Journalism courses: Some advice please

Hmmm... There's an MA course in Journalism & Media Communications going on near me in September. Admit I'm tempted, but will it be worth my while (not to mention the money?).

ilx said no to this when i asked, but i'm also considering something similar over the next few years...

If it wasn't so expensive, I'd do it. My ba was a mis-step, but I'd love to augment it with a more vocational ma. Of course the journalists will snigger at my usage of 'vocational' but it seems the course isn't so much geared towards working for news press as other areas (the comma bit is stressed). Dunno. Guess I have to look into it.

Paying for an advanced journalism degree seems like something you might do if you had a lot of money to burn and time on your hands. otherwise...

guys i'm thinking of doing an MA in Blacksmithing what's the prospects?

you could probably get more out of emailing various people on ilx who currently get paid for writing articles and online content than you could from classwork + a credential of questionable value

If this is actually an academic, theory-heavy, cultural studies, seminar-based, essay-writing masters, and that interests you a lot, do it to get your brain into masters-level thinking and expression mode. If it is a trumped-up journalism degree, no way.

^ have thought this too, bytimes

finding a subject, tho....

It's as much a corporate communications degree as it is about journalism. Well, it's a thought... I'm drawn to the idea because it's close-by, my job prospects are in the same rut they've been since I left uni ten years ago, and I'm gonna be living with my dad for the next two years while my misses completes her own degree in another town and I need something to stop me slipping into stagnant despair.

Is it just one year and is it inexpensive?

Otoh I don't wanna blow a lot of dosh on another useless qualification just for the hell of it. I'd like to think my skillset would allow me to do more with my life afterwards. I'm not terribly interested in being a news reporter, which is why I never seriously entertained the idea of doing an NCTJ in Harlow, like a couple of people I know. I am interested in writing and media though. Hmm...

Two years p/t, or one year f/t. It's the normal price for a masters I.e. not greatly cheap, but I may be able to get a little support from my mum, and I'd be working full time for the most part too, and living fairly cheaply.

If it's interesting to you and you want to dedicate time and thought to it and you want to work in communications/journalism/marketing/media issues, it kinda sounds like you're in an ideal situation!

p.s. i'm saying all this from the point of view of having done a masters in media studies, took a long time to do it, rediscovered journalism during it, and worked full-time as a journalist/editor, and am now doing the freelance journalism/writing/communications consultant thing. Did i need the masters to be doing what i'm doing? i don't think so. Is my brain and world-view more awesome/complex because of it? Possibly. Does it open up other things for me to do? Yes. Do I express myself and my ideas better because of it? Definitely.

you could probably get more out of emailing various people on ilx who currently get paid for writing articles and online content than you could from classwork + a credential of questionable value

― iatee, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 19:16 (4 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would do this but I worry it would seem cheeky?

I've taken three years since graduating with a BA (Hons) Journalism to work in retail, get a bit of headspace, figure out a few things and save up some money and do a little travelling (ie waste my life and grow up a bit), since the opportunities were thin on the ground - not that they aren't now - and I've got serious barriers in the form of my lack of substantial IT skills. I'm thinking of returning to education for a more vocational training programme but I'm also cautious it won't be *that* much more use.

Going to visit the university and speak to tutors next week. Is there anything specific I ought to ask?It's an MA in Journalism & Media Communications.

If this is actually an academic, theory-heavy, cultural studies, seminar-based, essay-writing masters, and that interests you a lot, do it to get your brain into masters-level thinking and expression mode. If it is a trumped-up journalism degree, no way.

Dunno about questions you might ask but I completely agree with Robyn that this really ought to be at the heart of the decision. Also that, like Robyn, you want to find out how much you'll appreciate actually doing it and not be suffering it as a means to a vocational end (which is far from guaranteed anyway). Not that having completed it won't have value just not so directly, I imagine, in getting you a job in journalism.

well dammit man, just tell me how to get a job in journalism then

As I'm currently at home having taken three days off from my job in online marketing to complete an essay for my human rights MA, I'm not sure I'm in the best position to do that.

Although probably not that much worse than anyone else given the state of things tbh.

gonna start a football writing website, run of play depth and whimsy in subject selection but less the artwork and dryness. And with fouler language. Y'in?

Y.

the url johnterryisa**** is available in .co.uk and .com forms btw

first lesson in this game, son- keep belgravia sweet

The best thing you could hope for in a course is a work placement tied into it at the end. I didn't do this after mine as I was too busy writing about music, considering myself infallible, and taking drugs every week, but lots of peers are still working for some quite good Irish national media spots as a result, this is 7 tears on.

That said, nobody has ever asked if I have a degree and when I got into BBC the trainee scheme was meant to be for people without degrees. (glad I never read that small print.)

Experience is the key though, cliche and all as it is. My blog, which was just me writing about music my future interviewers don't give a flying fuck about, is easily the thing I've used to boost my career the most, even to get my current editorial role.

Presumably now, everyone has some blog or other but success there would still prove ability to communicate online, which seems to be the big key skill as far as finding work, at least in my case, ymmv.

I guess the only sense in which i recommend a degree is that it gives you time to grow confidence in a positive environment.

It is expensive tho, you might be as well off being broke and freelancing as being broke at college.

My path has been a funny one tho, I know people who are far more deserving of things than me and I flukily got the first ever real journalism job I ever applied for.

srsly, i mean me for a start like

Having not won my way onto the course mentioned in the OP, and subsequently deciding it wasn't worth the effort needed to pay for it myself, I'm actually really pleased with the route I took. Although it felt like a bit of a compromise at the time, taking a p/t masters in something I was really interested in the substance and subject matter of has kept me thinking and writing and generally more engaged than I think I would be at this point otherwise. Probably even more than if I'd gotten onto the original course.

Still, I'm now at the point in my degree - fours days away from handing in the last piece of work I *need* to do, three months from finishing the last one that I will - where I really need to think about what to do next.

Freelancing keeps popping up as the most viable option and yet... I don't really know where to start.