EARLY INTEREST IN JOURNALISM COURSE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31776, 5 September 1968, Page 18

EARLY INTEREST IN JOURNALISM COURSE

About 20 inquiries have already been made about the new post-graduate diploma course in journalism which will begin at the University of Canterbury next year. It is the first of its kind in New Zealand. Interest is almost equally divided between the North Island and the South Island, and there has been one inquiry from Malaysia. The senior lecturer in journalism (Mr J. V. Williams), who has been preparing the course all this year, said that emphasis would be in the reporting of politics, foreign affairs, other specialised fields, and on interpretive, feature, and leading articles.

A number of journalist graduates wish to take the course extra-murally, Mr Williams said, but it would be full time, involving up to 15 hours of lectures a week plus seminars, tutorials, and other discussions. Inquiries were almost wholly from newspaper and broadcasting journalists of some experience and recent graduates who hoped to enter journalism. “Primarily Vocational” “I regard this as primarily a vocational course,” said Mr Williams, when asked about earlier suggestions that it would cover communication generally and interest, perhaps, managers, clergy-

men, politicians, and others dealing with large audiences.

Mr Williams said that journalism in all its fields was wide enough to start with. It was hoped that the diploma would be recognised as a mark of deeper education and thought. The New Zealand Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, the two Christchurch newspapers, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, and the New Zealand Journalists’ Association had recognised the need by financial support, said Mr Williams, and the Education Department had approved the course for bursary purposes. However, as yet, there were no firm undertakings about preference in employment for diploma holders. It was hoped this would come in time.

“We will try to produce expert journalists who are capable of interpreting experts in other fields to the lay public,” Mr Williams said. “A science graduate, who wants to write, can act as a middleman between professional scientists and the lay reader.” Mr Williams will take lectures on the principles and practices of journalism and the role of the press, and lecturers from the departments of law, history, political science, economics, and sociology will speak on these aspects.