Study Journalism Degree in Australia - Excel Education | Study in Australia, Malaysia, the UK & Canada

Sharing is caring :)

Do you have the passion for venturing into the mysterious world and rising to the occasion when the truth is discovered? Do you dream of always being the person who updated the entire nation on breaking news and not getting tired of pursuing true stories? If yes, we believe that you have the passion to become a journalist.

Every country in the world depends on journalists as they work as watchdogs (someone who delivers unbiased news about the wrongdoing). The news that we watch and read today is anchored by hard working journalists who ensures that the truth reaches the public. Can you imagine the amount of public trust journalists have gathered by providing such news?

Read on as we explain in detail how to become a journalist, the silent heroes of the world.

What is Journalism?

Journalism is writing about news related to subjects for all mediums, print and non-print. It’s a complicated process of gathering information through different channels, sifting through it, editing and giving it context. Journalism incorporates everything from anything that is considered “hard” news from politics and public affairs to the softer side, including human interests and lifestyles. A journalist is known to be the public’s eyes and ears as the entire global population relies on journalism to remain informed.

What is the Study of Journalism?

Journalism can be seen as transforming events through systematic criteria into news that is publishable in the media. The tasks that news workers do are mainly to ‘report, research, write and edit reports as well as produce and assemble visual images for news and information. The selection of news goes through another screening process which involves editors, producers and news directors.

There are several types of journalism that one can practice such as:

Investigative Journalism: Involves thoroughly researching a topic to expose evidence and deliver findings or figures or organizations to a broader audience. Investigative journalists conduct in-depth research and use various tactics to collect information. This type of journalism often requires more time to plan, prepare and research and is typically a more extended form to fully report details of research, findings and conclusions.
Opinion Journalism: Opinion journalism reports on a topic using subjective ideas rather than objective facts. Opinion journalists write from their own perspective including their own thoughts and biases. It is much more unique from other types of journalism because the writer can include their own viewpoint.
Political Journalism: Focuses on government, politics and political candidates. It covers different segments of political activities such as local, national and international news. The political journalist often reports on an elected official’s movements, political processes, and political work results.
Sports Journalism: Focus on the subject of athletic news. Sports journalists report scores, standings and rankings for different teams or athletes in various sporting events.

Key Skills Needed to Become a Journalist

Multitasking: Being a journalist is not easy as there are plenty of things happening around the world. A journalist has to manage their time wisely and multitask among all the other articles and make sure they don’t miss a deadline.
Professionalism & Confidence: Professionalism in journalism means meeting deadlines, ready to take up work at odd hours of the day and the courage to take criticism from the editor.
Excellent Writing Skills: Effective writing skills make a lot of difference while writing an average article and enthralling news piece. A journalist should know how to play around with their words and should be able to produce error-free articles.
Good Work Ethics – Journalism is a competitive field, journalists are frequently chasing newsworthy articles that they forget to be ethical. A good journalist will never abandon ethics as it is the rule of the thumb.
Persistence & Discipline: Journalism requires perseverance and patience as it might take a month before you get a lead on the story you have been working on. A journalist should never give up and be disciplined as a journalist should be about finding out the truth.

Career Options with a Journalism Degree

Reporter: The very basics of practicing journalism. Reporters inform the public about the happenings around the world. Spends most of the time conducting interviews and investigations. Works on a tight deadline in a fast phase environment wanting to be the first to publish the story.
Editor: Oversees every step of the publishing process, working with writers to plan and edit content for publications. Editors work in many environments such as magazines, newspapers, and online media. In short, wherever there is a story/article, there will be an editor watching over it.
Copywriter: Develops messages that you usually see on advertisements. They’re naturally persuasive, creative and able to cram a lot of convincing information under a few words.

Public Relation Specialist: Public Relation specialist creates and maintains a favorable image for the organizations they represent and puts together media releases to help shape the public perception and increase brand awareness.

What are the Core Subjects in Journalism Degree

News Reporting: Introduction to the practice and theory of multimedia journalism. It sets the social, professional and legal context for journalism practice, and introduces students to the convention of news writing and reporting stories. Students will also focus on combining text with photos and audio clips to produce news stories; critically examining their own production processes, and learn to report multimedia news stories to a deadline.
Media Law and Ethics: Provides students with groundwork practical knowledge to deal with legal and ethical issues that may arise from their work as communication professionals or media communication users. The subject takes a problem-based learning (case study) approach to work with students to understand laws and regulations that influence journalism; highlight potential problem areas for journalists, focusing mainly on privacy, defamation, contempt of court; and copyright.
Feature Writing: Students are expected to combine journalism skills with academic techniques of research. The aim is to develop research and writing skills to a level where the student can produce feature articles suitable for publication. There is a strong emphasis on finding original information from sources ranging from interviews to the Internet.
News Production: Engages students in the day-to-day operations of a multi-location, multimedia news publication. Students will produce stories, learning how to deal with the practical, intellectual, professional, creative, social, ethical and legal issues of online news and current affairs publishing.

General Entry Requirement for Journalism Degree in Australia

A-Levels	A minimum of 6 points or CCD
ATAR	A minimum of 79.40
STPM	A minimum of 10 points
UEC	A minimum of 14 points
IB	A minimum of 25 points

Entry requirements might vary according to universities, for more information please contact Excel Education

English Language Requirement for Journalism Degree in Australia

IELTS	A minimum overall of 6.5 and 6.0 in all sub-bands.
TOEFL	A minimum overall score of 79, Reading: 13, Listening:12, Speaking:18 and Writing: 21.
PTE	An overall score of 58 and 50 in all sub-bands

English Requirement might vary according to universities, for more information please contact Excel Education

Top Universities to Study Journalism Degree in Australia

Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

The Queensland University of Technology is one of the leading universities with a global outlook and focus on providing students with practical, relevant skills they can apply in the world. QUT ranks 1 in Australia and 17 in the world for Communication and Media Studies.

Program	Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)
Intake	February & July
Duration	3 Years
Indicative Annual Fees (2021)	AUD $31, 400

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University

RMIT is an innovative university located in Melbourne, Australia. Currently, RMIT ranks at 4th and is on the top 50 globally for Communication and Media Studies. In the QS World University Ranking 2021, RMIT ranks at 18th place in the world among universities less than 50 years old.

Program	Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)
Intake	February & July
Duration	3 Years
Indicative Annual Fees (2021)	AUD $32, 640

The University of Queensland (UQ)

The Queensland University of Technology currently holds the 5th rank for the Top 10 Universities in Australia 2021 for Communications and Media Studies and also ranks at 46th for the QS World University Ranking 2021. The University of Queensland has won more Australian Awards for University Teaching than any other university and is committed to providing students with the best opportunities and practical experiences, empowering them with transferable knowledge and skills that will prepare them to exceed expectations throughout their careers.

Program	Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)
Intake	February & July
Duration	3 Years
Indicative Annual Fees (2021)	AUD $34, 208

University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

The University of Technology Sydney is ranked at 9th among the Top Universities in Australia and at 133 place in the QS World University Ranking. Being in the education industry for the past 33 years, the University of Technology Sydney is still considered to be pretty young among the other established universities in Australia. However, the University of Technology Sydney takes pride in courses that they offer as it is aligned with the industry’s needs so that students will be prepared for the working world.

Program	Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)
Intake	March & July
Duration	3 Years
Indicative Annual Fees (2021)	AUD $41, 300

Western Sydney University (WSU)

Ranked at the Top 2 percent universities worldwide, the Western Sydney University offers unlimited potential for students with the drive and determination to succeed. With one of the most comprehensive ranges of courses in Australia, Western Sydney University’s curriculum and approach to flexible learning are designed to be a springboard for a successful career.

Program	Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)
Intake	March & July
Duration	3 Years
Indicative Annual Fees (2021)	AUD $28, 080

Griffith University

Griffith University was established to stand out among all the other universities in Australia as they provide challenging conventions, responding to trends and pioneering solutions through innovative teaching and research. Students are prepared for the future by being taught by some of Australia’s most awarded teachers. Griffith University currently ranks at 303 for the QS World University Ranking.