Journalism
Qualifications
Overview
News media continue to expand into multiple different forms of reporting, storytelling, and media platforms, and there is a growing need for graduates with multimedia skills to handle the demand, as well as keep up to date with technologies, audience needs, and media ethics in the developing, fast-moving digital media space. We aim to produce highly competent and multi-skilled professionals who think critically about their work and care about standards.
This major sits within the Bachelor of Communication and offers applied practice in journalism and media production. You will receive intensive training in media ethics and law, newsgathering and writing, research and analysis. You will also develop a range of multimedia skills, including photography, video, audio, and social and online media production.
Journalism students will also have opportunities to complete professional internships as part of their degree, through UC’s partnerships with national and local newsrooms, and other media industries.
- UC’s renowned Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism programme has produced graduates found in newsrooms throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, many of whom are recipients of national awards in news reporting, editorials, and overseas documentary films.
- The Journalism major has a strong emphasis on practical learning, with students producing content for different media platforms and outlets, and courses in third year offering professional internships.
- UC maintains a close relationship with the profession through our many guest lecturers, including leading editors, award-winning senior journalists, and Wolfson Press Fellows.
- UC also maintains relationships with international partners in journalism and media studies. Some examples include fellows from Cardiff University, Lumsa University (Rome), Columbia Journalism School, University of Montana, and the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
- This flexible degree allows students to take elective courses that will further shape their journalism skills, for example in languages, politics, and data sciences.
Entry to the Journalism major is limited to 25 places, and entry to the second year of the major requires a special application. Contact the Department of Media and Communication | Te Tari Mātai Pāpāho for more information.
Journalism is open to all students and no previous study is required. However, a strong interest in news and current affairs, and a good standard of oral and written English is important.
Students will take 165 points of compulsory courses for the Bachelor of Communication throughout their degree.
Courses towards the Journalism major begin in your second year, and offer applied practice in the journalism skills of research, reporting, interviewing, and analysis, and apply them to a variety of writing styles and subjects, as well as multimedia and digital technologies including television and radio:
Year 2
- COMS 232 Risk and Crisis Communication (offered in 2020 – this course will cover detailed planning of communications in situations of disaster, company reputation, health and safety, and other types of risk. This includes skills in public relations, data analysis, and crafting of public messaging.)
- COMS 233 Media Law (offered in 2020 – this course gives a detailed overview of legal reporting in Aotearoa New Zealand, such as ethical and regulatory requirements, industry journalism standards, and practical experience in courtroom reporting.)
Year 3
- COMS 331 Researching and Reporting News (offered in 2021 – this course offers foundational skills in news production, interviewing, data research, and presentation. This also includes fieldwork and internship opportunities.)
- COMS 332 News Production (offered in 2021 – this course will further develop skills in news production, as well as critical reflection on ethics and news industry practice. Fieldwork and internship opportunities are also a key part of this course.)
The other points are made up of optional courses from the Bachelor of Arts Schedule B (at least 30 points) and optional courses from any bachelor’s degrees at UC.
Students may find taking courses in Sociology, Political Science and International Relations, Statistics, Māori and Indigenous Studies, and Te Reo Māori alongside their Journalism studies particularly useful.
Journalism graduates will be well prepared for work in modern newsrooms, both in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas, due to their extensive multimedia skills and ability to independently investigate and report news for online newsroom platforms, television, radio, and newspapers.
Graduates will also be suited to work in other roles in the communication and creative industries, such as a communications advisor/manager, producer, social media manager, content creator, editor, or publisher.
Find out more about what you can do with a degree from UC.
Contact us
School of Language, Social and Political Sciences
Phone +64 3 369 3377
Email artsdegreeadvice@canterbury.ac.nz
Location
6th Floor, Locke Building – see campus maps
Postal address
College of Arts | Te Rāngai Toi Tangata
University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
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