The past, present, and future of university teaching of online journalism: methods and trends

Abstract

Teaching of digital journalism, or cyberjournalism, in Spanish universities is here to stay. Its long development since the first courses in this discipline were added to college curricula in the mid-1990s until the beginning of the 2020s, when the number of such courses exceeds 100, has led to the consolidation of this specialty. Based on a review of the syllabi of all courses related to cyberjournalism (n = 119) published online by Spanish universities, as well as a survey of their teachers (n = 51), the results of this study depicts the profile of teaching about digital journalism in Spain. The results confirm the relevance and academic strength of this discipline, albeit also revealing the difficulties faced by teachers in keeping their courses up to date in a context of rapid and continuous change in the journalistic profession.