By Don Corrigan

Mizzou’s J-School is gearing up for its 100th birthday party in 2008 as America’s oldest journalism school. My hunch is that a lot of us returning to our alma mater will be proud of the old school, but not so proud about the sad and lowly state of our profession.

On the print side of journalism, we see corporate chains buying out and laying off seasoned reporters in an effort to economize, retire debts and shore up plummeting stock values.

On the broadcast side of the field of journalism, we see a corporate media slighting news for senseless chatter about American Idol competitions and Britney Spears’ underwear mishaps.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that many Americans are now becoming “citizen journalists” in their own right. They are doing their own research and learning to ask tough questions – and doing it without the aid of the daily ad sheet or the TV blabbermouths.

The talents of the new citizen journalists were on display last week at a symposium, “Resuscitating American Health Care Delivery,” at Webster University. Extra chairs were needed for a very attentive audience. No one seemed afraid to ask questions of the heavily-credentialed panel of experts.

Their questions, in fact, were more informed than would be heard from most media pros, who sandwich our world between the TV news lead-in music and the five-day forecasts.

Among the many questions posed: Read more…

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