Are there too many journalism schools?

Or is it that there’s just too much cynicism surrounding the world of journalism schools? When I’m not fretting about whether I’ll be able to forge a decent career when I’m done school, I hear others blaming the influx of j-schools for the over-saturated news market. Why have so many journalism programs when every publication in the country is cutting back? Paul Bradshaw at the Online Journalism Blog points out several flaws in this line of thinking.

Bradshaw wrote recently that the question—Are there too many journalism courses?—is flawed because it relies on three unspoken assumptions:

1. Journalism schools exist to train people to enter the news industry.
2. Journalism and the news publishing industry are one in the same.
3. People graduating with journalism degrees are being disappointed en masse when they can’t find a job in publishing.

When dissected this way, it’s easy to see that the question is overly simplistic. Check out Bradshaw’s post for a more detailed response.