(Photo by Dayanara T. Cudal)
January 31, 2016, 10:18a.m. – TWO NEW journalism programs are being proposed following programs, standards and guidelines set by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) starting Academic Year 2018 to 2019, or once the K to 12 transition reaches the collegiate level.
In a public hearing last Jan. 30 at the Civil Law Auditorium, it was revealed that the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism program may be split into two programs, namely the Bachelor of Journalism (B Journalism) and the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (BA Journalism).
B Journalism will be a three-year degree covering a minimum of 113 units, with a curriculum focused on reporting and writing, while BA Journalism will be a four-year program covering a minimum of 149 units. Both programs will have the same core courses.
Graduates under the BA program can proceed to post-graduate studies, while those under the B program cannot. However, Gerardo Mariano of the CHEd Technical Committee on Journalism said B Journalism would offer “the bare minimum that you might need to practice as a reporter.”
The capstone project of the B program will be a special project, while the final project of the BA program will be both a special project and a thesis.
UST Journalism Coordinator Jeremaiah Opiniano clarified that the BA program will also require a fourth year of studies which involves an additional 36 units and the thesis.
Opiniano said a school can add its institutional-learning courses to the curriculum. He cited the UST program in journalism, which offers courses on philosophy, literature and theology.
The proposed curriculum is still under review and it will be up to the schools if they will offer the B program or the BA program, or both.
Opiniano told the Varsitarian changes to the proposal were still possible depending on feedback from students, faculty members and administrators.
Theory vs. practice
A symposium also highlighted a need to re-examine the balance of theory and practice in journalism schools.
According to Diosa Labiste of the Department of Journalism of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, the journalism curriculum needs “knowledge-based application.”
She highlighted the importance of providing context in stories, saying that if schools allow the polarity between theory and practice to persist, future journalists may have a “narrow notion of truth in their stories.”
The University’s Journalism program, founded 1932, is considered Southeast Asia’s first journalism school. In December, it retained its Center of Development status from CHEd, effective until 2018. This academic year, the Master of Arts in Journalism program was launched.
The speakers for the whole-day symposium included Polytechnic University of the Philippines Department of Journalism Chairwoman Cherry Pebre; Marco Polo, president of Philippine Association of Communication Educators; Ariel Sebellino, executive director, the Philippine Press Institute; Jim Gomez, Philippine bureau chief, Associated Press; and Ricky Rosales, Department of Communication chairman, Centro Escolar University.
The event was spearheaded by the UST Journalism Society, the official organization of all journalism students, in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Letters, the UST Graduate School and the Research Center for Culture, Education and Social Issues-Communication Research Interest Group. Clarence I. Hormachuelos
