Profiles of Journalism Education: What students are being offered in Australia
(2006) Profiles of Journalism Education: What students are being offered in Australia. In Proceedings Journalism Education Association, Annual Conference, Griffith University, Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
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Abstract
The paper examines details of undergraduate Journalism courses in twenty-five Australian universities, using their published course descriptions. It analyses unit contents in a collective case study of the courses. Course structuring is described, recording the incidence of long-standing, common elements, like introductory journalism or news writing subjects, ethics, or law for journalists; and prominent new elements, like advanced online practice. Course components are categorised, following Adam (2001), as professional practice, theoretical context subjects, or units in the journalism strand from cognate disciplines. This organisation of material across courses invites new kinds of investigations, permitting inquiries into many aspects of journalism teaching. The formula is used to register the tensions between practice and theory, or between core journalism and communication studies. It is applied to show that journalism courses are highly flexible, allowing them to include scattered topics or incorporate large new sections. They are also enabling students to undertake diverse and divergent learning programs, raising questions as to whether there is a journalism education - or a whole phenomenon to be called journalism. The paper highlights proposals to develop the theoretical arm of the journalism program, not least calls for collaboration with major disciplines to strengthen more abstract learning.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Keywords: | Journalism, courses, units, communication, professional, core |
| Subjects: | Subjects UNSPECIFIED |
| ID Code: | 3918 |
| Deposited By: | Duffield, Lee Richard |
| Deposited On: | 19 April 2006 |
| Alternative Locations: | http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/jea |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2006 (please consult author) |
| Additional Information: | The paper is based on findings by Ms Debra Adams in her Honours research: a detailed study of Journalism courses in Australian universities. It was double blind refereed for publication in conference proceedings. |