Unlearning Jargon
I see that my grad school alma mater is offering a course for folks outside the journalism department:
How to translate the specialized languages of particular disciplines in order to reach a larger public is at the heart of this course. Too often, specialists find themselves hostage to the arcane tongues of particular disciplines. Yet they possess knowledge that often cries out to be understood by a broader public. The course will concentrate on the structure of good storytelling, the marshaling of evidence, the unfolding of convincing narrative, and the rhetorical style necessary for turning useful work into memorable writing.
I approve.
Hi Conor,
I dig this, and I would take it a step further. A number of colleges place their syllabi, course readings, etc. online (usually by accident: placing them behind easily guessable passwords). If NYU’s Journalism School doesn’t, why not make this a teachable moment for your readers AND your alma mater?
Part of the fun of coming from one of these places is that you can use your networks for the benefit of your readers (and the larger netizen culture). If I were you, I would email the professor (or somebody you worked with at NYU who might know him) to democratize some of the core lessons.
As an ambassador for the blogosphere surfing a surge of good will and positive press coverage, you have the power to bridge the divides exacerbated by classroom walls and intellectual property hurdles. Besides, who wouldn’t want to share a few PDF’s with a key Daily Disher? =)
Kind Regards,
Brown Bourne
Blog: http://brownbourne.wordpress.com
Roll: http://brownbourne.wikidot.com
— Brown Bourne · Oct 26, 04:58 PM · #
Better yet, newspapers could start recruiting journalists with specialized backgrounds instead of journalism school grads who may or may not have taken a class in translating jargon . . .
— Will · Oct 26, 05:56 PM · #
And yet these courses always end up being slapdash in execution—the literary equivalent of those “Be an Artist!” correspondence classes advertised on TV. Rhetoric used to be one of the linchpins of a classical liberal arts education, something learned over the course of many classes, many years, and many essays, speeches, and debates. It’s not something you can really appreciate sitting in a classroom for three hours a week over a single semester.
— Dan · Oct 27, 08:23 PM · #