Final Essay

Since the introduction of university attained journalism degrees, there has been a lot of debate centralising on whether a degree is beneficial in well-equipping students to work in the media sector. This essay will primarily focus on scholarly resources analysing the education of journalists, in order to accurately prove how a university degree is more beneficial than a cadetship, in aiding students to succeed in their career of choice, journalism. The essay will begin by focusing on how a formal qualification makes a candidate more desirable when applying for journalism roles. This will be followed by looking at the benefits a degree entails by preparing journalism students to be well equipped in handling a variety of journalistic roles.

When it comes to journalism, a university obtained degree is highly regarded enabling the candidate to become more favourable to an employer (Cullen, T, 2014). After interviewing numerous news editors Trevor Cullen discovered that the editor’s respective workplaces were more likely to higher candidates with a university degree than those without. He discussed his findings in the journal article, News Editors Evaluate Journalism Courses and Graduate Employability, asserting the consensus of the editors was universities have a strong impact on their students and play an important role in their future. With one editor specifically stating that university graduates had a higher likelihood than non-graduates of being given the role within the company (Cullen, T, 2014). The notion that a degree increases the prospect of employment in media is shared not only among recruitment officers, but also among the graduates of journalism focused university programs. Simon Frith and Peter Meech’s research of student’s perceptions of university-based programs in Becoming a Journalist highlights this. Their research found students applying for jobs after graduating from higher education institutes had more ease in obtaining and retaining a job in the field of media. The students collectively believe journalism degrees are efficiently preparing students for a lucrative and rewarding career in journalism (2007). A published study titled Australian Journalism Students’ Professional views and News Consumption from 2015 shared collaborative results on the importance of a university education. The representative study found four in five journalists had a university education with the overwhelming majority having majored in journalism. Clearly highlighting the important role a university education has in gaining employment as a