The sports reporting module is in the process of being removed from the BA journalism course for both current and incoming students, according to the Head of the School of Communications.
During a meeting between journalism class reps and lecturers in the course, it was announced that the module which was offered when students applied for the course, was to be removed and possibly replaced with one focused on finance reporting.
The meeting was held after students received an email asking to vote whether they wanted the module to remain.
Kevin Rafter, Head of the School of Communications, stated there would be a strong emphasis placed on sport during the Newsdays module to compensate for its loss.
“Sports Journalism will be a key component of a revamped Newsday offering in 2018/19 which promises to be a very strong addition to the student learning experience in the third year of the BAJ programme.”
“The delivery of the Newsdays – including the sports journalism strand – will also involve industry practitioners. Glen Killane, a former head of sports coverage at RTE and current MD of eir TV and Sport, has already agreed to be involved”, said Rafter.
The reasoning behind the module’s removal was a lack of interest from students and the students taking on the module having the sports expertise needed already.
“The module was taken off the schedule for next year because Declan Fahy and Kevin Rafter wanted to do that. I disagreed and still do, but their view prevailed”, said Professor of Journalism Steven Knowlton.
These changes are set to remain and the module will be cut for the coming year.
“I’m really disappointed.I was going to study media in Maynooth, but the fact I had the option to cover sports journalism in DCU was one of the main reasons I decided on studying here instead. I feel like we should have been given a better opportunity to voice our opinions on the decision.”
“We were just sent an email out of the blue, saying people who were interested in studying the module had 3 hours to reply and express their interest”, Sean Power, a second-year journalism mature student, said.
Ellen Fitzpatrick
Image credit: media.ge