When Louise Kehoe decided to change direction she choose the one-year MA in Journalism and Media Communications at Griffith College Dublin. She tells us about this challenging and exciting course.
Name: Louise Kehoe
Course: MA in Journalism and Media Communications
Institution: Griffith College Dublin
Why I chose this course
I chose this course because it is aimed at people who don’t have a journalism degree already. Initially, I hadn’t considered Griffith as an option for postgrad study. I thought it was a private and therefore expensive college. As it turned out, it’s roughly the same cost as most other masters courses. The course really appealed to me, as I had no prior journalism experience.
Hands-on learning
The classes are very small. The lecturers know who you are and it is also easy to get to know your classmates. The pace of learning is fast and a lot of it is very hands-on. Projects are generally carried out in groups. There’s also a good attitude in the class of helping each other out. Furthermore, there are opportunities to work on the college paper and radio station. This is great for extra experience as well as something to stick on the CV.
The course can seem pretty full on at times. A degree student has three or four years to learn and practice what we are expected to grasp in less than a year. Projects and assignments come hard and fast and it can feel a little like ‘sink or swim’ at times! So far we have had one news day, which involves being provided a news story, going out and researching it, and writing a report on it before a deadline; all on the one day! This was a highly enjoyable, if slightly nerve-wracking experience.
It really gave a feeling of what it would be like to be a real reporter. The future for me still seems quite unsure – at the moment I am concentrating on the many projects and assignments. I would like to get a bit more experience in the different media areas to see what I am best suited to. I would like to work in a few different areas, maybe as a freelance journalist, at the beginning of my career at least.
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