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Topic: How Good Is the London School Of Journalism
| Author | Message |
| jstar | Posted – 9/28/2006 3:48:20 AM | show profile Hi, I posted this yesterday, but got no feedback from anyone, I would really like to know please, how good the London School of Journalism is. Thanx. |
| *E* | Posted – 9/28/2006 3:52:41 PM | show profile I went there and have quite a lot to say about it! Can you post your email address? |
| *E* | Posted – 9/28/2006 4:13:38 PM | show profile Actually, I guess I can just post it here... I did the six-month postgraduate diploma, and in some respects the experience was appallingly bad. The program basically consisted of a series of disparate lectures, all very broad in scope (say, 'Radio Journalism' or 'Editorial Management'). They were taught by a group of lecturers who were mostly very accomplished in the field, but because they only came in for one lecture at a time there was hardly any continuity to the course. These lectures tended to be very...introductory, and the teaching style was uneven: some of these teachers were better than others, but as a whole they were teaching on the side and didn't seem to be significantly invested in the course. When I finished the course I didn't feel that I had picked up anything that I could have have learned by reading, say, a book about the basics of journalism. That said, it's an economical program for American postgrads (I think it's the only PG journalism program that charges the same rate for EU and non-EU students; when I was there 2 years ago, it cost £3K for everyone). And a big bonus, of course, is the opportunity to live in London; if you're really interested in pursuing a journalism career there are some really high-quality publications to do work experience at and/or be inspired by. (If you do the part-time program, you can do an internship and/or work on the side.) Another good thing about the course is that you'll be assigned a personal tutor who you can go to for career advice. Overall, though, if you want a rigorous training course in London the one at City University is excellent. |
| *E* | Posted – 9/28/2006 4:16:12 PM | show profile (typo) Sorry, the following sentence should read: "I didn't feel that I had picked up anything that I could NOT have have learned by reading, say, a book about the basics of journalism." |
| clare04 | Posted – 9/28/2006 5:53:04 PM | show profile city I am a City University MA graduate and can strongly attest for their brilliant and very tough journalism program. |
| randomroomie | Posted – 9/28/2006 7:27:27 PM | show profile | email poster Claire: Wait, didn't the CUNY journalism Master's program just start this year? |
| gofer | Posted – 9/29/2006 12:44:33 AM | show profile I also looked into this program--but mostly b/c it would give me an excuse to live in London for a year. So are American students able to find internships at British publications quite easily? |
| Brin | Posted – 9/29/2006 3:23:45 AM | show profile randomroomie, I believe they meant City University of London not CUNY in New York. |
| LisaG | Posted – 9/29/2006 7:20:07 AM | show profile University of Westminster The University of Westminster offers a PG diploma in Journalism. It's an excellent school and its cheaper that City University. They have a high success rate too. |
| Metro Writer | Posted – 9/29/2006 11:26:15 AM | show profile Recently I attended a regional conference of the Society of Professional Journalists. There was a rep from the CUNY school, but someone else who works for a newspaper said that he thinks grad school is only for learning what you didn't learn in undergrad. The problem is not with the schools, but with the corporate culture at newspapers. It's all about canibalizing people. Many newspapers just buy wire stories so they can lay off more people. Connecticut papers get lots of stories of what's going on in the Midwest, and then the publishers wring their hands about readership. Duh! The TV news people agonize that they're not getting viewers because people get their news from the Internet. I'll bet that every website manager and owner worry that not enough people are reading their site. The bottom line: don't invest too much in your training because you may not earn enough anywhere to justify it. Besides, London is a great city, but it's very, very expensive to live there. |
| jstar | Posted – 10/4/2006 4:35:37 AM | show profile Thanks for the info on London School of Journalism Hello, I am so glad u all reponded with this much information, it really does mean a lot to me. To be honest, i waited all day for a feedback,didn't get one , then i just tuned off mediabistro till today so I'm sorry I'm just sending my reply. Well, from all the replies, I gather it's not really worth it afterall. Interesting! I might just have to make alternate plans, might even try the PGd in University of Westminster. However,I would really like to start a programme in Journalism in January next year(I will be relocating from Africa to further my studies),please can anyone recommend a good school for me in London or in America which is not too expensive and which I can use to get a good job after it all. Thanx a lot *E*, clare 04, gofer, Brin, LisaG and newsandfeatures, y'all have been of great help. Regards, jstar |
| shanonsan | Posted – 11/7/2006 2:32:13 PM | show profile London School of Journalism Actually I thought the LSJ was quite good. I went also to NYU and thought it was much worse than LSJ's program. I thought the tutors were excellent at LSJ and although I have to agree about some of the lectures, (very inconsistent) all in all I thought it was a good program and well worth the money. |
