Skip to Content

Courses

Print or email this page: Print this page Email a Friend

 

Bachelor of Arts (Journalism)

N0515JOU  001763D



Duration

 Campus and Intake Show intake calendar

Fee*
3 Year/s Hawthorn (Semester 1, Semester 2) A$18,550 (annual for 2012) 
*The indicative course fees shown in Course Search apply to international students studying on-campus in Australia for the relevant year only. They are based on a standard study load per year. However, please note that fees are assessed according to a student's study load in each semester, and variation to study load will result in an adjustment to tuition fees. All fees are subject to annual review and may be adjusted.

Journalism is undergoing a profound paradigm shift brought on by new media, and the rise of citizen journalism and blogging. This course combines traditional journalistic skills with a range of new skills, including self-sufficient internet publishing, multimedia production skills and the skills involved in interacting with audiences, social networking and building online communities. This practice-based course also provides an understanding of the broad social, historical, legal and moral context of journalism.

Go to top

This is the journalism qualification for the future, at a time of rapid change in the media industry. This new program has been designed by leading professional journalists to combine traditional and new skills, to ensure you are fully equipped to work as a journalist now - and in the future.
 
You will learn conventional journalistic skills such as clear communication, research from primary sources, interview skills, media law and journalism ethics, and combine these with new media skills such as web publishing, use of social media, digital production and online community building.
 
Graduates will end the degree with a portfolio of work to show potential employers, and will have gained the hands-on skills and theoretical understanding to play an important part in the redefining of the journalist’s role in the new media age.

This course is also offered to Australian students through the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship Program. Successful applicants are awarded HECS waiver scholarships and will be funded for the duration of their course. For further information visit the Scholarships website.
 
Got a question about this course? Ask it here.

Back to Top


The Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to produce graduates who are able to contribute effectively and professionally to a dynamic global economy because they possess:
  • knowledge, conceptual understanding and expertise in specific areas of study in the humanities and social sciences
  • an understanding of the relationship between theory, research and practice
  • a capacity for critical analysis, creativity and problem solving
  • professional skills, including the ability to use modern technology
  • independent and lifelong learning skills
  • comprehensive written and oral communication skills
  • a strong sense of personal integrity and an appreciation of the role of ethics in private and public life
  • excellent problem-solving, teamwork and decision-making skills
The combined focus on generic skills and sound academic and professional knowledge within the Bachelor of Arts degree equips students well for a lifelong process of personal development. Students with these attributes are highly sought after by employers who increasingly seek people with well-developed generic skills, in addition to professional competencies. (See Employability Skills for the Future, Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002.)

Back to Top


This course will operate under a student workload model based on 100 credit points for a full-time academic year. One credit point is deemed to be equivalent to one hour of student work per week over a semester, whether in contact with staff or in private study. Four units of study, each worth 12.5 credit points, will generally be taken each semester. The typical student's average weekly workload during semester is therefore expected to be fifty hours. Total student contact hours, including lectures, classes, tutorials, flexible learning and laboratory and field sessions will be approximately 16 hours/week during academic semesters.

Students must complete 300 credit points, or 24 units of 12.5 credit points each. These units will include comprise of one Professional Major and two Minors as follows:
  • Journalism Professional Major, normally 16 units of 12.5 credit points each (200 credit points);
  • Arts Minor, 4 units of 12.5 credit points each (50 credit points); and
  • Minor of choice, 4 units of 12.5 credit points each (50 credit points)
Students may select the remaining minor (4 units) from a range of Minors that add depth or breadth to their degree. Students will also be expected to complete an additional unit in shorthand.
 
Additionally the following rules apply:
  • At enrolment students will be provided with recommended combinations of Faculty Minors. Any other combinations a student proposes will be subject to approval by the faculty;
  • the non-credit unit, HAC0001 Careers in the Curriculum, is compulsory;
  • two (2) Major Project units must be completed as part of the major studies sequence;
  • the same unit cannot be counted more than once. Where there are overlaps, the 300 credit points of study must be made up in the first instance by a Minor where 50 credit points is required, otherwise by free electives or Options Plus units;
  • students will normally not be permitted to successfully complete more than 26 units (325cps);
  • Professional Major co-ordinators have the authority to approve alternative units if required for students to complete in a timely fashion.
Careers in the Curriculum (CIC)
In addition to the above, students must complete a compulsory unit of study HAC0001 Careers in the Curriculum to be awarded the degree. Careers in the Curriculum (CIC) is an innovative unit designed to assist Swinburne students to enhance their employability and career prospects. It is usually undertaken in the second year of their course and is compulsory for all undergraduate students. Students studying CIC will not incur a HECS or fee debt as the cost will be met by the university as part of an initiative to enhance students' career skills.

Final Year Experience - Major Projects
As part of the Swinburne Model for Professional Learning, all incoming undergraduates will undertake 25 credit points of professionally focused final year major projects within their programs of study. Entry with advanced standing may require alternate study sequences to be undertaken.

Winter and Summer Term
This program also provides opportunities to undertake study in an optional six-week Winter and Summer term allowing you to complete extra study between the standard semesters. These terms are not mandatory. However, if you wish to vary your study load you may want to consider this option.

Electives Plus Minors
Electives Plus combinations provide Swinburne degree students with options to broaden their career skills and strengthen their employability by undertaking specially selected groups of units from outside their degree discipline.

For further information visit the Elective Plus website. Electives Plus Minors are available in all Swinburne degree programs subject to timetabling constraints, with the exception of double degree programs, specialist double major degrees, and where entry has been approved with advanced standing.

Options Plus
Students will have access to a small set of approved individual Options Plus units of study which provide either a distinctive learning experience or targeted study support. This could include optional study tours, an Intercultural Communications unit, and an ‘introduction to undergraduate research’ unit. In some cases, students may be advised or directed to take specially targeted Options Plus units, for example the Analysing and Writing English unit to be offered for credit in Winter Term for NESB students.

Students undertaking a full 300 cp program are allowed to substitute at least one Options Plus unit for one existing unit within their Co-Major– but not in their Professional Major. They will be advised by their Faculty on which unit(s) of the Co-Major.

In the case of students who enter with significant levels of advanced standing and whose program is therefore composed only of a Professional Major, the Faculty may approve a substitution, or else require the students to undertake the Options Plus unit in addition to their Major studies.

Back to Top


Journalism Professional Major
HAJM301 Investigative Journalism  (formerly known as Journalism Practice IV - Sources and Audiences)
  
Arts Minor
* Only students enrolled on the Journalism professional major can enrol in this unit 
** HAS111 Sociological Foundations can replace HAS112/HAS113 in the Arts Minor.
 
Students must also complete an additional nil credit point unit in Shorthand.

Back to Top


Professional Major
Where a student has completed the requirements of a Professional Major they are eligible to apply to graduate with the appropriate tagged degree outcome.
 
A Professional Major (200 credit points or 16 units of study) in Arts is designed to provide students with appropriate breadth and depth of knowledge in a particular field of study and provide suitable preparation for professional graduate employment. It may be based on a single, recognised discipline, or it may be inter-disciplinary in character.

The Journalism Professional Major includes study areas in journalism skills for print, online and broadcast media, ethics, media law, politics, web publishing and the history of media innovation.

Minors
A Minor (50 credit points or 4 units of study) is a set of units and can be taken from any discipline across the university, including Electives Plus Minors, timetabling permitting. Credit cannot be given for any minor which contains more than two units of study in common with any other minor, co-major or major a student is undertaking. Minors available in the Bachelor of Arts program include:
Sustainability Management Minor - 2010

Students also have the option to select their minors from another faculty, timetable permitting.

Back to Top


Swinburne offers International Exchange Programs as well as other Education Abroad Programs to help internationalise your degree. International Exchange is an academic program allowing you to study at a Swinburne Partner Institution for one or two semesters during your degree. Swinburne's Partner Institutions offer many relevant subjects as well as a secure base to explore a different culture. Your studies whilst on exchange can be credited towards your Swinburne degree, provided they are relevant and approved by Swinburne. For further information visit the Swinburne Abroad website.

Back to Top


Students will be suitable for employment in the areas of journalism, new media, publishing, media research, writing, communications, television, radio, multimedia content production, news agencies and magazines.

Back to Top


Students enrolled in the Journalism Professional Major may be eligible for student membership of the Melbourne Press Club.
 
Graduates who complete the Journalism Professional Major will be eligible to apply for membership of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).

Back to Top


Swinburne College English for Academic Purposes Advanced level certificate at the undergraduate level (EAP 5: UG-65% ); OR, Obtaining a minimum IELTS overall band of 6.0 (Academic Module) with no individual band below 6.0; OR, a TOEFL (Paper-based) minimum score of 550 (with Test of Written English (TWE) score of 5); OR, a TOEFL (Computer-based) minimum score of 213 (with Written Writing score of 5); OR, a TOEFL (Internet-based) minimum score of 80 with no band less than 20.

Refer to the English Language Requirements website for further information.

Back to Top


Phone: +613 8676 7002 (outside Australia)
Freecall 1800 897 973 (within Australia)

Back to Top


Visit our Meet Us page to see when we are visiting your home country (or here in Australia)

Back to Top


A range of scholarships are available to international students, visit our Scholarship Page for details.

Back to Top
 
Make an Enquiry
How to Apply
Accept Your Offer