Applications to business journalism major suspended following uncertainty

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misconstrued a statement by Academic Dean of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media Francesca Dillman Carpentier as fact when it was meant to be hypothetical. The paragraph has been removed to reflect the change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

This past month, faculty members voted to suspend applications to the business journalism major at UNC for a year in order to work on what the program should look like in the future. 

The program began in the early 2000s under the direction and leadership of Chris Roush, who created the business journalism program at the University. Roush resigned this year, now serving as dean of Quinnipiac University’s Communications Program.

Francesca Dillman Carpentier, the academic dean of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, said one of the main reasons for the suspension of the major is that Roush was an integral part of the program during his time at UNC. 

“The very simple answer is that the one and only human being who was behind that major is gone,” Carpentier said. 

Those who are interested in business journalism can still take courses relating to the subject even if they aren’t directly applicable to the major anymore, Carpentier said. 

She also encourages those interested in business journalism to take courses in subjects such as economics, regardless of whether it can be applied to their major at this point in time.

Despite the fact that Roush is no longer at UNC, he said he thinks that the business journalism major, as well as the major’s application process, should continue in his absence. 

“The UNC business journalism program has produced journalists at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, American City Business Journals, Business Insider and many other media organizations,” Roush said. “Suspending applications cripples what (Dean Susan King) once called the cornerstone of the UNC journalism department.”

Catarina Rowinsky is a UNC alumna who graduated in 2009 with a degree in journalism. She said that being able to pursue the specific concentration of business journalism was helpful to her because it increased her ability to find employment after graduation. 

“I could point to those classes that I took, those business reporting classes, and say, ‘Hey, I know how to read a balance sheet, I know how to report on these economic issues,’" Rowinsky said. "That ultimately helped me get an internship during college at a business newspaper and then it helped me get my job at Bloomberg News, which is a financial news outlet. I think it was important to have those very focused classes on my resume."

Although the business journalism major did not exist when Rowinsky was attending UNC, she completed the business certificate within the journalism school. Rowinsky said she thinks the elimination of the degree program is a shame.

Rowinsky said she hopes the journalism school continues to teach this field, but she is concerned that the school is too entrenched in outdated ideas of journalism. She said she thinks the school is prioritizing the academic study of journalism over actual skills training.

“I’m concerned that this is a trend of the journalism school not paying attention to what the industry is like on the outside and what employers are looking for,” Rowinsky said. “I’m concerned that by dismantling the program, the journalism school is ignoring this need that exists in the journalism world.”

Rowinsky believes that today’s students need hands-on experience, either from the industry directly or from professors who have experience in the changing industry. 

“When I look at the course catalog, I see a lot of the same classes that were offered when I was there," Rowinsky said. "Not a lot has changed. There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in the school. This is a time when things are changing tremendously in journalism, and the school needs to be doing everything it can to keep up with that and try to prepare students for that changing world.”

@topol_morgan

university@dailytarheel.com