Educating journalists in a globalised world : reaching and teaching globalised media

Journalists and Journalism students often work full time, operate from geographically disparate locations and travel frequently. They leave conventional education far behind them. More than half of Central Queensland University's students study at over a dozen different campuses which are thousands of kilometres apart. To meet their needs, Central Queensland University (CQU) developed unique, online journalism programs which can be accessed anywhere there is internet, allowing interactive discussion among widely disparate students, relying on data base and websites rather than text books. Courses include Radio Journalism which is taught using streaming. CQU is further engaged in research which would allow industry professionals to act as mentors for online students. This paper considers how digital convergence of text, audio and image on the net might impact on the content, structure and delivery of journalism education. It will refer to course development at Central Queensland University where online journalism programs have been unfolding for four years.