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Posted (edited)

I've been accepted into the PhD in English Language & Literature at Queen's U.

My dilemma is... I'm unsure if academia is the path for me. I've become much more interested in journalism as of late. My questions, basically, are as follows:

Would a PhD be of any use in a journalistic career?
Would it be a good idea to accept the PhD offer, to try it for a semester/year? If I did end up leaving the program after one year, is that incredibly bad form?
Would I be better served rejecting the offer and applying to journalism schools for next year?
Do I even need any additional schooling (I'm in the midst of completing an MA in English), or am I better off attempting to get an internship/job in journalism immediately?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Edited by EasterInTheBatcave
Added another question.
Posted

For anyone who asks the question, in my opinion the answer is 'no'. You need to know that you want and need PhD. You need to be okay with the PhD being the last step in the path of whatever you're studying and not leading to a career in your field, because the reality is that it might not, or it might be difficult and unrewarding for a while before you get to make any step in the direction you want to go in, if at all. So if you don't want to do a PhD because you think you'll enjoy the process itself, don't do it. 

Specifically in your case, I don't think a PhD is useful for a career in journalism. It's not like it'll hurt; you'll do a lot of writing and learn to teach yourself about subjects, and that may be useful to a journalist. But there are many shorter and more direct ways to learn those skills and others that are useful for a journalist. I don't think that accepting an offer and attending a semester or year in an English PhD program would do you much good. I'm also not sure if applying to journalism schools next year is necessarily the right choice. I think you might want to do some informational interviews with people who have relevant jobs you'd like to have, and look into internships or the like. Take time to actually decide what you want to do, and then learn about how to get there. School may or may not be the right next step, but you need to take the time to figure it out first, before you commit to a multi-year plan of any kind. 

Posted

I agree with @fuzzylogician's advice. I would add an answer to your specific question, 

1 hour ago, EasterInTheBatcave said:

If I did end up leaving the program after one year, is that incredibly bad form?

I would say that as long as you came into the program with the intention to finish the PhD, I don't think it's bad form to leave early at all. If, after one year, you learn that the PhD program isn't getting you where you want in life, then by all means you should leave. There would certainly be consequences---it will make it a lot more difficult to get into another English PhD program and if you want to enter another PhD program in general, you'll have to demonstrate why this time is different from the last.

You say you aren't sure that you are interested in academia. But this can be interpreted in many ways. Are you mostly interested in academia but you aren't 100% sure yet because it's normal to have doubts about future career paths? If this is the case, then I think you should join this PhD program and spend the first year "trying it out". Basically consideration it "probation" for this career path. Use this time to also conduct informational interviews about a career in journalism. After the first year, you can decide if you want to continue in the PhD program or if you want to move on to something else that isn't grad school.

However, if by this statement you meant that you have no interest in academia but had applied to PhD programs because you are finishing up a MA in English, then perhaps joining a PhD program at this point may not be the best thing for you. In this case, I would advise you to try to ask Queens to give you a 1 year deferral (i.e. start in Fall 2018) and spend the next year figuring out what you want to do. Conduct those informational interviews, try to get a journalism internship, etc. If you make it in the more interesting career path, you can cancel your Fall 2018 entry. If you find that you really miss academia, then you can join the PhD program in Fall 2018.

Posted (edited)

What type of journalism interests you? I assumed print because you are questioning whether or not you will need further schooling because of your literature background, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Journalism has changed substantially over the years due to the internet explosion and multitude of online publications that currently exist. If you work for a reputable publication such as Macleans, The Globe and Mail or The National Post, all of the writers follow a certain format that you will need to learn in school. For instance, you will need to learn about writing a lead sentence, the maximum length of a lead sentence, how to write a good headline, how to determine the order in which the information you write about appears in your article, how to use a Style Guide to reference people's names and write about other things. ex: Do you write President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, President Trump, or just Trump? When you write about a school teacher, a famous movie star, a CEO, a firefighter, an average citizen, or the queen of England, what will you do then? This is what a Style Guide will tell you, plus a whole lot more.

On the other hand, I've seen lots of amateur stuff online that looks like it's been written by people who only have a high school diploma. None of the rules in the style guide are followed. Many yahoo "click bait" or "fluff" stories (as I like to call them) don't even indicate the city or country in which the story occurs, which as a big no-no in journalism. If you want to work for a reputable organization, then you would definitely need to get a certificate in journalism as a minimum to learn about all of those things and more.  

Edited by thelionking
Posted
On 2/25/2017 at 4:46 PM, thelionking said:

What type of journalism interests you? I assumed print because you are questioning whether or not you will need further schooling because of your literature background, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Journalism has changed substantially over the years due to the internet explosion and multitude of online publications that currently exist. If you work for a reputable publication such as Macleans, The Globe and Mail or The National Post, all of the writers follow a certain format that you will need to learn in school. For instance, you will need to learn about writing a lead sentence, the maximum length of a lead sentence, how to write a good headline, how to determine the order in which the information you write about appears in your article, how to use a Style Guide to reference people's names and write about other things. ex: Do you write President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, President Trump, or just Trump? When you write about a school teacher, a famous movie star, a CEO, a firefighter, an average citizen, or the queen of England, what will you do then? This is what a Style Guide will tell you, plus a whole lot more.

On the other hand, I've seen lots of amateur stuff online that looks like it's been written by people who only have a high school diploma. None of the rules in the style guide are followed. Many yahoo "click bait" or "fluff" stories (as I like to call them) don't even indicate the city or country in which the story occurs, which as a big no-no in journalism. If you want to work for a reputable organization, then you would definitely need to get a certificate in journalism as a minimum to learn about all of those things and more.  

Yep, print. Do you actually need schooling for the style information, though? Can an internship be just as, if not more, valuable? Most of what I've read online opines j-school isn't worth it.

Posted

If you can find someone who is willing to teach you how to write a news article and other stuff (like how to read editing codes when your work is corrected by an editor, what to do when you have a hard time getting people to agree to an interview, etc) then an internship might be a great alternative to schooling. When you are ready to enter the job market, your portfolio will be most helpful in finding a job afterwards, as well as the skills that you develop at the internship.

If you have a minor in political science or history, that is something you should highlight if you want to intern for a newspaper like the National Post or Globe and Mail. If you want to intern for a trade publication (ex: stamp collecting, etc) then it would be a good idea to highlight your studies or any areas of expertise that you may have in that area (ex: long standing member of a stamp collection organization).

I'd recommend taking an internship from a reputable organization that will do a thorough job of editing your work. It's important to have work published that is error-free (in terms of facts, spelling and journalistic style) because if you make a mistake (or even if you don't - sometimes changes can be made in the publication process that you won't see until after publication) in journalism it is always the writer's fault (even if it isn't) and you won't be able to add the story to your portfolio (or you shouldn't do it anyway because it wouldn't reflect well on you, even if you wrote about biggest news story of the year or had to escape a vicious lion to get your interview). Your portfolio will be your most valuable tool in finding a job after the internship is over.

It's a big decision to make. Good luck.

Posted
On 2/24/2017 at 7:06 PM, EasterInTheBatcave said:

I've been accepted into the PhD in English Language & Literature at Queen's U.

My dilemma is... I'm unsure if academia is the path for me. I've become much more interested in journalism as of late. My questions, basically, are as follows:

Would a PhD be of any use in a journalistic career?
Would it be a good idea to accept the PhD offer, to try it for a semester/year? If I did end up leaving the program after one year, is that incredibly bad form?
Would I be better served rejecting the offer and applying to journalism schools for next year?
Do I even need any additional schooling (I'm in the midst of completing an MA in English), or am I better off attempting to get an internship/job in journalism immediately?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Can you defer for a year and try to gain journalism experience through an internship? After doing that for few months, you should be able to decide whether that is even a right path for you. If not, you can always go back to PhD and continue with your studies. At this point, I do not think going into PhD program is right move for you.

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