Elizabeth Hart, Monash University
Abstract
In the newsrooms of the regional and rural press, the skills of fledgling journalists come into view, reflecting on the quality of the university courses that trained many of them. Country and city journalists have studied the same subjects and learnt the same skills in preparation for the workplace, but recruits to the rural press face particular challenges that might inhibit their capacity to work to the professional standards of their metropolitan counterparts. These challenges arise partly from the lack of professional support in rural newsrooms and partly from the culture of the country press. Attempts to lift standards therefore depend not only on the subjects studied in three years of university education and training for the workplace, but also on the conditions cadets face in the early months of their first jobs in journalism and on how well prepared they are to challenge these conditions. This paper considers four ways to lift the standard of the rural press through education and training in universities to prepare students for the rural workplace.
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