Skills are not enough: the case for journalism as an academic discipline

Abstract

This article argues that journalism can be taught as, and should be regarded as, a serious academic discipline and not simply a vocational training. Trends in society and polity place new responsibilities on, and require a better education of journalists. They must be equipped to make essential contributions as analysts and brokers of information. Journalism education has aspects specific to it: the particular balance of academic, applied and occupational learning; simulations of real working experience and engagement with the world; the conformity to professional standards of behaviour; the involvement with local communities; the application of the competency concept in assessment criteria; the high degree of transferability of skills, particularly research and composition skills. This combination can make for stimulating courses which provide a useful base for many types of work in later life and which compare favourably with other social science and humanities disciplines.