Whitireia delivers two journalism programmes – the level 3 National Certificate in Journalism (Introductory), which is offered twice, once in each semester, and the level 5 National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media).

Scroll down for a slideshow introduction from programme leader, Jim Tucker.

The one-semester National Certificate is what the title suggests – a broad introduction to the practice of journalism. It’s a nationally recognised programme (listed on the NZ Qualifications Authority framework and moderated by the NZ Journalists Training Organisation), but is not intended as an entry qualification for a job in the news media.

It gives a taste of the various elements of media publication and design, as well as starting people’s training as professional writers and photographers. It’s an ideal lead-up to the main journalism qualification recognised by media employers, the year-long National Diploma.

The diploma runs 36 weeks (excluding holiday breaks), starting each year at the conclusion of the first certificate offering (early June) and going through to the end of March the following year.

The unusual timing ensures graduates enter the media job market without competition from NZ’s other nine journalism schools. These mostly graduate in October/November. By April, there are usually plenty of media jobs – and few graduates around to fill them.

The diploma is a newly revamped programme that has been updated by the accrediting body, the NZ Journalists Training Organisation, to reflect media convergence brought about by the internet. Future graduates will need to be familiar with the growing relationship between print, internet, radio, digital still pictures and video.

The Whitireia diploma has been reorganised with this in mind. Students will still learn the key tenets and skills of journalism (quality media content is more highly valued than ever), but they will also learn how to use the various delivery platforms.

Tutors include one of NZ’s most experienced journalism tutors, Jim Tucker, who has produced the basic textbooks on journalism used around the country since 1991, and Queenie Rikihana, one of the only Maori journalism tutors. For the first diploma programme in 2008, Whitireia imported UK web journalism expert Dave Lee to teach the first term and set up the Newswire website.

The Whitireia journalism programmes focus on practical training and students will write and publish more than 1000 news stories in the course of a year, all of them appearing on the website or in community and daily newspapers and on radio stations.

The school has arrangements with major equipment companies like Vodafone and Canon to enable students to buy their own equipment. In 2008, many in the class bought Nokia N95 phones from the First Mobile shop in Newtown, which ensured they were being taught to use industry-standard newsgathering kit. With help from Vodafone, shop owner Baha Mabruk offered an amazingly low price on the phones.

Canon has sponsored a photo award for students, with a Canon SLR camera as first prize.