Walden Siew, editor of Investopia, is a 1995 graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
So you’re thinking about getting a graduate degree in journalism. In that case — if you’ve done your basic reporting — you’re probably getting a lot of contradictory advice.
The crusty city editor or beat reporter is probably telling you it’s a waste of time. “Graduate degree in journalism! You learn everything on the job,” a Chicago Sun-Times reporter growled at me long ago. Thanks for the advice, buddy, but his sentiments came too late. I happened to meet him while on a treasure hunt that Northwestern University assigned to their fresh-faced J-school students to learn about the joys of digging through public records.
So, when I say J-school is not a waste of time, well, to say otherwise would be to invalidate a year of my life and thousands of dollars in tuition and expenses.
But besides that, I also happen to believe it’s true. Here’s why:
