BA in Journalism?

skateing dragon

Hey I was wondering does/did anyone here take the BA in Journalism COurse in DCU because I'm interested in taking it when i finish my Leaving Cert and was wondering what it's like?

Dublin's Finest

PM me if you have any questions.

rugbug86

surely answer questions here to save the same threads being started over and over.

Dublin's Finest

Only noticing this again now...

The BAJ is a very good course. Though it has changed from the one I did from a 3 to 4 year course. Essentially they have condensed the course content into 3 years and gotten rid off the semester abroad option (unfortunately).

There are good modules in Radio, Television, Advanced Radio and Television as well as ones in subbing and news reporting.

Usually the clincher for people taking this course is INTRA - DCU's work experience module. In the BAJ in your final year, you'll do an 8 week placement with a media organisation. Most of the main ones are there; RTÉ, Irish Times, Indo, Sunday Trib, Business Post, TV3, etc, etc.

jdivision

It's the best course around for journalism and has a very strong reputation but because it's a three year course people aren't coming out as mature as they should be or as rounded. If you're serious about moving into journalism you should consider what area you want to work in (and everybody wants to do sports and music so it's the toughest to break into, music journalism in particular is woefully paid) and think about whether you should do a degree in that and then do the MA in Journalism. You'll have a good background in a particular area that way. I'm a BA graduate, about half my class working as journalists, a few in PR but most are working in the media.

An Sliabh

I did the degree when it was 4 years... graduated last year. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I think it set me up fairly well for the "real world" though they could have pushed us with more practical stuff. It would have been good to have had to get stuff published, and not just have that gently suggested to us

There is one serious question anyone considering journalism needs to ask (and one most of us forgot to!) which is:

Do you like the News?

A lot of people seem to think "well I'm good at English so maybe journalism..." But really I would advise people to think hard about their eventual career. Do you really enjoy watching or reading the news? If so, journalism is for you. If not, well it might still be for you... there are plenty of non-news areas in the media, but I still think that is the key question.

I think it's a bit of a pity it's only 3 years now, the semester abroad used to be great!

Stargal

An Sliabh wrote:

There is one serious question anyone considering journalism needs to ask (and one most of us forgot to!) which is:
Do you like the News?

Yeah I'd definitely agree - you have to have a genuine interest in what's going on in the world. And if there's one area in particular that you're interested in (e.g. business, politics, sports) then that's always an advantage.

I'm currently doing the MA (which is excellent, and should definitely be a consideration, if you want to get some grounding in another subject first) and find that the School of Journalism here is very well organised, well taught and covers a great range of subjects.

Rockerette

An Sliabh wrote:

It would have been good to have had to get stuff published, and not just have that gently suggested to us

Heaven forbid journalists should have some of their own initiative....??!!!!!?


I cant believe how many people in my class have shown no interest at all in writing for the College View, or anything related to journalism.


Why did they choose the damn course...?

gizmo

To pick up chicks?

cooker3

I wanted to do journalism but I was too stupid to get the required points.

I like news as well.

Ah well I have flourishing career in IT ahead.......

Dublin's Finest

cooker3 wrote:

I wanted to do journalism but I was too stupid to get the required points.

I like news as well.

Ah well I have flourishing career in IT ahead.......

Most who work in the media don't have a degree in in journalism so I wouldn't give up yet mate. The merits of "journalism schools" are constantly up for debate anyway.

There's nothing to stop you breaking into it anyway.

CuLT

gizmo wrote:

To pick up chicks?

I know that's why I picked CA.

Journalism was one of my original choices, but when I became aware of the general points one needed to actually get into the course, I gave up.

I've plenty of other interests in any case, so the fact that I'm not driven to become a journalist is probably an indication that I don't genuinely want to be one.

cooker3

Dublin's Finest wrote:

There's nothing to stop you breaking into it anyway.

My inabaility to write anything of merit or lack of understanding of basic grammar might be 1

*awaits someone to point out some gramatical error in this post

gizmo

cooker3 wrote:

My inabaility to write anything of merit or lack of understanding of basic grammar might be 1

*awaits someone to point out some gramatical error in this post

It's spelt inability.

Oh and there should have been a punctuation mark at the end of the first sentence.

cooker3

gizmo wrote:

It's spelt inability.

Oh and there should have been a punctuation mark at the end of the first sentence.

*sigh*
I proof read it and still missed that.

micromegas

I'm not a current student, however I did do a semester abroad at DCU in the journalism program. I loved it and I'm actually considering coming back to DCU for a MA in journalism.

CuLT

gizmo wrote:

It's spelled "inability".

Oh, and there should have been a punctuation mark at the end of the first sentence.

"Spelt" is an American butchering of the word.

I guess the comma after "Oh" is arguable, but it makes for a better flow.

Edit: if people with only immaculate punctuation were journalists, there'd be a lot more irritating people in journalism.