This article considers several questions pertaining to the current state of journalism. The discussion explores the meaning of journalism and journalists, as well as considering the role of journalists in an increasingly digital environment. The article concludes by exploring journalism in the future and why this all matters. A major theme of this discussion (and the articles in this special issue) is whether journalism is currently in crisis. Finally, an example is offered exemplifying the complexity of issues that surround journalism today.

A confluence of forces has brought journalism and journalism education to a precipice. The rise of fascism, the advance of digital technology, and the erosion of the economic foundation of news media are disrupting journalism and mass communication (JMC) around the world. Combined with the increasingly globalized nature of journalism and media, these forces are posing extraordinary challenges to and opportunities for journalism and media education. This essay outlines 10 core principles to guide and reinvigorate international JMC education. We offer a concluding principle for JMC education as a foundation for the general education of college students.

Journalism and mass communication higher education in Iraq is well established but largely isolated from global developments since the 1970s. In the post–Iraq war period, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) implemented a multiyear project to work with the leadership of Iraqi higher education to help update the curriculum in journalism and mass communication in that country. This project adapted the UNESCO Model Curricula for Journalism Education to the evolving higher education environment in Iraq. The authors were funded by UNESCO to help facilitate the adoption and adaptation of the model curriculum to the unique situation in Iraq.

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