Launch of new MA, International Journalism

World-renowned journalists, media executives and students gathered at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences to discuss International Journalism in the 21st Century.  The event which was held to mark the launch of the new International Journalism MA, saw the discussion opened with Jonathan Charles, presenter of BBC World News and foreign correspondent of two decades experience, insisting that there was no substitute for sound analysis of international events: “telling it like it is, and why it matters."

He made a plea for news organizations to keep “boots on the ground” around the globe in order to explain a world which is getting smaller, and where apparently isolated events can have an effect far beyond the region where they happen.

Jeremy Dear, the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, started with a warning that the targeting of reporters had “soared over the past decade”, but went on to describe the inspiration provided by figures such as Charles Atangana, who has written extensively about  corruption in Cameroon despite great threats to his personal safety.

Natalie Fenton, Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmith’s College, echoed some of Jonathan Charles’ concerns when she suggested that news journalism was becoming “more akin to creative cannibalization” as reporters “found themselves talking less and less to news sources”.

Clive Jones - a journalist and television executive who is also Chair of the University’s board of governors - began with a picture of a now vanished world in which journalists started each assignment by looking for a phone box. He went on to describe today as an age of “ambient news”, in which regional and local newspapers were closing.

Much of the discussion which followed the presentations focused on funding: how could quality journalism remain economically viable? The panel seemed to agree that new models would emerge to satisfy the need for news in a world which feels as if it’s getting smaller.

That’s the need which the new MA is determined to satisfy. The presence of such a high-profile panel at the launch event reflects the University’s aim to provide a journalism education offering the finest in theory and practice.

The course will give students the chance to ask, and answer, the vital, complex, and fascinating questions facing international news journalism in the 21st. No doubt they will use internet search engines as they seek to increase their understanding – but the experience and expertise found in the University will be even more valuable.