Postgraduate Journalism programs

The postgraduate program is for people who have an undergraduate degree in any discipline. It provides an intense 18-month, full-time introduction to the practice of journalism in the context of a critical scholarly approach.

The program exists as an entry-level qualification for people who do not have a journalism background.  However, it is also possible that someone with a basic journalism background who wants to upgrade or to transfer media from regional print into metropolitan television or radio, for example, might choose to do it.

Monash is one of the largest journalism schools in the country. We offer a very distinctive curriculum at the postgraduate level, with both a stand-alone masters and a series of double masters degrees with other disciplines. These are:

• Australian Studies
• Business
• Environmental Sustainability
• International Development
• International Relations

This curriculum sets students up not only with skills in journalism, but with skills in particular areas advantageous in terms of employment – for example, as a business/economic reporter, an environmental reporter, a science reporter or an international correspondent.

Coming out of the masters program with a 24-point research project (the equivalent of an honours thesis) and a distinction or high distinction, it is also possible to gain entry into a PhD program.

Monash has been offering the masters program since 2010 and it's growing rapidly. We're preparing for adding partner degrees with international universities, with partners in the UK and the European Union.

Typically our students come from a broad range of undergraduate backgrounds – the generalist degrees, like bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of business – but also highly specific professional degrees, like bachelor of laws, bachelor of pharmacy, and medicine. The program is set up to facilitate career change.

There are two streams in the course. There is the journalism practice stream, where students produce journalism for publication or broadcast.  In other words, students put together elements of a portfolio to help find employment. It is real journalism resulting from dealing with real people in the world and therefore the portfolio consists of the sort of work that prospective employers would like to see. The other stream is journalism studies, which is the scholarship of journalism, encompassing media studies, sociology, history, and the political economy of the journalism industry. It also includes a unit in journalism and the law, which is about defamation, contempt, copyright, and privacy. And there is a capstone set of project units which bring together those two streams of the degree.

One of the distinctive aspects of the Monash postgraduate degree is that it is not only a preparation for professional employment in the industry, but it is taught in a way that is appropriate for a postgraduate degree in a university.  Students receive a scholarly as well as a professional education. This sets them up to be highly qualified professionals.  It also equips them for further study in the field or in other fields (eg, international relations and business) as in the double degrees, so that students are operating at a relatively high level.

The course structure is full-time, four six-point units per semester. The typical course full-time is three consecutive semesters, or more than that if students go part-time. We offer the units, particularly the major units, in both day and evening mode so that we can accommodate people's work patterns.

The course has a range of core units which every student does, and they are structured as a series of pre-requisites. Initially students undertake two introductory units, research and reporting and reporting with sound and image, which address all four media. By the time they have completed those two units, students have a basic introduction to news reporting.

They then have a range of electives where they can choose to specialise in particular media. We offer radio, video, print and online. In print, we offer both print features for more extended articles, as well as editing and publishing for subediting and layout.

We have specialisations in environmental and investigative reporting, and we have a specialist reporting unit which varies from semester to semester. In 2012, it centres on travel and lifestyle writing, for which there is a big demand. And then there are the capstone core units, which are the project units.

The staff on the journalism program at Monash University are the best qualified in the country. Amongst our staff we have three Walkley award winners, including one Gold Walkley, and a Logie winner. They are highly qualified professionals who have held senior positions in the industry. They are also very well qualified in terms of their academic achievements, and all staff either hold a doctorate or are currently completing their doctorate. We also bring in sessional staff from industry as required, and these people are always working journalists at the top of their profession.

Please see the University Handbook for details http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/aos/journalism/pg-arts-journalism.html