apassingfeeling's bumper journalism FAQ

Here on TSR, threads about journalism degrees pop up almost daily. Seeing as most of the threads ask the same questions, I thought it'd be a good idea to write a big FAQ that will hopefully answer any questions you may have about studying journalism. Hopefully I'll answer everything, but if not, feel free to ask a question!

First of all let me just start by saying that I'm by no means an expert! I just did a lot of research before I decided to apply for journalism, and seeing as I've been through that annoying period of not knowing what to apply for and where, and also the whole application process I thought I'd share what I've learnt. (and also I'm a little bit sick of writing out the same responses to the same questions over and over again :ninja:

and that's not fair on the people asking the questions because I know that there's not much out there in terms of help when it comes to this kind of thing!)
I'm not studying journalism yet (see the link in my sig for why I've been forced to take a gap year) so I can't tell you what the degree is actually like, but I hope someone out there finds this useful anyway :smile:

What does a journalism degree consist of?
This can vary by institution, as is the same with any other course, but generally you will be studying:
- news gathering, researching and reporting skills
- writing techniques
- government and politics
- media law and ethics
- shorthand

Depending on where you study and what branch of journalism you study, you could also be studying things such as:
- alternative media
- web journalism
- magazine journalism/feature writing
- broadcast journalism
- fashion/sport/music/multimedia journalism modules
- English language skills
- journalism and society
- issues within the media
- current affairs
- news theory
- media studies related modules (critical and analytical modules)

That's not an exhaustive list, if you want a proper list of modules it'd be better if you went to the university's site :smile:

I've seen a lot of people talk about 'NCTJ' – what is it?
NCTJ stands for the National Council for the Training of Journalists and exists to make sure that all journalists are trained to a specific level. It is an organisation that seeks to prepare aspiring journalists for work within the newspaper industry. It does this by giving accreditation to courses that meet its high standard of requirements (a list of the courses that have this accreditation can be found here. This basically assures employers that you are trained to a certain standard – for example, that you are aware of media laws and ethics (so that you don't get them into trouble!) and that you can write shorthand up to a certain speed (so that if they send you off to cover something they know that you won't miss a thing), etc.
The NCTJ is the body responsible for training newspaper journalists and isn't quite as relevant if you're looking to go into broadcast journalism. For that, you'll need the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC), but apart from specialising in the training of broadcast journalists, its pretty much the same thing as the NCTJ.
If the course you are looking at isn't NCTJ/BJTC accredited, don't panic! As well as being an accrediting/examining body, the NCTJ also offers its own stand alone qualifications, and many universities allow you to take them alongside your course. There are two types of exams that the NCTJ offer - preliminary exams, or 'prelims', which are taken either before starting work as a reporter or shortly after, and the NCE which is usually taken about 18 months after beginning work on a newspaper. These exams test you on everything you should learn on your university course. The NCTJ also offer their own year long courses that can be taken on their own as evening classes, or full time much like an undergraduate degree.

Should I do the NCTJ 1 year qualification instead of a 3 year degree?
This is entirely up to you. If you want to be a journalist, there are many ways you can get there and going to university isn't the only way, and may not be suitable for everyone. If you want to study the issues relating to journalism in more depth then university is probably best for you, but if you have doubts about the more academic sides of studying journalism at university, or if you still want to train but want to start work quicker, then the year long NCTJ qualification may be better suited for you. (And of course, there's that whole 'going straight into work' option too, but I'll cover that later on :wink:

)

I don't want to do newspaper journalism, can I specialise?
Of course! Not everybody who wants to be a journalist has an interest in current affairs or news/newspapers, but you will find that most journalism courses concentrate on newspaper reporting unless you take a course that is specialised. The most common alternative is broadcast journalism, where (obviously) you focus on broadcasting (both TV and radio) - how to present yourself as a journalist on camera, you will probably receive voice training and learn how to operate studio equipment. On the other hand, if you feel that you don't want to study broadcasting whatsoever and you think that even the few modules that cover broadcasting in a straight journalism degree are too much, you can also opt to study print journalism, where the emphasis will (obviously!) be on newspapers and magazines (though mainly newspapers).
Another popular option is multimedia journalism (which is pretty much all about how to be a journalist in the 21st century, and covers web and new journalism as well as traditional media.) Other common specialisms include fashion journalism, sports journalism and music journalism, and there are probably loads more. They sort of speak for themselves, so I won't explain what they involve!

I've been told that employers prefer a more 'traditional' degree, should I do English/politics/history/law, etc, first?
This again is completely up to you. There are no clear, set ways of getting into journalism, and many successful journalists are ones that have studied a 'traditional' subject at university before either going on to work in the industry or before completing a postgraduate degree in journalism. However, if you want to study journalism don't let people who say that it's 'worthless' put you off! It isn't worthless if it's something you enjoy and is something you want to study, and honestly I don't think this whole issue is as important to employers as everyone seems to think – obviously if you go for a position writing for a politics magazine or something similar, then they're going to want you to have some knowledge of politics (which is obviously where a degree in politics will come in handy), but employers are increasingly insisting that candidates have a degree in journalism, or if not a journalism degree then at least the NCTJ qualifications (see here, here (degree level education, ideally in journalism) and here (a university degree in journalism, international relations, or a related field) therefore it is not wasted.

The university I'm interested in is really low down in the university league tables, does this mean my course will be rubbish?
The thing that people tend to forget is that the universities in the upper parts of the traditional league tables don't even offer undergraduate journalism degrees (or any media related degrees at all, for that matter), therefore of course the universities that do offer journalism aren't going to be in the top 10, or even in the top 20 of the traditional Guardian/Times league tables. If you feel like you need to go by a league table then the Times does a media/communications league table here but keep in mind that it is a ranking for media studies/communication degrees as well as journalism. As with every subject, take the league tables with a pinch of salt and don't let them choose universities for you.

What are the 'best' universities for journalism?
This is completely subjective, and as I said above, there's not even a proper journalism league table to go by(!).
The National Student Survey runs every year and asks students how satisfied they are with their course, and also takes into account the amount of graduates employed after the course – the results for 2008 can be found here
The NCTJ publishes the results that centres get in their exams here

However, if you were to ask people what universities they thought were the 'best' for journalism, you could expect an answer along the lines of “City, Cardiff, Sheffield, Nottingham Trent, Bournemouth, Westminster” as these are the ones with the 'best' reputation and are the ones that are most well known.

What should I write in my personal statement?
Well, it is called a personal statement for a reason... :wink:

If you need tips on writing a personal statement then look here, but otherwise there isn't really anything that needs to be included specifically for journalism.
A few tips:
- Obviously, mention work experience if you have any but don't lie! Its more than likely that they will ask you about it, or request to see examples of this work experience, so don't go saying that you've written a column for the Times if you haven't!
- Don't talk too much about the job you wish to get at the end of your degree. Its fine to mention it as it shows you have aspirations and that you are focused and have a goal, but don't harp on about how all you've ever really wanted to do is work for The Guardian without saying that you're actually interested in studying the subject, you don't want to give the admissions tutors the impression that you're using them as a stepping stone (even if you are!).

You can view some examples of journalism personal statements written by TSR members here

Do I need work experience to get offers?
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about journalism degrees – you do not need work experience to get offers. It would definitely be beneficial for you to have some work experience when applying, and would probably work to your advantage, but it is not essential and I know of many applicants (including myself) that had little or no work experience when applying and still received 5 offers. However, definitely try and get some if you can. I know from personal experience that it is very difficult to get work experience on a newspaper (even a local one) and even harder to get any placements on more national organisations such as the BBC, but keep trying, as if you do get something then you'll be able to see at first hand what you're about to do for the next few years (and it will impress admission tutors!)
If you find it difficult to get work experience this way, you could also try writing articles and sending them in to newspapers/magazines (local newspapers are always looking for articles about the local area, or events going on around your town/city) but failing that, just try and keep a blog, and write anything in it. Anything at all! Even if it's about your dog, or your friends, or just your day to day ramblings, it shows that you are pro-active in trying to get your writing to an audience, and that you are also keeping up with this new-fangled technology thing. And it will let you hone your writing skills :wink:

Will I be able to do work experience while I'm doing my degree?
This depends on what university you go to and what course you study – some universities offer courses that have a sandwich year where they set you up on a placement (more often than not at a local newspaper or magazine) and you spend that year gaining valuable experience in a real newsroom. In courses that don't offer a sandwich year, it is quite common for universities to offer shorter periods of work experience (for example, 2 weeks or so) or for them to hold so called 'newsdays' within the university, where you work in their newsroom, are given a deadline and have to work in a group to produce a newspaper within that deadline. This gives you valuable experience of working with people, writing for a specific reason, and working to deadlines.
And of course, you don't have to limit yourself just to what your university sets up for you – if you can, continue with writing in that blog you set up when you were applying ( :wink:

) but steer it away from updates about your dog and more towards the style of journalism you want to go into (be it fashion journalism, or current affairs, or whatever) then that would be great. And you could always try freelancing in your spare time.

Do I need to do certain A levels?
Unless a university specifically asks for a certain A level, no. At the moment I can't think of any universities that do ask for a specific subject, but there's bound to be some so if anyone knows of any feel free to let me know and I'll add it in.
You will not be at any advantage if you are studying English, or media studies. Media studies doesn't have a particularly good reputation as an A level (I say this having an A level in it myself, by the way!) and despite studying many areas of the media, there are no specific journalism modules featured within it. Although studying English will show that you can write well (or that you should be able to anyway!), I (as one example, I'm sure there are many, many more) didn't study English and it never held me back. Saying this, though, you will probably need to have at least a C in GCSE English, with some places requesting a higher grade.
Some universities may also request that you get a certain grade in a subject as part of your offer (for example, my offer from Brunel was BBC with a B in government & politics)

Will I be able to get a job at the end of my degree?
Isn't this something that all undergraduates regardless of what they are studying will be asking themselves? It is not guaranteed in any field, and of course at the moment the outlook is looking rather gloomy for graduates. Couple this with the fact that journalism is changing to an increasingly online, citizen-centred field, and who knows! But don't worry too much, even if newspapers completely go to **** by the time you graduate, there will always be other areas that you could go into (magazines/online/broadcasting, to name but a few).

Useful links:
Eden09's journalism course Q&A thread

Zurich's 'Need Help With All Things Journalism?' thread (located in the careers & employment forums, therefore focusing more on the work aspect of journalism and working your way up as opposed to the studying options):

Blog sites:
Blogger
Wordpress
Tumblr
LiveJournal
TypePad
Xanga
Twitter (ok, technically not a blog site, but it is 'microblogging', so that counts. Good way of building contacts, I've found)

Other interesting/helpful links:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/

Shall add more when I can think of any.

Have any other questions? Ask away!

Edit: Mods, can we make this a sticky, pretty please?

Reply 1

cityboi 500

apassingfeeling

I thought that a traditional degree would serve people who want to become journalists much better? Especially considering that English or History etc. is considered more rigorous than journalism, and as it is very competitive to get a place on a national paper university prestige will only help? (considering that very few very well regarded unis offer journalism)

apassingfeeling's bumper journalism FAQ

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