Getting a journalism degree in 2009 seems like a dumb idea. There are no jobs. Not only that, so far in 2009 U.S. newspapers have cut almost 12,000 jobs, according to Paper Cuts. Huge newspaper companies, such as Hearst, McClatchy, and The New York Times, find their once soaring stock prices left valueless while upstart Internet companies with no track record of profitability are valued in the millions and billions.

Wanting to become a newspaper journalist in 2009 is like wanting to become a stagecoach manufacturer in 1908–the year Ford made the Model T. Print is dead. People don’t read newspapers anymore. More young adults get their news from faux news shows like The Daily Report than from newspapers. Even the idiot-box is not immune to the shifting sands of the media landscape. YouTube has been  streaming over 100 million videos a day since 2006. And every second spent streaming videos on YouTube is a second that 4-5 years ago would probably have been spent watching TV.

Journalism is not the hottest career choice. The job market is bleak, the future of the industry is uncertain, the major companies are crippled by debt, and the advertising is shrinking. So, why do I choose to stay in journalism school? Because the future is bright. Anybody who believes the current crisis is the end of professional journalists is an idiot. Let me repeat that: You are an idiot if you think professional journalists will be put out of business by bloggers, news aggregators, Twitter, YouTube, and Google.

I say the future is bright for journalists because I am not an idiot, thank you very much. This is a transitional period, and the only thing we need to figure out is how to make people pay for online news, either through direct payments or through advertising. That seems like a tall order right now, but these things have a way of working themselves out. Either news organizations will learn to make money online, or they will go out of business. Once that happens they will be replaced by new and better companies. Companies that have a business plan before they start. Demand for the news is not going down, it’s profitability that is the problem. If demand remains the same and supply goes down, the price of news will invariably need to increase. Some argue that news are a commodity. But once there is nobody left reporting the news, they will be a valuable product, not a commodity used to sell ads.  All those new media “gurus” who are against charging for online news will tell you that people will never pay for something that used to be free. Tell that to the genius who decided that bottled tap water was a great idea. People will pay for anything, as long as it is convenient, valuable, and affordable.

Some might argue that this is the worst time to go into journalism. I think it is one of the best times. The future of newspapers is being created right now. Journalism professors throughout the country are scratching their heads right now wondering what the hell Twitter is good for, and whether to include it in the curriculum. By the time they decide, there will be something else they have to catch up to.

New technology always leads to job losses. The camera destroyed the market for painters who made their living with portraits. Why do you think Picasso did abstract art? Now professional photographers are being threatened by affordable and easy to use digital cameras. But you can’t just give up. You have to adapt and innovate. People aren’t buying classical portraits anymore? Invent a new style of painting!

Similarly, journalist must invent a new way to report the news. And in order to do that, you need to learn the basics first. Getting a degree in journalism is not a guarantee for a career, but it will be harder to do so without one. The English majors who weren’t sure what they’re gonna do after school won’t be able to stumble into a newspaper job anymore. Knowing how to write is not enough anymore. The future journalist will also need to know how to take pictures and edit them, shoot and edit video, create slideshows, make interactive media, write and edit code (HTML, CSS, etc). They will need to know how to maintain a website, promote their articles, how to quickly gather and verify information, and how to do it all quicker than the competition without getting sued.

But all those technical skills can be learned without going to Journalism school. I know because I have taught myself mostly everything I needed to know. What can’t be learned solo is the way a journalist needs to think and behave. Everything from ethical issues to the truth about objectivity is a lot more convincing when it is taught to you by people who have decades of experience and personal stories. What can’t be learned solo is the almost sacred value journalists put into truth and honesty. It may sound a little sappy and elitist, but journalists abide by ethical standards that are far stricter than most other professions.

Everybody is talking about hyper-local coverage and “citizen journalists”. Ok, so let’s say you want do a little journalism on the side. You start a blog to cover your local community. You go out, talk to people, get quotes, writer stories; you’re a journalist. Only problem is, there are a million ethical dilemmas you will not be ready for without having a proper education. Being an online “citizen journalist” who writes positive reviews about local businesses because they give you free food and drinks is no different than being a crooked politician. Reporting on local crime without understanding how to verify facts and what is or is not libel can get you sued really quick. Ignoring important issues in the community because they’re touchy makes you a fraud. Writing about businesses that advertise with you almost always clouds your decisions. Publishing information that your gossiping neighbor told you about doesn’t make you a reporter, it makes you a gossiping neighbor. Sure, a lot of people would like a community news outlet where they can view pictures of all the pretty gardens and the top ten cutest pets in the neighborhood. But if you do that and ignore the local policies that lead to housing discrimination for minorities, you’re not really doing journalism.

Since this post is running a little long, and thanks to the Internet the average attention spam in getting shorter, I will sum up the reason to go to J-School in a list:

• The Internet is not going to kill professional journalism. It will improve it by giving journalist a better and quicker medium to publish content
• The future journalist will need to work quicker and will handle tasks that used to be done by editors, photographers, and designers. Therefore, a proper education with a focus on the basics will be more crucial than ever before
• The future journalist will work more on a freelance and independent basis. Therefore, you will need to know everything to get started. A journalism degree should provide you with what you need to know.
• Making money online will be solved soon. Companies will not go out of business giving away their content for free. Either there will be a lot more ads or pay walls will be put around the content. You can only increase revenue by laying people off for so long.
• Journalism is now more important than ever. The world is growing more complex by the minute and is going through one of the worst economic crisis. Journalists are needed not only to report, but also to keep an eye on government and business.
• The economic crisis will end. People will spend money again. Companies will advertise again. Journalism will flourish again.
• And the last reason to go to journalism school is that it is simply the best job in the world. Sometimes, to do something worthwhile and meaningful, you have to make economic sacrifices. And then again, there’s always law school if you’ve failed at everything else.