Journalism, is it science or not?

Pulitzer was incredulous.

He didn't think it was like what the Mirror's founder should have said.

"You...... Not...... Ahem......"

Pulitzer was coughing, but he covered his ears,

He has always been in poor health, suffering from neurasthenia for a long time, frequent insomnia, tinnitus, and the more stressful he is, the more obvious the symptoms.

After a while,

"Whew~"

He slowly exhaled a breath of stuffy air that had accumulated in his chest, and it was better.

Butler on the side couldn't help frowning,

"Professor Lu, it seems that you are not ready to communicate with us. In that case, sorry for the bother. ”

He stood up directly, with a wave of anger, revealing the aura of a superior person.

This is the temperament that a character should have.

In 1941, the Pulitzer Prize jury chose Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the Pulitzer Board of Directors agreed with this resolution.

But Butler, the head of the board of directors, was disgusted by the film and almost overturned the decision in a one-sided manner, so that it did not win the award that year.

As for the reason for Butler's disgust, it is because there is a trace of vacillation revealed in the plot of the public execution of Germans, apparently because the author Hemingway cannot bear a moral debt without guilt for the sake of justice,

Butler saw this as a sign of weakness, especially at that point in 1941.

It is not difficult to see Butler's iron fist from this incident.

He turned to Pulitzer,

"Joseph, let's go."

Pulitzer took off his glasses, squinted and wiped them for a while, and then said, "I want to hear why Professor Lu would ask that." ”

Lu Shi poured a glass of water for the other party and asked, "Regarding the graduate of the School of Journalism, do you want him to be 'the person who records the facts as news reports' or 'the person who creates the news on his own without news'?" ”

Pulitzer: "Ah......hh

Himself and Lu Shi,

One was the founder of the yellow newspaper,

One is the founder of a tabloid.

In such a situation, it is impossible for anyone who is a little ashamed to answer "the person who records the facts as a news report".

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

"If you can't answer this question head-on, it's hard to answer whether journalism is science or not. Because any science must cultivate talents, otherwise, how can it be followed? ”

"Alas......"

Pulitzer couldn't help but sigh.

He had a successful career, but he lost his sight at the age of 40.

Even now, looking at people and things is like peeking in a tube,

Therefore, he often feels that he is close to death, always thinks about what he can leave behind, and hopes that journalists can also be trained as professionally as doctors and lawyers.

But now, he could only say to Lu Shi: "Professor Lu, your question is too red. ”

Butler on the side was curious,

"Professor Lu, what is your answer to the question just now?"

Lu Shi thought for a while and said, "The former can also be the former, and the latter can also be used." ”

Pulitzer:???

Butler:???

Wardhouse: ???

Goodman:???

Everyone present was stunned.

Lu Shi tilted his head and said while thinking: "There is a general process in the development of colleges and universities, that is, from colleges to universities, from single-discipline colleges to comprehensive universities. For example, Columbia University was even called 'King's College' in the beginning. ”

Butler had no choice but to spread his hands,

"During the colonial period, it was normal to call it this way."

Lu Shi said: "Of course it's normal. But I'm not talking about Columbia, I'm talking about other colleges. Columbia University is obviously a comprehensive university now, but there are still many colleges in the United States, how can they be upgraded? ”

This topic is a bit far, and everyone is a little confused.

Butler is the only one who understands university operations.

Faintly, he could detect the purpose of Lu Shi's question, so he continued to chat.

"It is very simple for a college to become a university, expand on the basis of the existing faculty, and create an interdisciplinary discipline with a low threshold, so some medical schools will even have a major such as law. Similarly, there are management, journalism, ...... Forehead...... News? ”

The crowd fell into deep thought.

After a long time, Pulitzer opened up: "It is true that the threshold for journalism school is not high. All you need is teachers, teaching materials, and space, not even laboratories. ”

Butler sighed,

"You're embellishing."

Pulitzer was speechless for a while, and said in his heart, why can't people get off the stage so much?

He said in a low voice: "I understand, when you say that the threshold is low, you actually mean that the journalistic professionalism is not strong...... It needs to be improved, just as every comprehensive university has a major in English literature. ”

The corners of Butler's mouth twitched, but he finally couldn't hold back and pointed out: "News can't be compared to English literature." The latter is highly specialized, involving courses in English linguistics, English and American literature, cultural studies, etc., and its basic course is Chinese. ”

Pulitzer: "Ah......hh

Suddenly, he bent over, hugged his head, covered his ears, and the whole set of movements flowed.

Sick again!?

Butler was taken aback,

"Joseph!"

He held Pulitzer's hand, but found that his hands were extremely stable, and he didn't even tremble.

The illness is obviously pretended.

Butler: "......"

An eerie silence hung between the two.

Lu Shi wanted to laugh when he saw it next to him, so he quickly changed the topic and said: "Therefore, if Columbia University really wants to set up a journalism school, it must have the courage to be the first in the world." You've upgraded journalism to journalism, and you're all about 'people who record facts as news reports.'" As a result, latecomers saw that this major was easy to do, and they directly followed the tiger and the cat to make a news without learning, and kept sending 'people who create news on their own without news' to the society, and they were energized when they thought about it. ”

"Hiss......"

Pulitzer gasped,

Why did you talk about yourself and develop in the direction of sinners through the ages?

However, he could not have imagined that things would indeed turn out like that, especially after entering the 21st century, both Chinese and foreign.

Lu Shi continued: "Of course, we also have to talk about employment. ”

Butler looked puzzled,

"Professor Lu, you developed the tabloid newspaper and created the trend of the great development of journalism. Judging by this trend, the employment prospects of journalists and editors are unprecedented, and there is nothing to worry about at all. Moreover, 'people who create news without news' are themselves 'people who create their own jobs without jobs', commonly known as liars. ”

The crowd laughed.

"I like the humor of Mr. Headmaster," Wardhouse said. ”

Butler said, "Thank you, Sir. ”

He turned to Lu Shi again,

"Professor Lu, let's continue to talk about the topic just now."

Lu Shi said: "First of all, the news and media are constantly changing. For example, the example of radio broadcasting that I just gave will certainly have an impact on the newspaper industry in the future. Of course, that's still very future-proof, maybe thirty years. ”

Butler was surprised: "Is the next thirty years a long time?" ”

Lu Shi "forehead...... sounded, I don't know how to answer,

As a traverser, he has adapted to the fast pace of modern times, and media, trends, and communication methods will iterate in a few years or even months.

So, for him, thirty years is really a long time.

Lu Shi said: "All in all, the media is constantly changing, and the people trained by the School of Journalism are even more sensitive. ”

Everyone nodded in unison.

Lu Shi continued: "Secondly, we should consider employing enterprises. ”

Wardhouse was a little confused,

"Lu, aren't you dizzy? Journalism graduates, of course, are going to go to newspapers. Of course, in the future it is also possible to go to the broadcaster you mentioned. ”

Unexpectedly, before Lu Shi could refute, Pulitzer spoke first: "This is not necessarily. Newspaper...... In the case of Le Monde, which I managed before, I don't necessarily like people who study journalism at university. ”

Waldhouse was puzzled,

"Why?"

Pulitzer did not answer directly, but spoke of his own experience: "Sir, you probably haven't heard of me. I came to America as a smuggler, a sailor, a construction worker, a dock coolie, a restaurant runner, a coachman, and only then became a lawyer that I was not decent. These professional experiences are hardship, but they are also accumulation, and they have made me the best journalist I can be. ”

Wardhouse was still confused, wondering why Pulitzer suddenly introduced himself.

Pulitzer looked at Goodman,

"You're a lawyer?"

Goodman nodded,

"Yes."

Pulitzer asked, "If you were now a journalist and you were going to interview Mr. Vice President, what questions would you prepare?" ”

Goodman touched his thinning hair,

"Probably something to do with the law, right?"

Pulitzer smiled,

“Bingo！ That's how Le Monde is. If I need legal journalism, then I will hire someone who studies law, because journalism can't wait, and it needs someone who will come up. Because, the interview was missed, it was broken, and there was no chance to repeat it. ”

Wardhouse nodded slowly,

"That's true."

"This is also the reason why Mr. Pulitzer was ridiculed for his desire to donate to build a journalism school," Lu said. Everyone agrees that journalism is a skill, not a science. Of course, this does not mean that journalism graduates are not employed. ”

The crowd was puzzled,

"Huh?" ×4

Lu Shi smiled and said, "It's very simple. Journalism is all about public relations, right? Enterprises have public relations departments, the government also has them, and even have to distinguish between internal and external ......"

Pulitzer couldn't help but insert,

"In the team? Foreign? Isn't this a dance text? ”

“……”

“……”

“……”

There was silence, and no one answered.

But the look in Pulitzer's eyes was, "You're right!" ”。

It's a pity that Pulitzer's eyesight is not good, and he can't see the subtle changes in expressions on other people's faces, and asks, "What?" Is there a problem with what I said? ”

Lu Shi whispered,

"In short, those are the biggest employers in journalism schools. But, Mr. Pulitzer, is this what you want? ”

Pulitzer shook his head,

"Of course not! Not to mention the damage to the journalism industry, let's talk about individuals, how can journalism school graduates compete with people from other schools in the future when they enter the industry? In a few years, ability and salary will be pulled away. ”

Lu Shi smiled,

"But there are also benefits. At the very least, journalism school doesn't have a lot of pressure to study, and you don't have to study advanced mathematics. ”

Pulitzer:!!!

"Who's the benefit!?"

He was so emotional that his face turned red.

Butler sighed helplessly and said to Lu Shi, "Professor Lu, don't stimulate him." ”

In fact, Lu Shi is just telling the truth,

Before he crossed over, he was a professional translator, a proper liberal arts student, and he didn't have a way to deal with subjects such as high mathematics and big things.

Waldhouse glanced at Lu Shi,

"Lu, to be honest, you don't look like a visiting professor, but like a school supervisor. Because these are management issues that you are considering, they have little to do with academics. ”

Lu Shi said: "That's all I think about journalism school. If it can be solved, then I would like to invest in Columbia University and sponsor the establishment of a journalism school at Columbia. Mr. Pulitzer, I can't let you be beautiful in front of you~"

Everyone was amazed.

Wardhouse, in particular, stepped forward and whispered: "Lu, if you want to experiment, the University of London Alliance has schools for you to ......."

Lu Shi blinked mysteriously,

"Let's stop the trial and error thing, right?"

As he spoke, he did not forget to bow his head in Butler's direction, and then the corners of his mouth hooked a sinister arc.

Wardhouse was stunned, and then smiled "I understand".

It is not known whether the School of Journalism will succeed, and it is not impossible for Daying to cross the river by touching the eagle sauce, anyway, Daying is now the center of the world and has a late-mover advantage.

Of course, this is the flickering of the land time,

There is only one reason why he invested in Columbia -

Investment preservation.

Now the world's major countries are on the gold standard,

And Britain is extremely powerful, and no one doubts its credibility,

This leads to an interesting formula:

GBP = Gold + UK Government Credit.

So the pound is now extremely valuable.

But with the outbreak of war, countries had to build guns, buy artillery, and gather troops.

As the saying goes, "when the gun goes off, the gold is ten thousand taels", but the country's gold is not enough, and countries have to over-issue currency and impose decrees to restrict the circulation of gold.

thereupon

After World War I, there will be severe inflation in the UK;

After World War II, the gold standard completely collapsed.

Don't look at Lu Shi, who is making a lot of money now, but when it comes to World War I, that money will depreciate rapidly.

So he's going to throw the money out.

Butler fell into deep thought, and after half a minute, asked, "Columbia is a private university. So, Professor Lu, do you need a seat on the board? ”

To ask this is to agree.

Lu Shi smiled and did not answer.

Butler stared at him for a moment, then repeated, "You need a seat on the board." ”

This time it's a declarative tone.

Of course, Lu Shi understood the other party's voice, and then said, "If I can, I am willing to donate 100,000 pounds." Donate in installments over a period of three years. ”

He couldn't come up with so much money for a while.

But he has so many best-selling books, and even the "Mirror" is there, so he is not afraid that he will not be able to print money.

Butler nodded,

"Yes."

To Columbia, 100,000 pounds is nothing, and on a five-to-one basis, it's only half a million dollars.

Let's say that the contribution prepared by Pulitzer is as high as 2 million dollars,

Butler is willing to accept because he values the influence of Lu Shi,

Founder of the Mirror,

Visiting Professor of Economics and Political Science, London

family

……

In this way, it is also convenient for Columbia University to lay out in Europe.

"Of course, the premise of accepting Professor Lu's investment is that we have to solve the problems of the School of Journalism," Butler said. ”

Lu Shi replied: "Actually, it's very simple, if you want the people cultivated by the journalism school to not be 'people who create news on their own without news', you only need to be loose and strict, and the grades of the graduates of the journalism school must be excellent enough to open up the journalism schools of other universities." ”

Pulitzer nodded, and asked, "What about employment?" I don't want journalists to be unable to go to the front lines, and end up selling words. ”

Lu Shi said: "It's simple, just ask for a double degree ratio for journalism graduates." Let them not only study journalism, but also have an in-depth understanding of a certain profession or industry. I think 80 percent is a good number. ”

A casual sentence made countless journalism students in the later generations of Columbia University scold Lu Shi.

For the next 100 years, journalism at Columbia University will be a bit like civil engineering.

In the eyes of parents, it is the most stable, the most profitable, and the most planned profession with the best career prospects.

In the eyes of students, there is only one "most" -

The most bitter.

Butler groaned for a moment,

"Okay, that's it."

He has decided that when Columbia's journalism school is completed, he will hold a professional journalism award.

Even the name has already been decided:

Pulitzer-Land Hour Prize.

(End of chapter)