journalism and law :) (1 Viewer)

[mr EaZy]

my friend really thinks a journalism/law degree @ uts is a good option.
I know that a very few number of people with law degrees can get journalism jobs anyway without a journalism degree.

i also know that UTS is supproted by the herald -meaning its got good links....

can someone tell me if journalism is a great course to get into, or like if it provides the skills to operate in a non-journalism related career (because the skills are what employers look forward too right? )

thanks in advance

 

[absolution*]

From what ive heard, journalism is too specific a degree. I would personally try social enquiry or public communications esp when coupled with law, though someone like braindrainedAsh would know a lot more than me.

 

[mr EaZy]

yeah, what are u combining with?

i really wanna combine law with something good......
i really dont wanna do a law degree on its own even if i can add another degree after 1 year.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

If you want to be a journalist, UTS Journo/law degree is one of the most respected degrees in the media industry.

If you don't want to be a journalist, the journalism degree still teaches you a lot of things that can be good for various jobs.
- Clear concise writing
-Good research skills
- editing and publishing subjects (good for proofreading, creating layouts for newletters, advertising, etc)
-media knowledge and savvy

But the journalism degree is quite vocationally specific... some of the other degrees like pub comm might have some broader applications... the journalism professional subjects are really geared towards the practical side and making you in to a journalist. But you also study broader based subjects such as media studies and cultural/historical/sociology subjects which give you a broader based education that many employers look favorably upon. Knowledge of the media and it's workings is a great asset in a huge variety of careers.

I'm not entirely sure of what you want to get out of the degree.... do you want to be a journalist, a lawyer, or have a degree that is quite flexible and will open up a wide variety of jobs?

 

[mr EaZy]

i just want to combine my law degree with something that can :

-give me good literary skills (needed in understanding cases)
-writing skills
-speaking skills ( i might be a spokesperson for some company)
-research skills (research my cases)

- awareness of the international environment/ cultures (i think ive got this already, but could use some more! )


basically, i wanna work on an international stage with some international organisation or with the australian government (representing its interests abroad).

-the thing is that u just can't guarantee urself these kinda things. I wouldnt mind working for the social justice of individuals rather than communities- that would require a law degree.

my plan in life is to let the law degree take me to whatever jobs i can get my 'hands on' for the first few years and then, hopefully, ill make my move to where my interests lie.

i basically want my combined degree to serve as an extension to my basic law degree.

 

[absolution*]

i basically want my combined degree to serve as an extension to my basic law degree.

Then i wouldnt be doing journalism.

Information Management

Public Communcation

Social Inquiry

Writing and Contemporary Cultures

 

[mr EaZy]

im really looking towards social inquiry and then public communications

but with a uai of 97.90, i can only afford the first one

 

[absolution*]

Take little notice of the cut-offs at UTS for law. Despite them fluctuating from year to year, there is significant evidence around that they artificially increase the cut-off's. A friend of mine got in with a UAI of 94 last year.

 

[mr EaZy]

thats without eas (inpUTS) right ? coz i failed it (guess i wasnt destitute enough ! )

anywayz, u still into writing and contemporary cultures? wats so good about that? ur a writer arent ya?!

 

[absolution*]

Yeah, thats without EAS. Im undecided about doing Law/Communications. Im thinking of just doing straight law for 4 years at 10 hours a week.

 

[charlie_charlie]

How is it possible to get in with an UAI of 94? Like was it through the late round or something?

 

[absolution*]

How is it possible to get in with an UAI of 94? Like was it through the late round or something?

UTS rort their LAW cut-offs, im not sure about other courses. There was a thread about it a few days ago. They artificially increase the UAI cut-offs to better promote the course as being prestigious. UNSW have been known to do a similar thing except they just re-allocated places apparently.

 

[hYperTrOphY]

I want to study B Social Science (Criminology) / B Laws. Unfortunately, UNSW and UWS are the only unis (to my knowledge) who offer Crim. I doubt I will get into UNSW, and whilst I did plan on applying at UWS I hav changed my mind for a variety of reasons.

I was talking to one of my teachers about it the other day, and he recommended I study journalism as he believes I write well.

However, I'm not 100% certain about the specific career I want to pursue. The careers I am interested in include:
Solicitor/Barrister
Australian Federal Police (one of the reasons I want to do criminology).

Journalism is something I believe I would be reasonable at, but I am not sure that it is something I would want to do in the future. Thus, I wonder if Journalism would be a waste of time since most people say it is a course so specific to the actual occupation of journalism.

EDIT: Can you do law at UTS and Criminology at another uni (UNSW/UWS for example)??

 

[absolution*]

With all due respect to braindrainedash, i believe the best way to go about journalism qualifications is to find the area which you will plan to specialise in and do a degree in that area as opposed to a journalism specific degree at uts.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Don't do journalism unless you want to be a journalist.... especially don't do journalism if your teacher just told you to do it because you would be good and it isn't something you think you would be passionate about. Maybe do English or writing or just an arts degree where you can mix and match.

You can be a journalist without a journalism degree, as absolution said, or if you want to focus on a specialist field do another degree then maybe a grad dip in journalism. I still think though that if you really want to be a journalist, then doing a journalism degree gives you the skills so when you are graduating you are ready to work as a journalist and don't need a huge amount of training. The trouble with training to be a specialist reporter is that most entry level/graduate positions in journalism are doing general reporting... you really need to build up some street cred in order to pick a specialist round/focus. Though specializing is beginning to become more the in thing, apparently if you want to specialize, business journalism is the most lucrative area at the moment.

 

[hYperTrOphY]

Don't do journalism unless you want to be a journalist.... especially don't do journalism if your teacher just told you to do it because you would be good and it isn't something you think you would be passionate about. Maybe do English or writing or just an arts degree where you can mix and match.

You can be a journalist without a journalism degree, as absolution said, or if you want to focus on a specialist field do another degree then maybe a grad dip in journalism. I still think though that if you really want to be a journalist, then doing a journalism degree gives you the skills so when you are graduating you are ready to work as a journalist and don't need a huge amount of training. The trouble with training to be a specialist reporter is that most entry level/graduate positions in journalism are doing general reporting... you really need to build up some street cred in order to pick a specialist round/focus. Though specializing is beginning to become more the in thing, apparently if you want to specialize, business journalism is the most lucrative area at the moment.

Yeah, that's right. Although I have previously considered journalism, it is not what I feel passionate about now.

Do you know if I would be able to do law at UTS and another degree (Criminology) at a different university?

 

[blackfriday]

my understanding is that going into a straight ba comm degree is pretty foolish because there are extremely limited journalism graduate cadetships available. news limited give out six a year, so competition is fierce since it is not only graduate ba comm students going for it, but people who suddenly decided to stop practising law or something etc. the best thing is to do something else you like first, and try to pick up journalism later when you got life experience.

 

[Jinglebell]

Although, like all degrees, there are obviously other options once you graduate than a cadetship from a major media company...Ash would be able to say more I know, but it's really important to remember that there are innumerable places you could take a BA Comm(whatever)...Although as a SOcial Inquiry student I have to keep reassuring myself of this

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Media cadetships are just the top of the iceburg for people graduating from a comm degree.... that's what most people are after, but most people graduating law are after certain jobs at certain companies etc.... the cadetships are the ideal, but there are heaps of other ways to get in to journalism without a cadetship, and there are heaps of other doors a communications degree can open for you, just like Jane said.

Also, news ltd is not the only place giving out great cadetships. Fairfax cadetships are the most sought after, also ABC, SBS (both ABC and SBS are for radio and television journalists), Sky News, Channels 7, 9 and 10, news ltd plus more. Then you have to remember how many small community papers and radio stations there are out there all over Australia. It's not as bad as it first seems, sure it is competitive, but there are a lot more opportunities for graduate jobs in the media industry than you make out.

Saying you shouldn't do a BA comm because fairfax only offers 6 cadetships is like saying you shouldn't do a business degree because Price Waterhouse Coopers only offers 10 graduate positions each year.... you should do what you wanna do, and if you really want to make it you will.

 

[blackfriday]

the difference is that there are incredible amounts of accounting graduate positions and scarce journalism positions. i want to be a journalist too, but the chances of being a cadet at a news organisation or something similar is incredibly small. im not talking about doing what you want to do, because that is what we live for, but prudence is always a good cause of action when selecting a career.