How to Become a Journalist in Malaysia

Sharing is caring :)

What is Journalism?

Journalism is known as the art of delivering real-time news and events to society by gathering, assessing, creating and presenting news and information.

As a Journalist, your key responsibilities would include investigating news and events, gathering information, writing up new pieces and delivering them to the public in an honest manner through various mediums such as newspaper, radio, magazine, websites or even social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).

Journalists are said to have very important roles in society as they hold the power of the information being received by the public. They also have a big influence with the news they put out, as it provides society with information on various topics that they use to make decisions about different aspects of their daily life, their communities, their society and the government. Journalism significantly varies from other forms of communications as it focuses on not just the hard facts, but also the truth behind those hard facts. Without journalism, the world would be full of ignorance.

Types of Journalism

Type of Journalism	Specialization
Investigative Journalism	Analyzes information & carry out in-depth research to expose evidence of a specific subject to support their conclusions and deliver findings of figures
Broadcast Journalism	Reports information through multiple mediums such as radio & television on topics such as sports, weather, traffic, news and entertainment.
Entertainment Journalism	Focuses on current cultural and social events. They report on celebrities, movies, red carpet events, and televisions.
Political Journalism	Focuses on government, politics and political candidates. They write about political activities of elected officials, political processes and the results of political work in providing information for voters to formulate their own opinion.
Sports Journalism	Focuses on the subject of athletes and athletic news, in a variety of media such as radio, television and print. They write about amateur and/or professional sports such as reporting live games, interviewing coaches and players and offering game commentary.

Skills Needed to Become a Journalist

Analytical Thinking

To become a good journalist, it is extremely important for you to be able to analyze different situations and events. Journalists don’t just report anything and everything they see. You need to pick up on things that are “newsworthy”. You need to find different angles for different stories to enable your stories to be interesting enough to attract attention.

Open Mindedness & Honesty

Having an open mind allows you lesser boundaries in having the ability to fully grasp realities of different events. A journalist acts as the eyes and ears to deliver important information to the public. But, everything you write needs to be based on facts. It is your job to not let your own emotions or judgement affect the news you deliver. Everyone has their own ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong – but your job is the illustrate the entire picture. You have to report your news from a neutral stance, being objective and stating the facts accurately.

Good writing skills

Again, grabbing the attention of your readers are key in what makes you a good journalist. Good writing skills will give you the upper hand in being able to play around with your words, in making a basic story into something more interesting (without changing the context of the situation of course!)

Top Malaysia News & Media Websites

Malaysia Kini

Malaysia Kini is an online independent news portal, focusing mainly on local events that allows their journalists and editors the full freedom of publishing without any external interference. Malaysiakini receives over 2.3 million page-views per day on both desktop and mobile. They have news published in multiple languages including Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil.

The Malay Mail

Malay Mail, founded in 1896 is a well-known media organization that has merged it’s newspaper and online media platforms to give readers current news along with everything they need to know on local politics, lifestyle trends and opinions of social issues locally and all around the world.

The Star Online

Well-known within the local community, The Star is an English-language newspaper in Malaysia established back in 1971. Owned by Star Media Group, they have now launched ‘The Star Online’ essentially an online news website reporting all things business, politics, sports, lifestyle and even opinions. They also have an app to help readers keep in touch with the latest news and events in the country.

SinChew

Sin Chew is a leading Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia. Founded back in 1929, Sin Chew Daily has since achieved a daily circulation of almost 500,000 physical copies sold. Sin Chew Daily owns 53 new bureaus and six printing plants in Peninsular and East Malaysia.

China Press

China Press is a Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper launched back in 1946. Known as the fastest growing paper in Malaysia, especially by the local Chinese, it sells about 48,000 physical copies daily.

Berita Harian

Owned by New Straits Times Press, Berita Harian is a daily newspaper first published back in 1957 in Malay language. They deliver news about local events with sections in their newspaper including sports, business, global, entertainment, women and even the weather.

Subjects Offered in Journalism Courses

Photojournalism

Students will be guided to develop their skills in photography as well as learning how to tell stories using only visuals. Alot of photography and graphics skills will be taught in this subjects. This includes the entire process of collecting, editing and presenting news material in the form of visuals.

News Reporting

Students will get introduced to the basic theories of news writing and reporting. Setting the social, professional and legal context in the world of journalism, students will learn how to combine information they’ve acquired along with photos and videos and turn it into a news piece for the public. This subject will test the entire production process & help them to critically examine their own workflow.

Creative Writing

Students will learn the foundation of journalism, by developing and building their verbal and non-verbal skills and confidence. Focusing on their writing skills, this subject aims to build students’ literacy and creativity to guide them in writing informative and accurate stories that will grab the attention of the public.

Radio and TV Reporting

Students will gain knowledge on all media platforms involved in broadcasting. This includes exposure to the entire production process including writing, producing, editing and handling equipment such as camera, microphones and many more. You will also learn skills such as retrieving and recording news through audio and video equipment.

General Pathway of Becoming a Journalist in Malaysia

To become a Journalist in Malaysia, you will need at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication, preferably with a specialization in Journalism or Broadcasting. To further boost your skills and knowledge as well as employability, it is recommended for you to obtain experience in the media sector, no matter through your school activities or internships with external media companies.

Career Pathway of a Journalist Graduate in Malaysia

Besides becoming a Journalist, here are other career pathways you could embark on:

Broadcast Journalist
Editorial Assistant
Magazine Journalist
Content Editor
Reporter
News Anchor
Photojournalist

Generally, An entry-level Journalist can expect to earn an average annual salary of around RM36,000 while a Journalist of 5-9 years of experience can expect to earn an average annual salary of around RM51,503. Experienced Journalist with 10-19 years of experience can expect to earn up to RM51,978.

General Entry Requirements for Studying Journalism in Malaysia

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

Qualification	Scores
A-Levels	Min. 2E’s
STPM	Min. CGPA 2.00 in 3 subjects
Diploma	Min. GPA 2.00
Australian Matriculation	Min. ATAR 55
UEC	Pass with min. 5Bs

*NOTE : Different universities have different entry requirements. Contact us for more information.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Qualification	Scores
MUET	Min. Band 3
IELTS	Min. 5.5
TOEFL (IBT)	Min. 34
Pearson English Test	Min. 36

*NOTE : Different universities have different entry requirements. Contact us for more information.

Top Universities to Study Journalism in Malaysia

#1 Taylor’s University

Program Offered	Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) Specialize in : Journalism and Media Practice
Program Duration	3 years (Full time)
Intake	January, March, June and August
Indicative Fee (2021)	RM 95,578 (Malaysians) RM 116,107 (Non-Malaysians)

#2 UOW Malaysia KDU

Program Offered	Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) Specialize in: Journalism and Broadcasting
Program Duration	3 years (Full time)
Intake	January, March, May, July, September
Indicative Fee (2021)	RM71,025 (Malaysians) RM83,400 (Non-Malaysians)

#3 Asia Pacific University

Program Offered	Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Media and Communication Studies Specialize in: Journalism
Program Duration	3 years (Full time)
Intake	June, September and November
Indicative Fee (2021)	RM 78,000(Malaysians) RM 88,200 (Non-Malaysians)

#4 IACT College

Program Offered	Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Media, Culture and Communication Specialize in: Journalism
Program Duration	3 years (Full time)
Intake	January, June, August & November
Indicative Fee (2021)	RM 68,000 (Malaysians)

About the Author

Raveena Rakni Suresh Raj

Leo baby & psych major