Journalism news
Australian Youth Ambassador for Development
In October 2009, recent Monash journalism graduate, Jenelle Whittaker, will leave for China as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development.
Jenelle will be working for 12 months in Beijing as a Communications Officer for Community Alliance, a non government organisation which advocates for elderly citizen rights in China. While on assignment in Beijing, her role will be to raise public awareness on aging and promote corporate responsibility in China.
Jenelle plans to conduct numerous public relations and networking activities to attract international attention on aging and support for the elderly. Earlier this year Jenelle participated in the ACICIS program in Jakarta, Indonesia and secured an internship at Antara, Indonesia's National News Agency.
During her time in Indonesia, Jenelle covered the floods, Indonesian parliament, foreign affairs, sport and edited articles written by Indonesian journalists. This experience no doubt will enhance her success as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development in Beijing.
October 2009
Exchange Students Chosen
Four Monash students have been chosen to study next semester in Europe as part of the regular exchanges between Monash and universities in Denmark, Finland, Greece and the UK. The students are Christie Sinclair and Carmel Rodda (Aristotle University, Greece) and Joel Smith and Samantha Lenkic (Helsinki University, Finland).
The four students are going to Europe as part of the Global Environmental Journalism Initiative project, which was started in 2008 by four Australian and five European universities that are leaders in journalism education in their countries.
The project involves:
- International collaboration in the teaching and learning of journalism about environmental sustainability
- Students working together locally and globally to produce journalism about environmental sustainability
There are two students from Europe studying at Monash as part of the project this semester and four Monash students studying in Europe, Sana Mazloum and Adam Rubenis at the Danish School of Media and Journalism and Isabelle Tolhurst and Andrea Christou at City University, London.
Our visitors are Natasha Culzac from London and Hanna Othman from Finland. Give them a big welcome if you see them!
September 2009
Records Smashed
A record number of students have enrolled in Monash’s feature writing course in 2009. More than 540 students are doing the course across campuses at Caulfield, Berwick, Gippsland, Malaysia and Singapore. The number of students enrolled in feature writing at Monash’s Caulfield campus has jumped from 130 in 2004 to 357 this year. Course coordinator Bill Birnbauer said informative features were more important than ever today given the onslaught of daily news with little breathing space to separate facts from spin. Features should drill deeper into the background and secrets behind daily news stories and events.
July 2009
New Mac Lab at Gippsland
The Gippsland Journalism lab is being revamped over the next few weeks with new Macintosh computers for Journalism students. We’ll be using them to teach most classes including radio, video and online journalism, and students will have 24 hour access to the labs for their project work. The revamped lab is a crucial part of the rejuvenated curriculum at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of Monash Journalism being implemented from 2010. The new programs take an integrated approach to journalism for all media in an online environment, and students will graduate with deep knowledge and the skills to produce high quality journalism in all media, which is the key to employment now and into the future for journalists.
July 2009
New Mac Labs at Caulfield
We’ve just commissioned two new Macintosh computer laboratories for Journalism students at the Caulfield campus. Students at the Berwick and Gippsland campuses have access to similar facilities. We’ll be using them to teach the radio, video and online journalism classes, and students have 24 hour access to the labs for their project work. The new labs are a crucial part of the rejuvenated curriculum at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of Monash Journalism being implemented from 2010. The new programs take an integrated approach to journalism for all media in an online environment, and students will graduate with deep knowledge and the skills to produce high quality journalism in all media, which is the key to employment now and into the future for journalists.
June 2009
Monash-Qatar Journalism Links
Monash has entered an arrangement with Qatar University to collaborate in journalism teaching and research. We are sending Peter Manning, one of Australia’s most distinguished journalists, to Qatar next semester to teach and plan some collaborative projects, which we’re hoping will include work with the al-Jazeera network. Peter was formerly Executive Producer of ABC-TV’s Four Corners program, before becoming Director of ABC Radio National and subsequently Head of News and Current Affairs at first the ABC and then the Seven Network. Peter has been teaching International Journalism at Caulfield and Berwick campuses this past semester. The Monash-Qatar relationship should bring exciting opportunities for collaboration and exchanges for staff and students at both universities.
June 2009
Study in Indonesia
Applications for the 2010 ACICIS program (Australian Consortium for ‘In Country’ Indonesian Studies) will be called for shortly, so if you think you might be interested you should start planning now. In January-February this year five Monash Journalism students were part of the group that went to Indonesia to work and study, with full credit towards their Journalism studies. The program is usually led by Louise Williams, former South-East Asia correspondent for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald. The students get a chance to do work experience in English-language jobs (or Bahasa if they are fluent), and in the past some have stayed on to continue working for a while before returning to complete their studies in Australia. It’s a great opportunity, and a stimulating time is had by all.
June 2009
Herb Thomas Award
Journalism graduate Brienna Snare is the winner of the annual Herb Thomas award for the most outstanding student in journalism studies at the Berwick campus.
Brienna received a cheque for $1,200 at a presentation dinner at the Dandenong Club on 28 May.
Brienna is now working as a journalist in Tasmania.
She was one of four 2009 recipients of the award: from Monash University, Chisholm TAFE, and RMIT, all graduates of media, journalism and printing courses.
This is the 25th year of the award, which was set up in memory of newspaper proprietor and former president of the Victorian Country Press Association, Herb Thomas, whose company is now the Star News Group.
Rotary clubs and two local councils, Casey and Cardinia, manage and sponsor the trust.
Brienna graduated from the Bachelor of Communications at Berwick this year. She will spend the prize money to further her career.
Also nominated for the award was Berwick Communication student Laura Gordon.
May 2009