MA Journalism?

Ooonie

Hi guys,

I've been offered a place on the Masters in Journalism for September and I was just wondering if any current students could give their opinions on it .

Is the workload hard/manageable? Overall did you find the course good?

Thanks!

Witnail

On the first day there will be issues, you'll be told this is due to "cutbacks", invariably if something goes wrong you will be told it's down to cutbacks.

On the second day Harry will tell you you're never going to make any money. The unintentional demoralistion process continues from here. You'll soon find out you're not half as good as you thought you were and that's when self-belief and graft come into play.

After a while you'll see that Angela is the best but most tragically underused asset the course has at its disposal.

Course-wise it's a bit all over the place. The subbing classes and news writing classes should run throughout the year and they should be teaching In-design not Quark. Shorthand is ridiculous, the majority of journalists do not have a grasp on it and if they do it's not the incredibly confusing Pitman form. Despite what you'll be told it is not entirely necessary and these days is more of a luxury, like a dictaphone. The magazine production element is good as are the news days. It'll be daunting ringing someone and saying you're a "journalist from DIT" because that makes no sense, but you'll develop a thick skin from it and eventually realise whether it's for you or not.

You'll learn everything you really need to start within a month or two but it's a critical masters and therefore there are academic modules in the vein of media law, media environment, history and of course the final dissertation.

If you're radio orientated the setup is second to none (I imagine I don't have another school to compare it to obviously) the two main lecturers in broadcast are enthusiastic and accessible. I would have preferred more time in the studio though.

The course lacks foresight in that there is no photography module or online journalism module, both are going to be integral to a journalists success going forward.

Facility wise, there's a newsroom and an in room printer. There's also a big screen with a projector, we use it for football matches.

There are some personnel issues, but I suppose that's subjective and I'm not going to write about them here.

Basically I'd recommend the course on the back of the amendments that are due to be made. The staff know their stuff invariably and if you take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience that certain lecturers hold you can't go far wrong. Our year bonded well and I think that had a negative effect on our participation in the academic aspect of the course but it was a great craic all the same.

Do a bit of work for the college paper, it bulks up an otherwise, presumably, thin CV.

You'll learn that the media, newspapers and radio work nothing like you expect (again assuming you only have limited previous experience). You'll also come to the swift realisation that it can be the most mundane and drawn out process known to man. The workload is entirely manageable, anyone that cribs about being overworked in that course in moronic. You'll find yourself doing half nothing for good chunks of the year and scrambling to get a heap in towards the end of semesters, but that's your own fault really.

Finally, find your local dole office and befriend the social welfare officer. It's unlikely you'll get work straight away unless you're tapping away somewhere already.

FewFew

Witnail wrote: »

Shorthand is ridiculous, the majority of journalists do not have a grasp on it and if they do it's not the incredibly confusing Pitman form. Despite what you'll be told it is not entirely necessary and these days is more of a luxury, like a dictaphone.

.

Just finished the BA and I wish I had paid more attention to my shorthand. It's a huge asset that will in many cases get you the job. It's essential for court reporting etc. Currently on the internship/job trail and you'd be amazed at the amount of newspapers that come straight out and ask you about your shorthand. One of the students that went back for a refresher course in SH has already found a job with a national paper.

During the course I couldn't stand shorthand and my opinion was similar to that of the quoted poster, but now that it's employment time I've realised the error of my ways.

Just thought I'd make that point for any future MA students reading this thread. Ideally ye should be better placed to take advantage of your shorthand as it's fresh, compared to in the BA where it's a first year pain.