{"id":4799,"date":"2020-02-26T03:58:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T03:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writersghana.com\/?p=4799"},"modified":"2020-02-26T03:58:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T03:58:20","slug":"should-i-specialise-in-pr-or-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersghana.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/26\/should-i-specialise-in-pr-or-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"SHOULD I SPECIALISE IN PR OR JOURNALISM?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Isaac Ato Mensah
\nAccra \u2013 26 February, 2020<\/p>\n

At the 70th anniversary lecture of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in November, Dr. Kweku Rockson, a former Rector of Ghana Institute of Journalism was given advance notice as speaker to define who a journalist is.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, he dodged the question.<\/p>\n

But the reality is that just as the GJA was seeking clarity from an academic who obfuscated, undergraduate mass communication students in Ghana will always corner lecturers, and ask where to specialise.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, Ms X, sitting alone in a classroom cornered me about whether she will be on the right path if she chooses Journalism.<\/p>\n

Let us make this simple: for undergrad mass communication students, you have no specialisation.<\/p>\n

Are those who graduate with the bachelor\u2019s in chemistry or biology chemists or biologists?<\/p>\n

No, they are not; they are nowhere near specialisation.<\/p>\n

What academic counselling units should do is help students understand such basic information.<\/p>\n

In ghana, the concerns about specializing in PR or advertising or journalism, in many colleges, is nothing more than a problem of poor classification or no classification of core courses, prescribed electives and free elective courses on the part of educational administrators.<\/p>\n

Besides, if undergrads are called upon to \u201cfocus\u201d or \u201cspecialise\u201d, they still CANNOT graduate as professionals in their said area of specialisation.<\/p>\n

Having clarified these matters, let us see the motive for the students\u2019 apprehension.<\/p>\n

They are about to complete school in a year’s time and they are thinking about the job market.<\/p>\n

That same Monday in my Mass Communication Theories class, Ms Y complained: \u201cThe Management students say that we the Mass Communication students are not trained in Management so we should not come venturing into the Management profession after graduation\u201d.<\/p>\n

My mentor says with clarity: \u201cIf you have no masters degree in journalism, you are not a journalist\u201d in much the same way that a bachelor\u2019s degree in Economics holder is not an economist.<\/p>\n

He further adds: \u201cIf a person has no masters degree, media managers should not open a live microphone for them to host a programme- it is very dangerous\u201d.<\/p>\n

We at writersghana.com have given clarity on the state of PR practice in ghana: to emphasize, PR practice in ghana is dead.<\/p>\n

Therefore, choose journalism, – not because it is being done in a better way here \u2013 no!<\/p>\n

Choose journalism so that you will hopefully learn how to write your thoughts with clarity and precision.<\/p>\n

In ghana, our serious existential challenges require journalists who can use facts, evidence and reason to tell compelling stories.<\/p>\n

The evidence clearly suggests that Public Relations, just like Journalism has room for people with diverse backgrounds, thus exposing the spurious \u201cskirt and blouse\u201d argument by National Accreditation Board.<\/p>\n

Buttin’ in further, if you look around at many of the PR pros in ghana \u2013 from the deportment of its practitioners, not even diving deep into their writings for those who dare \u2013 do you think there is an accurate and wholesome exposition of what PR is?<\/p>\n

Caution \u2013 the eye cannot see what the mind does not know!<\/p>\n

And yes, the best PR practitioners engage in public relations writings \u2013 all the time.<\/p>\n

Besides the history of modern PR in the US, for example, provides evidence that many PR practitioners started out in journalism roles and honed specific skills needed for PR.<\/p>\n

Hence as my mentor will say, \u201cPR is not a specific discipline that you learn in school\u201d.<\/p>\n

So, choose Journalism if you are forced to, and with that, just learn how to write first, for your content will surely be benchmarked.<\/p>\n

You should not be in a hurry to go on air to blow hot air and palpable ignorance.<\/p>\n

Closing argument: In this age of integrated communications, should educational administrators not be guided to stop confusing students with this unhelpful PR versus Journalism specialisation requirement?<\/p>\n

Feedback; ato@writersghana.com; www.writersghana.com; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah; Instagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Writers and Shakespeares Ghana; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah. WhatsApp (+233) 020 022 0353.<\/p>\n

Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra \u2013 26 February, 2020 At the 70th anniversary lecture of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in November, Dr. Kweku Rockson, a former Rector of Ghana Institute of Journalism was given advance notice as speaker to define who a journalist is. Unfortunately, he dodged the question. But the reality is that just as the GJA was seeking clarity from an academic who obfuscated, undergraduate mass communication students in Ghana will always corner lecturers, and ask where to specialise. On Monday, Ms X, sitting alone in a classroom cornered me about whether she will be on the right path if she chooses Journalism.Read More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[41,36,40,38,44,39,43,42],"class_list":["entry","author-atowritersghana-com","post-4799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","tag-education","tag-ghana","tag-ghana-journalists-association","tag-journalism","tag-national-accreditation-board","tag-public-relations","tag-specialisation","tag-writersghana-com"],"yoast_head":"\nSHOULD I SPECIALISE IN PR OR JOURNALISM? - Writers & Shakespeares Ghana Limited<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writersghana.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/26\/should-i-specialise-in-pr-or-journalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SHOULD I SPECIALISE IN PR OR JOURNALISM? - Writers & Shakespeares Ghana Limited\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra \u2013 26 February, 2020 At the 70th anniversary lecture of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in November, Dr. Kweku Rockson, a former Rector of Ghana Institute of Journalism was given advance notice as speaker to define who a journalist is. 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