The University of King’s College is revamping its four-year Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) program. A new degree, Bachelor of Journalism and Media (Honours) will be phased in starting fall 2027. It will align with the 50th anniversary of the King’s Journalism program. Applications opened Oct. 1.
Associate Director Brian Daly says the change was largely driven by students and their careers after graduation.
While a share of graduates land in newsrooms, many others go on to law school, work as policy analysts in government, or take jobs in communications and at NGOs, Daly says.
“Journalism is part of a larger ecosystem that includes media,” said Daly.
“So let’s widen the tent and let’s try to bring in even more young people into King’s who, more than anything, want to find that specific voice 一 their voice as a writer, their voice as a podcaster, their voice as a video journalist.”
The program was designed over three years. Alumni, industry employers, students and scholars in humanities and social sciences were consulted during the development of the program.
The new program adds media studies courses in addition to the conventional journalism courses.
Daly says journalism courses teach students how to do the work, while media studies teaches them to think critically about how it is done.
First-year students will have two options. They can keep combining introductory journalism courses with the Foundation Year Program (FYP), or take a more intensive journalism first year with Dalhousie electives in subjects such as history, economics and political science.
Students attending King’s just for the journalism program can get started right away, while those interested in humanities can enjoy the standard FYP education.
Fred Vallance-Jones, director of the School of Journalism, said in a statement on the King’s website that the rise of AI was a contributing factor in the revamp.
“In a time when AI can produce endless streams of text, images and videos that seem human-made, the need for accurate, authentic, factual information is greater than ever before.”
Daly expands on this, ensuring that modules on AI and journalism, developed by the Michener Foundation with King’s own Terra Tailleur, an Assistant Professor of Journalism, should be ready by winter term and can be plugged into existing courses.
Lily Gelissen, President of the King’s Journalism Student Society says she believes the changes will be welcomed by most of the student population.
“The current program was due for some changes,” said Gelissen.
“It comes down to students wanting a curriculum that is hands-on, and when your electives are limited and you’re only really able to take your core courses and two or three electives per year, it’s not really [scratching] the itch.”
Gelissen welcomes the addition of media studies to the program. She says that in a constantly changing industry, its important students have the necessary skillset to survive 一 especially when not all students become journalists.
Journalism students who began their studies this year will move into the new program in second year. Those in second to fourth year will finish the current program, though Daly says many changes are already being introduced, including a revamped Foundations of Journalism and an Advanced News workshop where students pitch and develop entire news products.