The Degree Of Doubt

Journalism students often wonder if there will be a job waiting for them after they have finished their degree. With the mainstream media shedding jobs, but universities increasing their number of journalism students, where will these fresh-faced journalists find work?

“At the moment, its journalism or nothing”, says Sally Krajacic who aspires to be a travel journalist. “Travel is something I love to do and making a profession out of it to document some of the beautiful places the world has to offer is my dream!”. As much as she would love to do travel journalism, she is very aware that there are limited jobs on offer, mostly because the majority of hosts are celebrities for example Jennifer Hawkins on Getaway, for rating reasons. Sally suggests that there are a lack of jobs in the journalism industry because “the definition of journalism is becoming a sort of thing anyone can do and I think jobs are going because access to online forms of media can damage a journalist getting stories” Although she does not have a back up plan if she misses out on doing travel journalism, she would take advertising into consideration.

“People will still write, and people will still evaluate, enjoy, criticise, commentate. Hopefully those that are the best will still be able to earn a good living, and won’t be swamped by the trashy bottom end storytellers”, says Brian Wilcock. Although Brian doesn’t think he will be a journalist, he wishes to write blogs and feature articles. “But when news and comment can be sourced cheaply or for free, why pay?”, Brian says when asked why he thinks there are a lack of jobs in journalism. “Backup plan? Maybe I’ll go on the pension when I finish this course!”, Brian isn’t worried about missing out on a job in the journalism industry, he also has worked as a travel agent, manager and trainer for 24 years so he has a field of endeavour to work from.

“My fears would probably be the money and lack of jobs… Im not sure how id get into it, or if ill be successful… I think because its such a niche industry”. Emily Bradwell aspires to be an online fashion journalist as she loves fashion and talking about it, giving different tips and ideas to the public. Although she does not know why there are a lack of jobs in the industry, she is worries that she will be unsuccessful and be without a job in her preferred field of expertise.

News Ltd, Fairfax and the ABC, which used to employ large numbers of students, now take very few. Peter Fray, a former editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and now a media lecturer at the University of Sydney, says although graduates with journalism skills are still in demand, they are more likely to work creating content for health funds or banks. Dylan Crismale believes the reason why there is a decrease in jobs is because “everything is moving online, its the digital age. Everything is online and because there is so much room for collaboration online you can work with a smaller number of Journalists”.

 

Wanderlust

Wanderlust is the strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world. Claudia Poposki is planning to travel to the UK, France, Italy and Spain early next year. After visiting Scotland and France on a school trip, Claudia has been dreaming to pack her bags again and explore new countries.

“I also want to travel because I want to be a writer, and apparently all writers must have enough knowledge and experience by the time they are 20, and I feel like I haven’t experienced much at all”, Claudia explains. “I only have 2 more years till I am 20, so I am going to try and travel as much as I can”. I asked Claudia who she was travelling with, and much to my surprise she said “no one”. She said she would rather go overseas by herself because she can do her own thing and doesn’t have to wait around for any body. “Most of my friends like the shopping part of travelling, but I prefer to sight see – I’m not going to spend my time in a foreign country in a shopping centre, I actually want to experience the country”.

Saving money can be an issue for any University student, but Claudia seems to have it under control. “I have a part time job at a shoe shop, so I try to save as much money as I can!” Claudia aims to save approximately $10,000 before she goes away to pay for any expenses she may need when travelling, but hopes she doesn’t need to spend that much either. “Every week I try to put away as much as I can, in the last 2 weeks I’ve put away $400”. “I have a lot of family in the UK, so hopefully I can stay there and not have to pay for accommodation!”

Going into her second year of Uni next year, I asked Claudia why she decided she wants to travel now, she responded with “A lot of my friends are doing exchange over the next 2 years because their Uni course requires them to do so, and I was complaining to my mum that i would be alone next year so she just said “Go travel then! Just go for it!” and thats when I decided to start looking into my trip”.

Having already been to France, Claudia felt like she didn’t see enough of the country on her school trip, hence why she wants to visit again. “It was hard being with a group of people and constantly being supervised, as I didn’t get to do a lot of the things I wanted to do”. Claudia studied French for 5 years at high school, and she wants to visit France again to be able to enjoy the culture more thoroughly and put her French speaking skills to the test!

“I feel like I haven’t experienced much at all, and so I feel like travelling is the best way to gain experience in life”. Claudia is anxious but excited to go on her overseas journey next year for 5 weeks, but the main thing she wants to bring home from her travels is some life experience and confidence.

Time To Say Goodbye To Free Online News

It was nice while it lasted, but now its time to say goodbye to the era of free news content on the web. Hit hard by the recession, newspapers and other news outlets have no choice but to start charging readers to use their websites.

Billionaire media mogul, Rupert Murdoch said recently that he will start charging online users for access to News Corporation’s newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a “malfunctioning” business model. Murdoch was encouraged by booming online subscription revenues at the Wall Street Journal, and said that papers were gong through an “epochal” depute over whether to charge. When asked whether he envisaged fees at his British papers such as the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World, he said he was looking into it. Taking questions on a conference call with reporters and analysts, Murdoch added “The current days of the internet will soon be over.”

Fairfax Media is also preparing to charge for online access to their websites. Fairfax is considering two levels of access, one free and the other incurring a charge as newspapers move to protect a downturn in the revenues. Between Fairfax and News Ltd, they own all but one of Australia’s metropolitan dailies, most of the suburban and regional papers, and websites that in total claim more than 10 million browsers a month.

While newspaper websites carry advertising, they do not finance the news content, most of which comes from the papers. The decision to make readers pay for online news is a huge risk for both publishers, as they are gambling on readers being prepared to pay for news they had been receiving for free in the past – and on sources such as the ABC, news will remain free.

 

Can Online Journalism Replace Print Media?

Newspapers are in trouble. Circulation is decreasing, ad revenue is shrinking, and the journalism industry has experienced an remarkable wave of layoffs and cutbacks. So what does the future hold? With the major decline of newspapers, online journalism seems to be the future of the news business. But can online journalism really take over from newspapers?

Online journalism encompasses a whole range of different sites, including; newspaper websites, independent news websites, hyper-local news sites, citizen journalism sites and blogs. With print journalism seemingly “dying”, more and more people are asking whether online journalism can totally replace newspapers. The short answer is, not yet. Aside from the newspaper websites, which are an extension of the newspapers themselves, very few of these other online news entities can contend with newspapers in terms of the breadth and scope of their coverage.

As newspapers die, blogs multiply. Which leaves people asking, can blogs and bloggers replace professional journalists and newspapers? The answer is no. Blogs can’t replace newspapers or news websites, but what they can do is supplement the work of reporters. And thats where citizen journalism comes in.

The problem with reporting news through online sites is money. Most online news sites don’t have enough money from advertising to hire a newsroom full of professional reporters which leaves companies to rely on graduate journalism students or interns who will work for less money. Online news websites seem to be multiplying, making the newspapers look like an endangered species. And if online journalism sites can find a way to make enough money to allow them to fill newsrooms with experienced reporters and editors – they may eventually replace print media.

 

The other side of Uni…

Catch up with friends at the UniBar in between classes

Some people perceive University to be totally serious and to be stuck in a lecture theatre for 10 hours a day, they obviously haven’t been to Wollongong Uni. The UniBar is a place to relax and catch up with friends after Uni, during Uni, or even before Uni. As well as completing a degree, University life is a great way to meet new people, join clubs and of course enjoy all of the exciting events that are put on every week at the UniBar.

Dodge the Ducks

Lunch with the ducks

Any place other than UOW, its not every day you see students get attacked by ducks when eating their lunch. Since being a student at UOW, i have embraced the wildlife and made a note to never get out a sandwich within a 50 metre radius of the duck pond. In this photograph, I have captured the moment of students Sally and Claudia just after they have finished their journalism interview and decided to get out their lunch – which they did not get to eat. Bad mistake.

What would you do if your house caught on fire?

What would you do if your house caught on fire? Would you run straight out the door or stay behind to collect your valuable items? What if you could only save 3 items? After thinking it through thoroughly, UOW students came up with their 3 most important items they would save if their house caught on fire.

Getting in touch with your inner animal

A question most people don’t think about every day is “If you were an animal, what animal would you be?”. Would you be a lion – the king of the jungle? Would you be a mouse – as quiet as can be? Or would you be a bird so you can fly? In this video i asked the students of UOW what animal they would like to be and why.

Looking into the future

 

Many students at Wollongong University (or any University!) have no idea what they would like to do in the future. I interviewed first year Journalism and Communication and Media Studies student, Veronica Cremen and asked her about what she would like to do in the future.

Small Girl, Big Uni

Ashleigh Field, 18. Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies – Deans Scholar.

For many, University is a huge leap from High School.  First year student, Ashleigh Field is feeling mixed emotions about starting University. During her first few weeks at Uni, it has been overwhelming but yet she is thrilled to take on a new experience. Ashleigh explains “I’m not completely defined on what I want out of life career-wise yet, but I am hoping that this Uni degree will have me doing practical things and take me exciting places because the thought of working in an office every day physically makes me anxious”.