The Snitch at the SF Weekly found there has been no drop off in students entering two Bay Area journalism programs despite cut backs at newspapers, TV and radio stations. San Jose State and Stanford each report gains. Enrollment is down at San Francisco State, but journalism chair Venise Wagner says that might have more to do with tightening up the prerequisites for certain classes and restricting application deadlines more than industry woes.

San Jose State has focused on crosstraining students in many media so they’re eligible for a greater degree of jobs, said SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communication acting director Kathleen Martinelli. Same is true at Stanford, where Ann Grimes, the program’s acting director, says a degree in journalism may be more valuable than ever since newspapers may prefer to hire someone already trained in new media than teach an old reporter new tricks. “If you have digital media skills and programming skills, there are a lot of media organizations that are eager to talk to you,” Grimes tells the SF Weekly.