Dr. Dawn Wheatley:

I will reiterate a couple of points that were touched on earlier but they overlap. A question was asked about diversity in journalism and journalism education. If we focus on gender for a moment there is no issue, certainly in DCU. Each year, there are generally more female than male students in the class. Often the higher performers are female. There is an issue if this does not translate so that they can continue to have successful careers and stay in the industry. We have done a survey with a colleague, Professor Kevin Rafter. The results are not yet published but we can see that the gender pay gap is still there. There are more male journalists in senior positions. The gap is closing but it is still there. There is a problem between who we have as journalism students and who goes on to have a career in the industry.

As Mr. Dooley mentioned earlier, the precarious nature of work is a huge issue. As younger female journalists get older, they can have caring responsibilities and take maternity leave. If they do not have protections in place, it is easier to leave the industry and get a position in a public relations or general communications role. It is all connected. Coupled with that, we have acknowledged the issue of social media abuse. I have done a research project with journalism students which has shown that this is a huge concern for them, and particularly for young female journalism students. Why would they want to put themselves in that situation? It also overlaps with politics, of course. It is present there.

The final point relates to training. As journalism educators, we are well aware that it is impossible to produce a graduate who is ready to enter straightaway. I appreciate hearing that colleagues here are investing. That bridge is important. I would support any further State supports that could help with that bridging because it is important. We know that an in-between stage is needed. In that context, and without offering this as a defence, I should point out that young journalists are expected to be able to master an increasing number of skills, including search engine optimisation, data journalism and editing everything. No skills are eliminated as part of this change. They still need to learn all the core skills - to be able to interview, to verify and to structure a news report. There is also an expectation on them now to be more digital savvy and all these other things. It is a challenge not just at DCU but across all journalism courses to try to find that balance.