I find it telling that people want to insist that journalism should be something fenced off and inaccessible to many via gruelling years of expensive study.

Lots of people could very easily do journalism. The best journalists are often those who have come to it after doing other things first & have transferable skills (and no, I didn't do life first, I still recognise that)

I think having a journalism degree can make people feel safe and legitimised in an industry that, at the moment, is unstable and hard to get a foothold in. It's a piece of paper proving you're a "real journalist"

Gatekeeping journalism through these methods is an easy way to make it feel like 'calling', reserved for a few who have the ability. It's very seductive in a space that plays on every single insecurity about not being good enough.

The truth is, it's a stupidly elitist profession, with lots of people who aren't very good at it who've blagged or bought their way to the top, and excellent talent languishing much further down or doing incredible work on shitty wages.

kanye_west_school_spirit_skit_2.mp3 etc etc

And to head off comments, as I've said elsewhere, there are specialised skills for specific journalism paths that need to be taught but why it should take 3 years and £48k of debt, with no guaranteed job at the end, is a mystery