The traditional media may have already passed its golden age, but it still appeals to many young job-seekers. It's not a highly paid profession, but the sense of mission one can derive from it has helped this sector survive hard times and continue to appeal to young people.
The local media is quite a well-developed industry but most news organisations are not willing to invest in professional training for staff. Recruits and fresh graduates are often thrown in at the deep end and expected to learn on the job.
Due to limited career advancement, many experienced journalists choose to leave but find it difficult to seek alternative careers. Many end up joining the public relations and corporate communications sector.
The media ecosystem seems to be fast eroding but, even so, many young people are still attracted to the dynamic and challenging nature of the work. This has led many universities to introduce journalism courses.
Many local universities and higher education institutions provide such courses. They include the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University, Baptist University, Shue Yan University and Chu Hai College. Despite the competition in the market, the Hang Seng Management College has applied to the government to offer a bachelor of journalism and communication programme, with a focus on training business and financial journalists.
It's a well-known fact that financial journalists are a lot more employable than other types of journalists because of their specialised knowledge. Those with a few years of experience can join listed companies or investment firms afterwards. One example is the success story of Lo Wing-hung, chief executive of Sing Tao News Corp. Lo was once a finance reporter and now commands a seven-figure annual salary. It shows that financial journalism courses have a strong market niche.
To maintain the high quality of these courses, the government needs to take an active role to assess and monitor them.