Journalism is a profession required by society to discover its best and worst elements. It lets the public see things they otherwise wouldn’t see and allows them to reflect on the current state of affairs. Journalists help people understand their communities as well as themselves through their efforts. With the advice to follow, you may come to understand better whether or not postgraduate study could be the best way for you to progress or start your career in journalism. Here’s what journalism entails both professionally and academically, how the job prospects and salary are, and the courses you can take to get involved.
Journalism is about constantly staying on top of trends, news and all manner of topics that people find interesting. To this end, journalists must regularly meet with PR professionals from companies across the spectrum, generate hundreds of new ideas on a weekly basis to bounce off their editor and put the ones that make the cut into print. The specifics of what you’ll write about and how you’ll write it come down to your specific area of journalism and publication.
Postgraduate journalism courses offer a bounty of useful information, with units in topics like:
To enter a postgraduate journalism course, it’s preferred that you either have a prior undergraduate degree in journalism or a degree in one of the humanities or social sciences disciplines. Having at least a credit level GPA is also often a requirement (65%), particularly for master’s programs. If you don’t have any of these, it’s still possible to enter through an unrelated discipline and insufficient GPA via graduate certificate.
Overall, journalism is best suited to those with impeccable writing abilities. Journalists must be able to produce voluminous quantities of work to a high standard on a weekly basis. It can demand very long hours and unusual levels of commitment in order to get that scoop or be the first to publish a particular breaking news story. If you’re this very sort of insatiable literary whirlwind, you ought to give journalism a look.
Journalists are in a curious position. Traditional, bespoke ‘journalism’ jobs at established newspapers are few and far between, but this doesn’t necessarily mean journalism is professionally barren. No, it’s quite the opposite. The ability to write well and frequently is applicable to all manner of new media, such as in blog or social media posts, which can be utilised by just about any company with a concept of what marketing is. The rigorous research skills developed throughout a journalism degree are equally useful, as an ability to discern fiction from falsehood and everything in between puts them in a place of professional flexibility.
Some intriguing non-magazine/ newspaper jobs available to journalism graduates include:
According to Payscale Australia, journalists make AU $53,247 on average per year. This can range from $39,541 at the junior level to $80,256 at a more senior level.
There are a variety of postgraduate study options for aspiring journalists.
Hopefully this has given you a better idea of what’s available to aspiring journalists in terms of day-to-day career, postgraduate study opportunities and solid courses. Whatever your aspirations and wherever you take them, we wish you luck!