Creating the ideal journalism graduate: Reconciling views from media employers, lecturers and students in Indonesia

Asa Wisesa Betari
State Polytechnic of Malang, Indonesia
Raqib Chowdhury
Monash University, Australia

The aim of this study was to identify potential gaps in Indonesian journalism education in relation to opportunities for graduate employability, through the perspectives of prospective employers, journalism lecturers and students. The study was undertaken to examine the specific graduate skills deemed most important by Indonesia's three leading media outlets. Utilising Donsbach's five journalistic competence features as well as Cheetham and Chivers' four components of journalistic competency, the study adopted a constructivist-interpretive approach through an analysis of interview data from the three groups of participants to evaluate journalism courses vis-à-vis media companies' expectations at the State Polytechnic of Malang. These interviews helped render participants' perspectives on the factors that these major Indonesian media companies considered crucial when employing new journalists. In the context of vocational higher education in Indonesia, several issues were identified, including high unemployment rate, inconsistent policies, insufficient teaching qualifications, and minimal learning support. Specifically, the findings indicate how the contemporary multiplatform nature of the media industry has challenged journalism educators to question whether they should increase the use of digital media technology in the classroom, or continue traditional pedagogical practices that focus on writing and reporting skills.
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Authors: Asa Wisesa Betari MLi (corresponding author) is a journalist who teaches English for journalism, linguistics, and English skills in the English for Business and Professional Communication program at Politeknik Negeri Malang (State Polytechnic of Malang). She has a masters degree in linguistics, and has published in linguistic studies and education. Email: awb4992@gmail.com Dr Raqib Chowdhury teaches TESOL, bilingualism and sociolinguistics in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. He has masters degrees in English literature and TESOL, a PhD in education, and has published extensively in English for academic purposes, culture and pedagogy, TESOL, English as an international language, international education and identity areas. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3136-6545 Email: raqib.chowdhury@monash.edu Please cite as: Betari, A. W. & Chowdhury, R. (2023). Creating the ideal journalism graduate: Reconciling views from media employers, lecturers and students in Indonesia. Issues in Educational Research, 33(4), 1286-1307. http://www.iier.org.au/iier33/betari.pdf