The Internet has opened up a whole new world for certain professions, especially since the turn of the millennium, and journalism is one of them. As a result, there are many more journalist positions going all over the world than ever before but unfortunately more people are looking to get into the profession as well. As a result, you do need to have an edge to get noticed and get ahead. Along with writing talent, you need to have a CV to back it up, and no CV is complete without a good educational background. It seems that editors want the full package these days and writing experience combined with a good educational foundation gives them just what they are looking for. So, as a result, if you want to get yourself noticed then it could be a good idea to consider a journalism course sooner rather than later!
Journalism courses are highly popular and extremely hard to get on so the first thing you need to do is fully research the options available to you. Whether you are fresh out of school, pursuing an alternative career or writing alongside a day job at the moment, there is a journalism course out there for you. You just have to find it! You can choose from a variety of night courses, distance learning, part time courses and full time courses, all of which offer various qualifications and course content so that you can choose what you want and need and tailor your education to those ends!
These courses may last anywhere from ten weeks to four years, but you should bear in mind that not all of them are offered year in and year out. For example, workshop courses tend to tour the country and may only visit a certain college once or twice. Therefore, do not take an individual course for granted if you plan to begin your education in a few months time. Despite that though, any course regardless of content can certainly make your entry into the journalism field a little smoother!
Shorter journalism courses tend to deal solely with certain aspects of journalism, including photographic media, broadcasting skills, writing for magazines and visual media. They tend to deal with one specific aspect of each of these areas and are meant for offering an introduction into the area or honing certain skills rather than giving you a comprehensive overview. More long-term courses actually look at journalism in far more depth and give you a firmer foundation to build a career upon. These courses tend to include the history of media, social studies, shorthand, media law, layout, design, news media, sports journalism, reporting, business journalism, online journalism, freelancing, creative writing, video production and any number of other elements that could help to advance your career.
Another option is to train on the job. There are apprenticeships available today but they often require starting at the very beginning as an office junior. These places are very few and far between so education may well seem like the best option. As there are so many courses to choose from, it is probably more viable to choose one of those than hold out for an office job.
The career paths that extend from a journalism course are endless, both within the media industry and outside of it. You could choose to go into publishing, public speaking, public relations, marketing, advertising and any other number of fields. However, should you choose to stick within the media then you may choose out of the following – broadcast journalist, photographer, magazine journalist, news reporter, columnist, radio broadcaster, editor, press officer, researching, lecturing and many, many more!
The following institutions and journalism courses may be of interest to you and provide a good starting point for your research:
• http://www.gcd.ie - Griffith College – There are a number of courses at Griffith College in Cork and Dublin, from Masters to Certificates. There will be a course for you there. All are either part time or full time.
• http://www.dbs.ie - Dublin Business School - Offering a range of evening degrees and diplomas as well as full time courses, there are options for those working here!
• http://www.dit.ie - Dublin Institute Of Technology – MA Journalism – If you have a degree in journalism or another related discipline then this may be the course to get you into the field.
• http://www.cmit.ie - College of Management and IT – Diploma in Freelance Journalism – A distance learning course that can give you the way in you want around your current job.
• http://www.dcu.ie - Dublin City University - A selection of Masters and Bachelors degrees, both full and part time.
Findacourse.ie lists a range of Literature & Journalism courses on our course listings section
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