2026 Theses Doctoral

“The Unofficial Journalism Department”: Examining the Student Newsroom as a Pedagogical Space for Future Journalists

Yankova, Adelina

This dissertation explores the experiences of college newspaper journalists and treats the student newsroom as a pedagogical space within which student journalists learn not only reporting and writing skills but also journalistic values and ethics.

By drawing on literature about informal learning and peer learning, I interrogate the claim that student newsrooms serve as a training ground for young journalists by asking 1) how student journalists learn and 2) what they learn. Based on in- depth interviews and newsroom observations, I identify three main types of learning, which sit along a spectrum from somewhat formal to very informal: adviser-led learning, peer-led learning, situational learning. I also explore a fourth kind of learning – ambient learning – as a subcategory of situational learning.

I find that student journalists uphold and teach one another many of journalism’s classic lessons – objectivity, fairness, thorough sourcing and attribution, holding power to account, etc. However, applying these lessons is complicated by new technologies and rising sociopolitical tensions, which make sources hesitant to speak to student media on the record. Student journalists also face significant financial challenges, which, if not resolved, threaten to jeopardize their independence.