The past few weeks in the journalism department here at Central Connecticut State University have been filled with confusion and uncertainty. It has been proposed that the journalism department be merged with communications. Anyone who has studied journalism in any capacity, whether it be an entry-level journalism class, or whether it be their major, knows how different journalism is from communications.
While the two are similar and often grouped together, they are separate majors for a reason. When picking my major I presumed that the two would be together but by the time I took my first “Intro to the Profession” class, I knew journalism was entirely different from communications.
What sets journalism apart is the reporting aspect. Journalists seek the truth and report it. Communications, being such a broad topic, includes public relations, marketing, advertising, social media and so much more. None of these careers are based on the ethics of journalism, seeking truth and reporting it. These niche values can easily be lost in the event of Journalism becoming a major “under” communications.
From a student’s perspective, it appears that this decision is being pushed forward without a second thought for what it means for student journalists, past, present and future.
Will CCSU journalism alumni struggle to find jobs as employers see that their degree came from a program that no longer exists? What message does this merger send to outsiders? Anyone from the outside looking in is not likely to think highly of a program that had to be submerged into another program.
Will current students, merged into a department six times its size, lose the individualized attention we received from being part of a smaller community?
Will prospective students take four years of their lives studying under a department that doesn’t best prepare them for a career?
As a junior I am confident that I am putting myself on the best path to secure a job when I graduate, so this letter is not coming from a place of selfish anger or anxiety. It’s coming from a place of concern for the state of the department in the future. Merging a department of just 50 students to a department of over 300 will not result in an even blend where all students live in harmony. Merging a department that has built a tight-knit and focused community where we understand the ethics and responsbilities of journalism, into a larger and broader department can result in the eventual erasure of the program.

From lifestyle editor, Jayden Klaus: In hearing about the merger of the journalism department and the communications department, I was shocked that the university would make that decision. There are some similarities between the two fields but ultimately, they are very different in how they operate. I haven’t taken any comm classes, so I can’t say too much on the exact nature of what comm entails, but from what I have heard from people who know about comm and my own research into it, it is not something that can just be combined with journalism. I have really enjoyed my time being a part of the journalism department and I appreciate the community that has been able to be developed within it. I do not like how this community will be changed as a result of the merger. There is too much of a difference between what we do in journalism and what is done in comm for this process to be anything but incompatible. The overlap between comm and journalism is not very substantial and will be disconcerting to incoming students for both majors, as they may be confused as to what classes they should be taking and be inadequately prepared down the line. Even if this merger does go through, I believe that it would still be beneficial to keep some separation by having the journalism department stay in Willard-DiLoreto. That space is the crux of the journalism department and it would be unfair and a shame for students to lose it.