Journalism courses

A journalism degree teaches you to write quickly and think on your feet—crucial skills when you have an interview in the morning and a deadline in the afternoon.

Journalism courses also help you get comfortable with speaking to all kinds of people and asking difficult questions when necessary. You’ll learn to be analytical and critical, and not take what you hear at face value. You’ll discover the importance of checking your sources, and why you must operate under the strictest of ethics.

To study a journalism course at the undergraduate level, you’ll typically enrol in a Bachelor of Communication or Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Journalism. This means that you’ll also be examining the bigger picture of media, culture and your place in in it—turning you into a journalist of substance and giving you a wider range of careers to choose from.

Journalism degrees will cover off units and subjects such as news reporting, broadcasting, digital media, audio journalism, writing for a range of media, cross-cultural communication, and media law and ethics.

Degrees in journalism will help you build a portfolio of work, as you will be producing written, audio and video stories as part of your course.

Not to get too philosophical, but what are we if not the sum of our stories? Journalists and writers play the all-important role of recording our lives, times, habits and perspectives, so that others may know what really happened—and remember or engage with it.

In May 2023, the Australian Government announced its commitment to five-year funding terms for our national broadcasters, with annual funding of $1.1 billion for ABC and $334.9 million for SBS. The two organisations will also receive an additional $72 million over four years to extend selected programs, including ABC Enhanced News Gathering, which supports journalists in regional news bureaus.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) newswire service will also receive $5 million.

This is a win for journalism and a sign of its significance to society.

You should study a journalism degree online because of the flexibility it affords—your classes fit around your life, not the other way around. Support is often just a call, mouse click or Slack chat away, not only with your lecturer and fellow students but also with dedicated advisors, counsellors and 24/7 tutors.

There are a lot of reasons to study your course online through us.

• You can enrol without entry requirements 
  We have a unique open-door policy that makes it possible for everyone to enrol in university study, no matter their academic history. If you don’t meet the entry requirements for a degree, we’ll help you get in through single undergraduate subjects and transition into a qualification from there.
• You have total control over how you study
  Upskill without committing to a whole degree upfront. Or enrol in a full degree, but take it a subject at a time. We’ll introduce you to flexible study options you didn’t even know about, so you can fit uni around what matters to you.
• You’ll graduate with the same qualification as an on-campus student
  Once you enrol through us, you’ll study online with the university that provides your degree. This means that when you complete your qualification, you’ll graduate with the same degree as on-campus students.
• We’ll help you navigate the university world
  Our friendly student advisors will be your guide every step of the enrolment journey. They'll help you compare universities, choose a course, provide documentation and understand your finance options.

It depends on the course and whether you choose something short or long-term. Here’s a general guide:

If you study a degree in journalism through Open Universities Australia, you have the flexibility to choose how many subjects you take per term. This means you can complete your qualification at a faster or slower pace than you would on campus.

Different universities have different requirements, but as a general rule, journalism degrees ask for an ATAR of between 60 and 75. At Open Universities Australia, you won’t need an ATAR to get into a journalism degree.

That’s because we have a unique arrangement with our university partners, which lets you bypass entry requirements on undergraduate courses. You can instantly enrol in online journalism subjects that are open to everyone. Once you complete these subjects, you will meet the academic requirements for a full journalism degree.

Journalism offers many career options! As a journalist, you could specialise in news, features (longer form stories that dive deep into a topic) or investigative journalism (working to uncover corruption or fraud).

And with your writing expertise, ability to distil messaging and time management skills, you’ll be in demand for other communications roles.

Some examples of roles include:

• Producer: Propose story ideas and manage their production on a variety of media.
• Book editor: Evaluate manuscripts, provide feedback or rewriting suggestions to writers and fact check their work.
• Public relations professional: Work with clients to shape their public image and create media releases and other material to support it.
• Copywriter: Develop concepts, messaging and copy for clients’ advertising campaigns. Work in an agency or in-house for a brand.
• Social media manager: Plan and create engaging content for a range of social media channels. Like the copywriter, you could work for an agency or a brand.
• Content writer: Write articles that are interesting and align with digital marketing best practice for clients.  

Before starting an enrolment, it’s important to read the entry requirements for your chosen course to ensure that you’re eligible to apply. If you don’t quite meet the requirements, we may be able to help you find a pathway into your course through open-entry subjects, which anyone can study.

Chat with us to find out more.

Here at Open Universities Australia, we make enrolling online as straightforward as possible. To get started, find the course for you by browsing the options on this page. You can also compare different qualifications using our handy comparison tool, or request help from one of our student advisors.

When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Apply now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.

Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.

Please note that enquiries and applications for some courses are handled directly by the university. If this is the case, it will be indicated on the course listing page.  

For more information about enrolment, read our online self-service enrolling instructions. If you get stuck at any time, contact us and we’ll talk you through it.