Renewed Debate Over Journalism Degrees

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RENEWED DEBATE OVER JOURNALISM DEGREES
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1083919.htm

MELBOURNE (ABC Pacific Beat/Pacific Media Watch): The outgoing head of the University of the South Pacific's media school has come out saying work experience alone is not enough to ensure high quality journalism.

Dev Nadkarni says media organisations in the Pacific should follow the example of those around the world, which insist on journalism degrees because - among other things, he says - they teach ethics and media law.

Presenter/Interviewer: Huey Fern Tay

Speakers: Dev Nadkarni, former coordinator of the University of the South Pacific journalism programme; Matai Akauola, news editor, Radio Fiji; Russell Hunter, editor-in-chief, the Fiji Sun.

NADKARNI: "Unfortunately journalism..er..education in journalism has come much later than the actual profession of journalism, which is very, very old. So this thinking that over so many years, decades, people have not had a degree in journalism, but they have been excellent journalists, so why not now?

"But this is a different world. And now that you have people who have spent a lot of time structuring these courses and really very good courses because they broaden the vision and tell journalists about so many other things they ought to know as responsible workers, responsible for the public."

TAY: That's the former journalism coordinator at the University of South Pacific, Dev Nadkarni.

Nadkarni also felt a journalism degree coupled with work experience would make that journalist an all rounder.

But a quick check with some of the country's main media outlets showed that it wasn't common at all for journalists in Fiji to have a degree in journalism. Representatives from the Daily Post, Radio Fiji and The Fiji Sun revealed that it just wasn't necessary.

These representatives cited factors such as personal attributes and tried-and-tested avenues - like their own cadetship programs - as being more important. Matai Akauola is the news editor of Radio Fiji:

AKAUOLA: "You know it's not the piece of paper that gets a person straight into the mainstream media because we have to go through and see how they adapt to the day-to-day work here in the newsroom. It doesn't mean that people come out of the universities with degrees that they automatically are given a higher level than people who come through the cadet schemes."

TAY: Akauola's counterpart from the Fiji Sun, editor-in-chief Russell Hunter agrees, but points to other factors as well.

HUNTER: "The first thing we look for in the environment here is a very good command of English which believe me is quite difficult to find - including among graduates, I'm afraid to say.

"Too many graduates want to come out and write grand features and get paid a lot of money and ... er...as I say start at the top and work up. We want people who can report the news accurately."

+++niuswire

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