Grueskin Will Shape J-School Academics in a Shifting Field

Bill Grueskin is about to assume leadership of a type of education he never received—in the classroom.

Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism announced this week that Grueskin would leave his job as deputy managing editor for news of the Wall Street Journal to become the Academic Affairs Dean of the Journalism School in September, a post previously held by David Klatell for nine years. As WSJ.com editor, Grueskin managed the news Web site with the largest paid subscription base.

Although he never attended journalism school, Grueskin has been a newspaperman since 1975, when he reported for the Daily American in Rome, Italy. Since his time in Rome he was the founding editor of the Dakota Sun, received his masters in international economics and U.S. foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University, and assumed a slew of editorial roles afterwards.

Despite his content-based Masters, the School of Journalism considers his 30 years of intense experience to be sufficiently educational. “Bill has an unmatched record of achievement,” Dean Nicholas Lemann said in a press release.

“When I got my masters degree, that was 1981, 27 years ago,” Grueskin said. “A lot has changed since then. In those days, the skills that you needed to be a journalist were complex but straightforward.”

An aspiring newsy needed to write well, think clearly, and have the fortitude to deal with closed doors and to get sources talking.

Now, Grueskin said, things have changed. In order to survive in the shifting industry, journalists need that same basic skill set, plus technical knowledge. “You also need to have a much deeper understanding about how the means of getting stories to people works,” Grueskin said. “If anything, given how much more complex the means of delivery of stories has gotten, a journalism education … is even more essential.”

These changes result from the shift to digital news, catalyzed by the advent of the internet. In 2001, Grueskin became the WSJ.com editor, and has been credited with guiding WSJ’s move to a paid online service, integrating the print version with a 24-hour, interactive Web site. During his tenure editing the site, the number of subscribers doubled, according to the release. Grueskin said he hopes the skills he gained during that move will translate seamlessly into his new academic job.

With Lemann, Grueskin will help build an expansive new media center, and examine the modern applicability of the curriculum, which currently divides students into four specializations: new media, print, broadcast, and magazine. As academic affairs dean, Grueskin will oversee the faculty and curriculum. “The curriculum at pretty much any school needs to be constantly under scrutiny,” Grueskin said, since the lines between various media are perpetually blurring.

The place of journalism education has been under scrutiny for years, especially at Columbia. In 2003, University President Lee Bollinger organized a star-studded task force to overhaul the school's approach, but ended up designing the content-based Masters of Science program at the Journalism School. Along the way, he scooped Lemann from the New Yorker.

Even so, Grueskin admits, many acting journalists would say that Journalism School is not germane to a successful career. “I know one of the standard lines is ‘everything they teach you [at J-school] you learn during your first six weeks on the job.’ If you interpret it narrowly, and you’re just learning how to write ledes … I suppose that it’s possible,” Grueskin said. “If you look at it more broadly, the skill set journalists need is going to be much broader. The demands are much higher. … A lot of newsrooms are just not able right now to provide the kind of training that would be needed. In an interesting way, as things get tougher out there, a J-school degree could be more useful,” Grueskin added.

The Journalism School traditionally works to place students at large news organizations. Given the turn of the industry and the proliferation of alternate news sources, Grueskin said he would strive to diversify job opportunities. Grueskin will also take on the title of Professor of Professional Studies, a capacity in which he hopes his prolific experience in the field will serve to help students find work in an ever-competitive job market.

After 13 years of service at WSJ, Grueskin says he will mostly miss the people there and breaking exciting stories. He has fond memories of fielding Pulitzer Prize-winning stories, and seeing the strength of his co-workers as the Journal temporarily moved to New Jersey after shouldering damage from the September 11, 2001 attacks. “I learned a lot about how people overcome obstacles and do things in order to do journalism,” Grueskin said.

But he doesn’t see himself as leaving the industry of journalism. “If anything, it gives me a chance to address issues in journalism that are a part of the future of the industry that are frankly harder to do within the bounds at being at a specific newspaper,” Grueskin said. “I don’t see it as a retreat from journalism. I hope it’ll give me an opportunity to get more deeply involved in the issues we’re all facing.”

Grueskin said he loves the “energy” of Columbia’s campus—which is good, because he considers his new job a long-term commitment. If nothing else, Grueskin’s commute will be shorter. Morningside Heights is closer to his Westchester home than Wall Street.

Joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com