Five reasons why a journalism degree is useful — even if you don’t go into journalism post-grad

Whether you’re a high schooler contemplating whether to throw your hat in the ring and apply to Carleton’s j-school, or a fourth year student figuring out what you wish to do with your life after graduation, there’s one thought most journalism students can agree crosses their minds at some point in their lives — why did I think this was a good idea?

It’s no secret that it’s now more difficult than ever to break into the journalism industry. With encroachment of media and tech giants from the U.S., to the increased distrust the public seems to have in mainstream media, the employment landscape looks rather bleak across the nation. On the other hand, while major newspapers and media organizations continue with layoff after layoff (particularly of journalists in the culture, entertainment, and lifestyle beats), digital media startups and independent publications may be the saving grace of Canadian journalism.

Nonetheless, whether you decide to dive head-first into the industry after university or take a bit of time to decide whether it’s really for you, pursuing a degree in journalism is useful on all fronts. In fact, I’ve even come up with five reasons why a journalism degree may just help you with whatever ambitions you may have, even if they don’t all necessarily have to do with being the next Peter Mansbridge.

1. Good writing is a skill everyone wants, but few people have.

If there’s one thing you’ll be doing a lot throughout your journalism degree, it’s writing. Whether it be writing actual articles, writing scripts for audio or video pieces, or writing pitches or email requests to sources, you’ll learn (through critique and practice) how to hone your writing skills for all kinds of projects. Journalism will give you the opportunity to learn how to write everything from 3000-word, long-form features, to short, 250-word news briefs — both of which apply to a variety of careers.

Though this may seem like an obvious benefit to the degree (and many others like it), what makes journalism unique is the fact that you’re taught how to write concisely and simply for a wide-ranging audience. It’s imperative that all Canadians be able to understand and follow our reporting, and considering nearly half of our adult population struggles with literacy, communicators who have learnt how to cater to those who may not have had the chance to learn how to read or write at an academic level is extremely important.

2. You’ll learn how to deal and work with all kinds of people.

It probably comes as no surprise that obtaining a journalism degree requires a great deal of working with people. Each assignment you’ll submit will generally require at least three interviews from three different people, and don’t even get me started on the number of group assignments you’ll take part in over the course of four years. Both of these things provide a unique opportunity to learn how to work with people in difficult situations. 

That might mean learning how to be comfortable with repeatedly contacting a needed source for an interview, asking people invasive and perhaps even controversial questions, forcibly taking the lead on a project while on a tight deadline, or delivering/receiving a generous amount of constructive criticism regarding group contributions. By virtue of the discipline, journalism will teach you how to interact with individuals from all walks of life — not only because you’ll be writing articles on a variety of subjects you might have never even thought about before, but also because the industry tends to attract quite a colourful crowd of individuals. Learning to navigate similarities and differences in a professional way while working so closely with others is a skill that applies to many careers, but is especially relevant to succeeding in journalism.

3. If you don’t already have a good work ethic and time management skills, journalism will force you to develop them.

Journalism is all about producing top-quality work on extremely tight deadlines, which means there’s generally very little time for fooling around. People who already have good drive and motivation for work will be able to consistently put that skill to good use throughout the course of their journalism degree — and for those who might not be as developed in that area … well, you’ll get there.

Putting together the average story — one photo, 500 words, and a multimedia element — may not seem that complicated, but you’d be surprised at the number of complications that can arise. Sources not getting back to you, sources ghosting, your recorder malfunctioning, your camera not focusing throughout the course of filming (and you not realizing until the editing stage), etc. are all things most journalism students have encountered at some point during their degree, and are generally things that can only be mediated by one thing — more time. 

Having the drive and work ethic to start your assignments early (or dedicate a significant amount of time to them within a short timeframe) is extremely important to succeed in this degree, because it is almost inevitable something will go wrong. This drive and ability to manage your time transfer well to other careers, and will be extremely appreciated by employers in similar fast-paced sectors.

4. You’ll have a way to demonstrate your creativity to employers.

Though sometimes overlooked, creativity is an extremely useful skill in a variety of industries, from communications, to marketing, to policy making, etc. Being able to think outside the box and come up with new and interesting ways to approach a problem, propose an idea to a client, or foster office camaraderie are all related to one’s creative abilities, and nothing fosters creative thinking better than spending four years having to consistently come up with unique avenues of reporting.

Not only will you be able to hone your creativity while in journalism school, you’ll also have proof of doing so after — your portfolio! Though creative writing, audio/video editing, and infographic-making may not directly apply to every discipline, using your portfolio as a jumping-off point in cover letters/job interviews to demonstrate how you creatively approached topics from new angles, or solved problems related to group work or sources is definitely a plus of having spent four years studying journalism.

5. This isn’t just any journalism degree— it’s a Carleton journalism degree.

As a result of being Canada’s oldest journalism school, a Carleton journalism degree carries with it a certain reputation and prestige few degrees provide. Tell almost anyone in Ottawa that you’re studying journalism at Carleton, and they’ll generally be impressed. People know that completing four years’ worth of j-school at Carleton is extremely difficult, because the degree itself is tough. I’ve even had former-j-schoolers-turned-law-students tell me the workload of the program is similar to getting a JD!

So whether you’re looking for a job in journalism, law, medicine, the federal public service, or industry, just know that most people in Canada will assume the best of Carleton journalism graduates — and the above-mentioned skills will likely be a given.

By Pascale Malenfant, President (2021-22)