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The crisis of World War I, including the challenges of reporting from the fighting front, sparked public discussion about the reliability and status of journalism. In response, unprecedented changes to the education of journalists were introduced around the world, including in Australia. By the 1920s, the majority of Australian universities offered a Diploma in Journalism, developed in collaboration with the Australian Journalists’ Association (AJA). Yet despite the AJA’s commitment to developing professional standards, by 1945 these courses were either defunct or struggling. This article explores the introduction and subsequent failure of tertiary journalism education in the context of discussions within the AJA about educational ‘relevance’, and whether journalists required improved ‘thinking’ or improved ‘skills’. Analysis of the establishment of these university courses highlights debates around the professionalism, status, and ethical practice of journalism in the interwar years, at a time when the newspaper industry was expanding.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Australia, history, professionalisation, journalism, education, interwar period
Research Division:	History, Heritage and Archaeology
Research Group:	Historical studies
Research Field:	Australian history
Objective Division:	Culture and Society
Objective Group:	Understanding past societies
Objective Field:	Understanding Australia's past
UTAS Author:	Darian-Smith, K (Professor Kate Darian-Smith)
ID Code:	141755
Year Published:	2020
Funding Support:	Australian Research Council (DP160101109)
Web of Science® Times Cited:	2
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Humanities
Deposited On:	2020-11-17
Last Modified:	2021-04-07
Downloads:	0