Department of Journalism
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Journalism was the first course offered by the Department of Communication when it was founded in 1968, and remains the best-known course in the University. It became a department of its own within the School of Communication in 1991. Graduates of the Journalism programme fill many leadership roles in the Hong Kong media industries and the department continues to supply recruits to the journalism profession. In addition to conducting academic research, faculty of the department are active in journalism and related professional areas. |
 Staff and Facilities |
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The department has nine full-time teaching staff and three technicians. It also makes extensive use of adjunct teachers who are senior media workers in their main jobs. There are facilities for the complete production cycles of print and broadcast journalism. Print journalism has a computer laboratory for writing and editing, an image setter and a printing press. Broadcast journalism has a studio, editing suites, recording booths, and a reporting room for producing radio and video stories. Students of print journalism produce newspapers in English and Chinese while broadcast students place their work on an internet news site, and broadcast on the universitys television network. |
| The Programme |
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| A snapshot after the class: Journalism students with the faculty |
The journalism degree aims to strike a sensible balance between students' needs for professional skill and knowledge, theoretical insight, and general information about the society they will report on. Theory and practice are integrated throughout the course so that students can become both reflective practitioners and realistic researchers. They are also expected to master two written languages - Chinese and English - and three spoken ones - Cantonese, English and Putonghua. Students specialise in one of three concentrations: Chinese Journalism, International Journalism or Broadcast Journalism. Students of all three are required to take some subjects in another medium/language to foster versatility and broadmindedness.
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| Life on the Course |
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Journalism is a small department both numerically and physically. There is plenty of scope for informal contacts between staff and students. The department stresses alternatives to conventional classroom instruction, and makes much use of guest speakers, visits, and real-world assignments. Study tours are offered to increase students' first-hand knowledge of the world outside Hong Kong. The department was an early pioneer in running exchange programmes and numerous students have spent time under a variety of arrangements at overseas universities, while their visiting counterparts enlivened classes and other activities.
A distinctive feature of the Journalism programme is internship which is a graduation requirement. Students spend two months working for a local media organisation in placements arranged by the department. |
| Highlights and Achievements |
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Journalism students organized a study tour to Taiwan during Taiwan's election |
Of the departments' nine faculty, seven have PhDs and five have more than ten years' experience in Journalism. The team excels in a wide variety of areas. Individuals have won awards for their teaching, research, and journalism. The department participates extensively in the offering of the MA in Communication. A lively research culture produces publications in many leading international academic journals. Faculty frequently contributes journalism to local publications and broadcast stations. The department organizes an academic conference every year and in 2002 co-hosted the annual meeting of Australias Journalism Education Association. Faculty members also often provide forums and workshops on practical topics for local journalists, as well as production workshops for School students interested in journalism. Faculty members sit on a variety of boards and committees concerned with media matters, act as judges for journalism awards, and are invited to give evidence to legislative committees considering media topics, or as expert witnesses in cases involving media law and practice.
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Graduates of the department have an excellent record of winning awards and scholarships in territory-wide competitions, notably the Chevening and Rotary awards to finance overseas post-graduate study. Current students have often won scholarships from the fund named after Sir Edward Youde. The departments students are active in many extra-curricular areas and are particularly prominent in the student societies concerned with current affairs and debating.
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| Career Prospects and Future Studies |
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The majority of the departments' students take jobs as reporters of one kind or another after graduation. Generally all those who really wish to join the industry can do so. Graduates also can take any job for which a degree is a requirement. We have alumni in business, commerce, education, banking, non-government organizations, politics and the police force. Following the usual career pattern in Hong Kong, many young journalists eventually use their media experience to obtain jobs in related professions like public relations, marketing, political research, etc. Many of the department's graduates have gone on to further studies after working for a year or two. |
| Future Development |
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The department plans an MA in International Journalism Studies, to be launched in 2007. With the increasing importance of market forces in Hong Kong higher education, the department will also seek to cater more effectively for the widespread demand for Journalism as a liberal education subject for the 21st century, offering exposure to a particular set of knowledge and skills which are attractive to many young people who do not expect to make careers in Journalism. The department will launch an associate degree in conjunction with the School of Continuing Education and expects that by the time the first graduates emerge from this programme there will be a further "top-up" programme which will enable them to complete a full four-year degree. The department will also join in the University's plans to offer degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate level on a new satellite campus in Zhuhai. |
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