UF seeks "visiting" professor of online journalism

Posted: March 07, 2008

I was looking through job postings today because, a) I like looking through job postings, and b) my cousin is moving to G-ville, and I am trying to help him find a job.

So, whilst I scoured the UF Jobs site, I found a very interesting post. Here it is word for word:

The College of Journalism and Communications seeks an innovative, interdisciplinary scholar for a one-year appointment as a Visiting Professor of Online Journalism.

Essential Functions:

  • Teach up to three courses in both Fall and Spring semesters.
  • Provide leadership in integrating new technology and techniques.
  • Assist in program development, interdisciplinary curriculum, and other initiatives as appropriate and assigned.


Minimum Requirements:
  • A Ph.D. in Journalism, Mass Communication, Digital Media or a related field is preferred.
  • Experience creating multimedia content for major news organizations
  • Experience as a newsroom manager
  • Expertise in industry best practices
  • Intimate Knowledge of XHTML, CSS, video editing, audio editing and content-management systems
  • Excellent command of written and spoken English including the ability to express ideas clearly orally or in writing
  • Excellent human-relations skills


Preferred qualifications:
  • Programming ability in applications such as Django and Python
  • Experience in qualitative and quantitative research is preferred
  • A track record of teaching at a the university level is strongly preferred


Where are they going to find someone who knows all this crap, has a Ph.D. and has experience doing all of it in a news room. That is without mentioning that it doesn’t seem to be an opening for a permanent job.

Other things I found while looking through these job listings:

  • Job postings are a way to make you feel inferior. They want to give you the job and make it seem like they made an exception so that you feel obligated to work harder.
  • I think I’m being underpaid. Other people with the same job seem to be making more.
  • I could be making more money at this moment being a painter or carpenter, though I know it won’t work out that way in the long run.

Chime in my friends.

Comments

  1. I had the exact same thought when I saw the Ph.D. requirement.

    I understand why they want such a qualification -- it makes them the school/university look better at a national level (e.g. SACS, AAU, US News, etc.) -- but this seems to be quite the idealist\'s \"help wanted\" ad.

    Sean Blanda and Mindy McAdams have commented on these types of listings:

    http://seanblanda.com/blog/the-job-hunt/how-to-translate-journalism-job-postings/
    http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2008/journalism-jobs-online-design-producer/

    This posting isn\'t a \"computer Jesus,\" more like a \"professor Jesus.\"

    — Greg Linch · Mar 9, 11:36 PM · Parmanent Link to Comment

  2. Hooray, Dave Stanton got the job!

    — magzalez · Apr 23, 01:14 AM · Parmanent Link to Comment