2007-03-23 12:07:03 · 4 answers · asked by Sar 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
It depends on what your goals are within the profession. If you are most interested in working as a writer, whether that is with a newspaper, periodical, editing or working for a book publisher, etc. I would recommend working for a year or two before you continue your studies. If you are interested in teaching then the advanced degree will be absolutely necessary but even then I would consider working a couple years first.
Most aspects of journalism have a good amount of on-the-job learning even if your educational program was excellent. Going out and experiencing the actual working world of journalism, preferably from a couple of different positions with different companies, would give you a strong basis and a different focus with your graduate studies. It would enrich your studies so they would become a completely different experience rather than seeming like an extension of your undergraduate education.
The only exception to this might be if you are particularly interested in international journalism. If that is the case, and you could study in a different country, then it might be a great opportunity to go immediately into your graduate program and might open up more diverse career opportunities.
Grad school can be a great experience too, but you are in a profession where hands-on working knowledge is the real key to growth.
2007-03-23 13:05:00 · answer #1 · answered by szivesen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My daughter has been looking into this. She has been told that if you have a bachelor's degree in journalism, and you want to work in this area, the master's degree does not add as much value as field experience.
She was considering the master's, or perhaps a graduate certificate, because her bachelor's degree was in a completely different field.
2007-03-23 23:53:32 · answer #2 · answered by Edward W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go for a master's or you may be able to go directly into a PhD program and skip through the master's. Talk to your counselors at your school to see the possibilities. I would much rather hire and pay more to someone who has studied more and "specialized" and have found that to be the case rather than not. A BA these days is about as good as a high school diploma 10 years ago.
If you're young and can tolerate being in school, go as high as you can; you will be glad you did down the road.
2007-03-23 19:32:32 · answer #3 · answered by mim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go for a master's. Nowadays your options are much greater with a higher degree.
2007-03-23 19:13:31 · answer #4 · answered by Geddy_V 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋