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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Degree in Journalism - anyone have one and was it worth it?

43 replies

Nunnery · 05/04/2021 16:54

DS is set on doing this degree course at a non Russell group Uni. Of course it’s entirely his choice but I do privately think it may be a waste of time and money. He just really interested and I don’t want to put him right off, he’s so keen.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:

therocinante · 05/04/2021 18:33

I'm a journalist (well, was til a couple of years ago), and I didn't do a journalism degree. None of the journos I know did - mostly English, History or Politics.

That doesn't mean having a degree in it is bad though, but it's not a good time to go into the industry - I'd encourage him to have a broader degree.

And YY to it being badly paid! Plus shit hours when you first start out.

Zarinea · 05/04/2021 19:01

I work surrounded by journalists and I'm married to one.

None of them have journalism degrees as far as I know - lots of English/ history / modern languages grads though.

And they are largely from the best respected unis.

mswales · 05/04/2021 19:05

I'm a journalist. NCTJ qualification is much more useful than journalism degree (and required to get a job on a regional paper) . Journalism masters at certain places is useful for contacts but also not necessary for a job. I did philosophy degree then the one year NCTJ course, but you can go straight into NCTJ at 18.

Gufo · 05/04/2021 19:32

I work with loads of Journalism grads - in marketing/PR/comms roles.

listsandbudgets · 05/04/2021 19:35

Its probably worth him taking a wider perspective.

I know various journalists. Taking 4 of them: One has a degree in history followed by a long spell in the army. One has a masters in business and then about 10 years experience working on the stock market..The third has a degree in Arabic the 4th has a background in politics.

Im not aware of any that have a journalism degree though presumably many do!!

It seems to me that a wider understanding of things is a great benefit in journalism which after all covers so many different topics.

veganmayo · 05/04/2021 19:50

My best friend has a journalism degree and has worked in loads of different kinds of writing jobs since graduating about 15 years ago, now freelance. I’m 99% sure she would say it was worth it when it comes to relevant employment.

OutnumberedNotOutdone · 05/04/2021 22:23

I’m a former newspaper journalist and did a politics degree followed by an NCTJ equivalent course. I had wanted to be a journalist for years but was advised not to do a journalism (or media studies) degree. None of my journalism colleagues did journalism at uni. I’m now in PR. I have recruited lots of PR officers over the years and media studies degrees seem to be more prevalent among candidates now than they were 10/15 years ago.

Onairjunkie · 05/04/2021 22:30

I do. And I have multiple postgrad degrees and qualifications. I adored journalism. I worked on national newspapers, radio, and tv. But it is hard, competitive and criminally underpaid. It’s genuinely pathetic money. I went freelance and it wasn’t much better. So I went down another slightly different route and I work for myself, am quite well known and so can command more money, but it isn’t really journalism anymore.

So if it’s his true calling and he loves it, as it was mine, and he doesn’t mind working nights, weekends, as well as all the days in between for fuck all, I’d say go for it.

Councilworker · 05/04/2021 22:31

Husband is a journalist on a regional title. Did a degree in sociology and then the PGCJ a few years later. His newsroom has gone through 4 rounds of cuts in 5 years. Of the journalists he worked alongside 10 years ago only 1 is still there. 2 managed to get into the BBC but only after 3 years of freelancing and now they too face job cuts. The pay and hours are dreadful for new reporters coming through and a degree in Journalism is not what most editors are looking for.

The other person I know who did a masters in Broadcast Journalism has never worked in it and is now a chartered accountant.

ButIcantsitonleather · 05/04/2021 22:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ronconcoke · 05/04/2021 22:49

I worked as a journalist for about 17 years having done a degree in modern languages and then a postgraduate NCTJ course at Cardiff Uni. I learnt absolutely loads on that course. However I got very disillusioned with journalism after a while and when redundancy came my way i went back to Uni and used my languages to do an MA in translation and am now a freelance translator and copy/content writer.

I would agree that journalism isn't a great career nowadays and still continues to be really badly paid. For my first job, as a junior reporter on a specialist newspaper, I was on £10k a year! That was 20 or so years ago now but it probably hasn't improved that much since!

I had one colleague along the way who had studied journalism as an undergraduate degree. Most of the rest hasn't even done a qualification in it, they just got in via work experience.

Bingomangoes · 05/04/2021 22:50

I have a journalism degree from a RG uni. I've never worked as a journalist. I work in communications and PR, probably wouldn't have got my first job without the journalism degree as my early career was all about working directly with local media. I didn't stay in touch with many people from my degree course but of the ones I did stay in touch with, no one is working as a journalist but many are very happy in marketing, comms and PR roles.

Cherryblossom7 · 05/04/2021 23:00

I know one person who has a Journalism degree from a non-RG- she has worked as a journalist and now works in PR- she's successful and well-paid so I wouldn't be too worried.

Hankunamatata · 06/04/2021 00:43

Many years ago - 15 plus. Friend was recommended to do an English degree instead of journalism degree. She now works for the mirror

Babyroobs · 06/04/2021 00:49

My DS1 is doing a sports journalism course and graduates this year. I did try to tell him it might have limited job opportunities but he was adamant it was the only course he wanted to do.

JackieWeaverHandforthCouncil · 06/04/2021 02:05

The only journalist I know works for a national title. She went to Oxford but didn’t study journalism. Her current pay is crap but her parents bought her a house so it’s not an issue.

Doing courses you love and enjoy which don’t lead to decent paying jobs is for rich people.

Maria53 · 06/04/2021 02:40

It all depends on the specific course, a PP provided a helpful checklist above.

I did a combined journalism degree with English lit and also now work in PR. I do occasionally write features for a magazine as it ties in with a special interest of mine.

I wouldnt recommend my course as it didn't offer placements and although the journalist that taught me was well known he liked the sound of his own voice a little too much to teach us anything really.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox · 06/04/2021 03:26

Doing courses you love and enjoy which don’t lead to decent paying jobs is for rich people
I agree there is a kind of “sell you a dream” element to courses in provincial Universities sometimes, young people get lured into these degrees with very low odds of success.

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