Tell me about DIT?

Yupp2010

Okay, so, I can't decide between journalism in DIT or Arts in UCD, So tell me the pros and cons about DIT Please? xxx

docentore

you really don't wan't to hear about it...

ok, If got one pro:
- it is in city centre

The Volt

The DIT School of Media is very reputable. I'm doing Media Arts at the moment, 2nd year. Loving it. The journos seem to have the crack too. Best bet is to drop by and ask a few questions yourself

OctavarIan

Arts degrees are pretty useless so I wouldn't go that route anyway.

That said Journalism degrees aren't entirely necessary either but they'll give you some good experience to build on.

Does DIT have any kind of student newspaper? I could only find a copy of DIT News from a while ago but it looked more like a church newsletter. Strange for a college to have a School of Media, a degree in print production and Masters in Journalism but no reputable publication of any kind.

The Volt

OctavarIan wrote: »

Arts degrees are pretty useless so I wouldn't go that route anyway.

That said Journalism degrees aren't entirely necessary either but they'll give you some good experience to build on.

Does DIT have any kind of student newspaper? I could only find a copy of DIT News from a while ago but it looked more like a church newsletter. Strange for a college to have a School of Media, a degree in print production and Masters in Journalism but no reputable publication of any kind.

DIT News is a monthly publication and is spread across the campuses so you've a good readership there. News Soc organize it, well worth signing up for

pianofella

if you want to get a respectable qualification and job, do neither

OctavarIan

Voltwad wrote:

DIT News is a monthly publication and is spread across the campuses so you've a good readership there. News Soc organize it, well worth signing up for

Ew, a soc organises it? Democracy has no place in a newsroom :P

When in the month does it usually come out? Will have to get myself a copy. I'm involved in the student media sphere and I can honestly say I've barely heard of it

How do the soc run it exactly? Does it have a clear hierarchy or are decisions made by committee? Is it under the thumb of the SU or somewhat independent? I only ask this because I am *hopefully* going to DIT next year and I'd like to give the paper a bit of a jolt so to speak. At the very least a redesign (the one I found online looked awful).

pianofella wrote: »

if you want to get a respectable qualification and job, do neither

Journalism is no less respectable than any other job tbh. But it's not a career path to go down if you're looking for easy stability or financial security. It's a very old school type of job where you make it to the top through hard graft, and it can be very satisfying that way, believe me.

I'd say it's a lot more respectable than something like middle management or sales, but then I'm biased :P

The Volt

OctavarIan wrote: »

Ew, a soc organises it? Democracy has no place in a newsroom :P

When in the month does it usually come out? Will have to get myself a copy. I'm involved in the student media sphere and I can honestly say I've barely heard of it

How do the soc run it exactly? Does it have a clear hierarchy or are decisions made by committee? Is it under the thumb of the SU or somewhat independent? I only ask this because I am *hopefully* going to DIT next year and I'd like to give the paper a bit of a jolt so to speak. At the very least a redesign (the one I found online looked awful).



Journalism is no less respectable than any other job tbh. But it's not a career path to go down if you're looking for easy stability or financial security. It's a very old school type of job where you make it to the top through hard graft, and it can be very satisfying that way, believe me.

I'd say it's a lot more respectable than something like middle management or sales, but then I'm biased :P

Oh completely independent of DITSU. Half my articles wouldn't get published otherwise. The society has plenty of members though and articles are selected by the editors of different positions. For more information I suggest you email newssoced@gmail.com

_sparkie_

for all the crap people talk about DIT i really do love it.

FewFew

At the end of my time studying journalism I can honestly say it's a worthwhile course.

The general vibe with DIT is....

Negatives : Terrible admin. No central campus (though that may change if it ever moves to GG.) Very little accountability for staff mistakes. No real sense of tradition etc.

Pros: Lecturers all tend to be seasoned pros. For example the majority of the journalism lecturers all spent years working in the press/tv/radio and they tend to be called up as talking heads these days. A week or two ago I heard a panel show on RTE1 and every single member of the panel had taught me at some stage, including the host. The lack of boasting rights means you cut down on a fair amount of people who think they're too good for DIT. I've spent a fair few years in TCD and I can honestly say I had to look hard to find great people in TCD but I actually enjoy the company of 90% of my class in DIT. Though that's not quantifiable obviously, just my opinion.. lovely people in every college. Most courses have a nice division between hands-on work and theory.

If your decision is between arts and journalism then I would pick journalism. The journalism course gives you a very broad education but it also contains some good practical work that'll leave you better equipped for any job you go for. The course also gives you the scope to specialise as much as you want in certain areas, for instance there are people in the course who will gear their whole college experience to being a lead news anchor and then there are those students who find themselves working more and more in editing etc. You can really gain skills in whatever area you're after.

If you have a specific type of journalism in mind then I'd suggest you go do a course in TCD/UCD, get a deep understanding about the subject of your choice and become as involved as possible with the uni newspapers, then do the masters course in DIT. Though if you're pulled between journalism and arts I'd imagine you're unsure, in which case I'd go for the journo undergrad.


But... DIT has terrible student media. It always pains me that TCD and UCD have no specific course for journalism yet have much superior newspapers.

For Octavarian: DIT has two student publications. DIT News and Toast. DIT News is run by News Soc and has a paid editor (a bit like a sabbat officer.) Toast is the SU magazine. Neither of them are much use. The last issue of DIT News was particularly painful and I fail to see why.
DIT used to have a decent newspaper in the DIT Independent, it was quite serious and newsy, nearly broadsheet style, but it was effectively cancelled by the student union and replaced with an SU controlled magazine called the Compact. There was a bit of outrage amongst the journo students and various years boycotted the Compact and setup their own newspaper called The Moon. The Moon failed financially and the lack of staff involvement seems to have lead to the paid editor position.
The main quality product out of the college is The Liberty. It's a community newspaper for the Liberties and is constantly superior to the DIT News in term of layout and quality of contents. It's run by the 2nd and 3rd year journalism students.

So yup.