cronin says.

Gottlieb, on the other hand, had set plans from the beginning. Despite a clear difference in experience, Gottlieb and Cronin find use for skills learned in pursuit of their degrees, just as current students will in years to come.

“I think a lot of people are really motivated to learn and work in class, which is great,” Sawyer says. “Professors are willing to help and make sure everybody understands.” b