Postgraduate - Course4057 - Master of Journalism and Master of Sustainability

The Master of Journalism and Master of Sustainability provides a comprehensive introduction to social and environmental sustainability and sustainable development, an entry-level qualification for a professional journalism career, and a mid-career course for working journalists seeking to extend their expertise and refresh the intellectual basis of their practice. It is has an international orientation designed to optimise the contribution graduates will make to their profession using a full range of media technologies.

The Master of Sustainability component of the double master degree offers three distinct streams:

• Environment and Sustainability
• Corporate and Environmental Sustainability Management
• International Development and Environmental Analysis

Graduates of the program will:

• have a strong basic understanding of the theory and practice of sustainable development
• have a basic understanding of the socio-political causes and effects of environmental degradation and change
• have strong professional research and reporting skills in a range of media technologies and formats
• be equipped with the necessary skills and attributes either to enter professional practice in the news media or, for qualified journalists, to extend their existing skills and intellectual understanding of journalistic practices
• understand and be able to contribute to the important role of professional and ethical journalism in the service of the public right to know and democratic processes
• have an effective understanding of the role of journalism and the media in local, national, regional and global contexts.

The course involves extensive research and reporting in the field.

Students complete core and elective units and one of the options outlined at level five. Students who achieve a distinction average in their level four units have the option of undertaking a 24-point research dissertation at level five.

Core units

Students complete 60 points as outlined below. All units are six points unless otherwise noted.

Students complete the following four journalism units (24 points):

• APG4773 Research and reporting
• APG4774 Reporting with sound and image
• APG4775 Journalism and the law
• APG4776 Journalism studies

plus two of the following Journalism units (12 points):

• APG4640 Journalism and society
• APG4641 Reporting the environment
• APG4642 Investigative reporting
• APG4777 Print features
• APG4778 Editing and publishing
• APG4779 Online journalism
• APG4780 Radio journalism
• APG4781 Video journalism
• APG4782 Specialist reporting

plus four Sustainability units (24 points), including:

• APG4425 Perspectives on environment and sustainability

and an additional three units (18 points) from one of the following three streams:

Stream A - Environment and Sustainability

• APG4427 Frontiers in sustainability and environment
• APG5426 Environmental analysis
• APG5428 Environmental governance and citizenship

Stream B - Corporate and Environmental Sustainability Management

• BTX9100 Sustainability regulation
• APG5433 Corporate sustainability management
• APG5434 Sustainability measurement

Stream C - International Development and Environmental Analysis

• APG4627 Research in political ecology
• APG5804 Environmental revolutions
• APG5805 The art and business of international development

Final Project and Electives

Students complete one of the following options (36 points).

Note: Units cannot be undertaken that have been completed at level four.

Option 1

Students complete the following units (12 points):

• APG5813 Journalism studies project
• APG5814 Journalism professional project

plus 24 points chosen from the following units:

• APG5640 Journalism and society
• APG5641 Reporting the environment
• APG5642 Investigative reporting
• APG5763 Sustainability internship (12 points), or
• APG5781 Implementing environment and sustainability research project (12 points)
• APG5809 Specialist reporting
• elective units chosen from the Master of Sustainability list of eligible electives (available from the School of Geography and Environmental Science ).

Option 2

Students complete the following units (36 points):

• APG5821 Journalism and sustainability research project (24pts), or APG5822 Journalism and sustainability research project part 1 (12 points) and APG5823 Journalism and sustainability research project part 2 (12 points)
• 12 points of elective units chosen from the Master of Sustainability list of eligible electives (available from the School of Geography and Environmental Science).

Students who undertake the 24 point research project option and achieve at least a distinction (70%) are eligible to apply for a higher degree by research.

Students who have completed studies in either journalism or sustainability to the value of:

• 48 points may apply to exit with a related graduate diploma.

Master of Environment and Sustainability
Master of Journalism

The actual award conferred may depend on units/majors/streams/specialisations studied, the level of academic merit achieved, the timing of study, or other factors relevant to the individual student's program of study.