Journalism Major

The Journalism Major offers three concentrations: Chinese Journalism, International Journalism and Data and Media Communication. The Chinese Journalism concentration aims to prepare students for a career in Chinese-language media, while the International Journalism concentration is geared to those who plan to work for international media that operate in English. The Data and Media Communication concentration, which is jointly offered with the Department of Computer Science, aims to train a new generation of digital journalists with advanced computer skills, notably in data visualisation and analytics. All choices share Major Core and Major Elective Courses dealing with the activities and responsibilities of print, broadcast and internet journalists. Each choice requires bilingualism, but stresses the particular language and professional skills appropriate for the specialisation.

All Journalism students pursue studies in three major areas: (1) professional journalism, in which students learn the principles and skills of gathering, presenting and producing news and current affairs reports; (2) theoretical foundations of the profession, in which students develop a conceptual understanding of the profession and its role in society through legal, ethical, political, historical, economic and media communication theory courses; and (3) complementary studies of the relationship between journalism and society as well as the way politics, government, business and law operate in both local and international communities. In all these areas, emphasis is on Hong Kong and mainland China with due attention to the international context in which both communities operate.

Subject to resource and quota constraints, all students have the option of adopting a secondary stream: Broadcast Journalism (BJ), Financial Journalism (FJ) or General Stream each with relevant courses. Chinese Journalism and International Journalism students are required to undertake a professional internship during the summer following the third year, while Data and Media Communication students are encouraged to do so as an option. At the end of the programme, every student has to produce a final-year project that integrates their conceptual and practical journalism knowledge.

Requirements