Sunday February 6, 2005

Earning a Masters while reporting

BY S. INDRAMALAR

Keep your job, work on your Masters at your convenience and maybe even win a scholarship. The Konrad Adenauer Centre for Journalism (CFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University offers all these options and more. S. INDRAMALAR looks at how the centre promotes an Asian perspective to reporting, with students taught by a global faculty.

Finding a graduate programme that matches all your needs can prove a challenging task. Apart from the strength and relevance of the curriculum, factors that have to be considered include the cost of the programme as well as convenience of its delivery.

This is especially so for journalists who work irregular hours, making it almost impossible for them to enrol in a programme that has a fixed class schedule.

The graduate programme in journalism offered by the Konrad Adenauer Centre for Journalism (CFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines, however, may well be the answer for those who want to be out on the field while upgrading their skills at the same time.

Dr Valdez: We want to create a network of Asian journalists to discuss issues from an Asian perspective.

Not only is the Master of Arts in Journalism programme affordable, it is delivered almost entirely online to suit the hectic work schedules of journalists. It boasts a faculty comprising academics and renowned journalists from all over the globe.

Another piece of good news is that the centre offers fellowships to journalists from Asia and the Pacific Islands who have already been admitted into the programme. The fellowship grant covers tuition fees, international or domestic airfare as well as living and book allowances. Fifteen fellowships are awarded each year.

The programme is aimed at Asian journalists – to address their needs, particularly those from emerging democracies like Laos, Indonesia and Cambodia and to create a network of Asian journalists to encourage dialogue and the exchange of news.

“In this age of globalisation, journalists often have to deal with many cross border issues. It would be good for journalists in our region to have a network of fellow Asian journalists to discuss issues and exchange news from an Asian perspective.

“We also want to raise the standards of professional journalism, to ensure balanced and accurate reporting. For example, reporters in Philippines tend to be very vocal and garrulous. While this is good, they must be aware also of the need to be critical, balanced and accurate,” says Dr Violet Valdez, director of CFJ.

The centre for journalism was set up in June 2000 amidst tumultuous regional circumstances such as the Sipadan Island (of the coast of Sabah) hostage situation.

“These situations raised questions about journalism practices ? whether the reporting of the issue, as well as other issues at the time was done ethically, objectively and so on.

“We latched on to these and they became the ideals around which we built the centre,” says Dr Valdez.

The centre started offering online certificate courses in areas like editorial and opinion writing, copyediting, media ethics, media and politics, creative writing, newsroom management and online journalism. These six-month courses were for journalists to hone their skills in specific areas.

By 2003, the positive response to the short courses led the centre to embark on the Master of Arts in Journalism programme which, in less than two years, has seen increased interest among journalists in the region.

“We had eight students for the first intake of our Masters programme and we now have 42. Meanwhile, we have about 182 people taking certificate courses, which are conducted online.

“The programme is evolving and the number of applicants is increasing every day,” says Dr Valdez.

Practical and convenient

Because it is targeted at working journalists and editors, the most important factor in the programme delivery is convenience and reliability. As such, the programme combines traditional and non-traditional modes of instruction – with most of the courses conducted via interactive online teaching methods.

Journalists in the programme have to take 12 subjects, or 36 units, that cover foundational courses such as Media and Ethics and Advanced Reporting and Writing as well as specialised journalism courses such as Online Journalism and Investigative and Business Journalism.

“We have tried to make this programme ideal for working journalists who don’t want to leave their jobs to pursue a graduate degree. As such, we decided to tap the potential of new media and technology resulting in our online degree programme where journalists all over the region can attend virtual 'lectures' and discussions with lecturers and course mates through an e-learning system,” explains Dr Valdez.

The learning system used is called Web CT or Web Course Tools, an instructor led system that is based on the worldwide web. It was originally developed at the University of British Columbia and is presently used by close to 3,000 universities and colleges worldwide.

The system is popular primarily because it offers tools for online learning in a variety of ways – from structured learning to interactive virtual lessons. The tools WebCT offers include those for communication (calendar, chat facility, whiteboard for messages, discussions and private e-mail), assessment and evaluation (assignment drop-boxes, online quizzes and surveys, self-tests and grading systems), content delivery (course notes systems, syllabus, glossary, references, links and index) and student needs (homepages, presentations, tips, progress tracking, etc).

In addition, Web CT is an extremely user-friendly system as students and instructors don’t need any specialist skills, merely access to the Internet and knowledge of some online-learning concepts.

Global students and staff

A big plus point of the online learning system is that it allows the centre to tap into an international resource of faculty as well as students.

As such, the Masters programme has a faculty comprising experts from the Philippines, Australia, the United States, India and the United Kingdom. Students, on the other hand, hail from countries such as India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and even the Republic of Vanuatu although about 50% of the enrolment is from the Philippines.

“The faculty comprises academics and practitioners in journalism. One of our requirements is that they must be experienced lecturers as not all journalists can teach well.

“We also made it a point to get teachers from the region because of the ‘regional’ aim of the programme and the centre,” explains Dr Valdez.

Among the faculty for the Masters programme are Prof Luis V. Teodoro, a professor of journalism at the University of Philippines who was formerly editor of the Philippine Journalism Review and a regular columnist for the Philippine daily Today, ABS-CBN News Online, among others.

Others include Dr Eric Loo, a Malaysian who is currently head of postgraduate studies at the University of Wollongong, Australia’s School of Journalism and Creative Writing; and Chay Hofilena, programme director for the Masters programme at CFJ and formerly a writer for various Philippine dailies such as the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Manila Times.

Also on the staff are Americans Dr Elliot King and Dr Randolf Riddick who, among other accomplishments, co-wrote the book The Online Journalist which examines the impact of the Internet on journalism.

While the centre’s certificate programmes are conducted entirely online, the Masters programme requires students to spend a short period of time at the Ateneo de Manila university campus for face-to-face sessions.

“Masters students must take 12 courses of which three are core courses that are hybrid in nature as they combine online instruction and face-to-face sessions. For this, students will have to spend two weeks in Ateneo.

Apart from these core courses, students have to take six journalism related courses, which are conducted entirely online.

“Students will have to take three non-journalism related courses which are conducted on campus. For these, students have to come to Ateneo again for six weeks in the summer,” says Dr Valdez.

Affordable fees

A criterion for entry into the programme is a strong undergraduate degree from a university or college of good standing, especially in areas such as journalism, mass communication and literature.

The applicant must also obtain “acceptable ratings” in a psychological and educational assessment administered by Ateneo as well as a favourable evaluation by the Masters programme director through a telephone interview.

Non-Filipino students must take the Test of English as Foreign Language and mail the results to the university’s office of graduate studies.

The tuition fees for the entire programme is a very reasonable US$2,000 (RM7,600), although additional costs of flight to the Philippines for the two face-to-face components could add up, says Dr Valdez.

Fellowships are awarded to journalists that comply with the following criteria – full-time staff of a news media organisation, university or training institute with at least two years experience in the news media, preferably print media; excellent performance at undergraduate level; good English proficiency and a certification of good health.

“We want to encourage young journalists who have the potential for leadership. Apart from requiring them to send past articles, we also require a recommendation from a superior at their news organisation stating that they are holding a position of responsibility, committed to the profession and have the ability to mentor other journalists.

“We also conduct telephone interviews and speak to their supervisors,” said Dr Valdez.

The CFJ Masters programme has received positive feedback from both students and faculty.

“Students tell us that they use what they have learnt from the course to manoeuvre around ethical dilemmas in carrying out their duties.

“Also the networking that takes place between students is just amazing. It has opened up new opportunities for journalists in the region,” says Dr Valdez with some satisfaction.

For more information on the programme and CFJ, log onto cfj.ateneo.edu or email newsroom@admu.edu.ph

News Poll

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs

Latest from StarProperty