DOI: 10.5176/2301-3710_JMComm15.60
Authors: Michael Bromley
Abstract: Journalism in the UK straddles the divide between high- and middle-skilled employment. Since the 1970s those determined to be middle-skilled have been vulnerable to increasing difficulty in finding employment, deepening insecurity of employment and limited opportunities for advancement as work has been routinized and off-shored. This is especially so for young people. Moreover, journalism is also a short-term career. However, at the same time, journalism has significantly upskilled through graduatisation, and currently the most favoured route into journalism is through a postgraduate taught (PGT) qualification, such as a Master’s degree. This study examines the career experiences of 889 alumni of a PGT newspaper journalism course and maps them to employment trends. It is argued that the socially responsible approach is to prepare alumni for life during and after journalism through the development of their employability while they are students, rather than focusing on their immediate employment prospects.
Keywords: education; employment; employability; graduatisation; journalism; labour marketfc
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