Philadelphia Weekly

Running about an hour late, local blogger Jonathan Valania, a former PW staff writer, blew into a 300-student journalism class at Temple University last week with a devil-may-care attitude and what he thought were a few sly remarks intended to spark debate.

Valania, 41--founder and editor of a news and culture blog called Phawker--all but sprinted to the front of the room, and without so much as an introduction, asked the class how many students were majoring in journalism.

When the majority of the students in the lecture hall raised their hands, he snapped, "That was your first mistake."

Everyone laughed. He had to be joking. This was, after all, an introductory "journalism and society" course. No way he could be serious.

But apparently he was. Valania went on to trash the choice of journalism as a major. He said you either have writing skills or you don't, and that students looking to start a career in the field should major in something "useful."

After about 20 minutes of offensive, outlandish and sometimes tongue-in-cheek commentary--he said reading competitor blog Philebrity, for which he once wrote, was like looking at pictures of his ex-girlfriend naked--he walked out the classroom door and was gone.

Later that day he posted this on Phawker: "Today I saw the future--and it looked at me like a dog shown a card trick."

Good to know--whatever that means.

According to many local print and broadcast journalists, Valania's claims are not only half-baked, they're just plain wrong.

"I get a feeling he was just trying to be shocking," says local Channel 3 anchor Larry Mendte. "Obviously he wanted material for his blog."

Mendte, who won 13 Emmy Awards this year, seemed almost hurt by Valania's comments.

"The most exciting time in life is when you have a dream," Mendte says. "To diminish that at all is almost sinister."

As for journalism being a useless major--and Valania's assertion that "anyone can be a journalist"--most contacted for this story think majoring in journalism is a smart and even an important way to start a career.

"The bloggers are going to put themselves out of business eventually, and maybe soon, if they don't get their work more rooted in actual honest reporting," says Zack Stalberg, the former longtime editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. "Right now traditional journalism is under assault. But in time people will realize it's got value."

"I don't pay attention to blogs," says Channel 3 reporter Valerie Levesque. "You can get swayed as a journalist if you start reading opinions."

Inquirer photographer Eric Mencher, a 31-year veteran of the business, thinks journalism is a useful major, even in today's changing atmosphere.

"Who's going to fill the role of journalists in the media if not people in journalism school?" he asks.

Andrew Mendelson, chair of Temple University's journalism department, questions Valania's knowledge of the major's curriculum.