National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media) (Level 5)

The National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media) is the pre-workplace qualification for employment in professional journalism. Holders of this qualification are recognised by industry as having the newsroom entry level skills necessary to work in their chosen area of specialisation, which may be magazine, newspaper, radio, television, or internet.

The qualification is made up of compulsory standards, plus an elective section. The

compulsory standards are designed to recognise the broad range of skills required of the working journalist. The elective section is designed to give providers some flexibility in the programmes that they offer and to cater for the specialist knowledge required by each sector of the journalism industry.

Graduates are able to gather information and write news stories for publication and broadcast in accordance with the minimum standards for professional journalism and to meet the publishable standard. The range of topics for the stories includes: local government activities; court reporting; current events; Maoridom; and numerics and statistics. They have an understanding of media law and ethics and are able to produce photographs from news and internet assignments.

Other skills they may have selected from the elective section, depending on their specialisation, include: design and layout; writing about diversity; writing for broadcast on radio or television; feature writing; producing photographs and slide shows; and video packages or news story editing for posting on the internet.

This qualification is achieved off-job using simulated scenarios and is not part of a professional journalism course.

People achieving this qualification may go on to complete the National Diploma in Applied Journalism (Level 6) [Ref: 1485].

The Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) is a quality Government-owned tertiary education institution based in New Zealand's cultural and surfing hub. Taranaki is a beautiful region defined by its wonderful snow-capped mountain, extensive coastline, great surfing and many opportunities for outdoor activities.

WITT is the only state tertiary institution in Taranaki and offers courses from certificate to degree level across a wide range of areas, including Business, Nursing, Hospitality, Te Reo Māori, Humanities, Media, Art, Electrical, Engineering, Automotive, Welding, Carpentry, Architecture, Computing, Fitness, Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Make-up Artistry, Social Sciences and Agriculture.

WITT also specialises in English language tuition and foundation programmes for overseas students.