To text or not to text

Friends and Colleagues:

Please share your thoughts about the GENERAL advantages / disadvantages of using textbooks in writing for mass media, reporting, photography, graphic design and other skills courses. I emphasize "general" because I'm not necessarily asking for reviews of specific texts or authors. I'm more interested in your philosophy, if you will, of using texts in skills-based classes, understanding we might differ on the definition of "skills-based."

Most often I use published collections of outstanding work as "texts" in my reporting and magazine writing classes rather than texts that are prescriptive. Are there comparable collections for broadcast or multi-media journalism?

ELW