Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to answer the questions of
how and to what extend the internship programme, seen as a part of
their vocational training, could contribute to students’ learning process
and professional growth and how the students perceived the internship
programme. This was a quasi-experimental study utilising quantitative
and qualitative methods. Such statistical tools as a cumulative grade
point average, the career motivation test, and Mettl’s aptitude online test
for journalists, the semi-structured interview for the focus-group, and
references from internship host company were used for calculations of
the variables. The dependence of variables on the internship was
analysed using a two-way ANOVA. The study found that mass media
internships significantly improve vocational training system of students
majoring in Journalism. Due to involvement in this programme,
students’ academic performance and career motivation increased,
journalism skills developed and the quality of this education rose. This
internship programme fosters students’ job-related skills like working in
a team and fast-paced environment, time-management, editing and
publishing, communication, and social networking, using software to
create digital and printed content. This study implies that universitybased journalism education is likely to soon become a secondary
process. This study implies and experimentally proves that universitybased journalism education should soon become a secondary thing as
de-institutionalised education is emerging laying the basics for
“entrepreneurial journalism”.
