Is is Worth Doing a Journalism Degree or is a Short Course Better?

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Regardless of the state of the economy degrees in journalism continue to be tremendously favorite in the UK.

University applications service UCAS says there has been a 51% rise in the number of students wanting to study journalism in the five years between 2002 and 2007. But is a degree in journalism worthwhile or basically a waste of time?

Effectively, firstly there is the expense to think of. A student on a 3-year UK BA degree will generally have to come across at least 40,000 pounds when tuition fees, accommodation and maintenance costs are taken into account. Surely it is far better to do a degree in a topic other than journalism 1st and then do a brief course or an via the internet journalism course. That way, if you determine that journalism is not for you you can switch career far more conveniently. If you only have a BA Journalism degree then you are a lot far more restricted.

Must journalism courses be vocational or academic in nature? In my view journalism is a craft and the basic abilities can be learnt in a matter of weeks - at a fraction of the cost of a degree.

If you are established in your career and thinking of switching to journalism then a short course in how to turn into a journalist is possibly your finest bet. This will only cost a few hundred pounds, rather than the thousands needed to do a full 3-year degree. A short course, no matter if in a group or on line, will deliver you with the basics of news and feature writing and advise you on how to get commissions.

So, when thinking of journalism, instead of turning straight away to a university or college course look around as there might be superior choices for you.