Diploma in Journalism – September 2021

Journalism is more than a job. It is a passion, a life, a life’s work of engaging with the world. Journalists are not mere ‘processors of information’. They are also observers, interpreters, analysts, writers – and occasionally are called upon to be philosophers and poets as well! Reporting reality means more than just regurgitating someone else’s words or perspectives. It means giving the reader an insight into the event, person or phenomenon through the only eyes, ears and emotional apparatus that is available to you – your own. This means placing yourself at the centre of the story, issue or situation, even if you never actually use the word “I” or “me”. The great journalists have in common the understanding that there is no such thing as “objectivity”, that the world is best understood by the human head and heart, and that the subjective position before reality is the one that other people are most interested in. The best journalists are those who leave aside bogus notions of detachment and become protagonists in the things they write about.

If you are interested in learning how to become a newspaper columnist, how to develop a print persona, how to translate your engagement with the world into great copy, how to develop your ideas and make them live on the page, this course is for you. If you would like to know about the politics and ideologies of journalism, and how to protect your unique perspective in a context that is often
hostile to difference and dissent, then look no further.

The Diploma in Journalism syllabus includes the following modules;

• Introduction to Journalism/Ways of getting started
• The Importance of a Passionate engagement with reality
• Developing a distinctive subjectivity
• Translating your perspectives into a creative journalism
• The different media disciplines: news reporting, feature writing,Broadcast journalism
• Use of language and writing style
• Interviewing techniques
• The importance of thinking for yourself and generating original ideas
• Great Journalism, Great Journalists: the importance of avoiding the obvious
• Staying within the law
• How to win the Web for good writing
• Writing journalistic books
• Creating an alternative journalism for a new Ireland