What is needed vs. what is taught: Students’ perception of online journalism course in Hong Kong

This article reports on a survey of journalism students’ perception of what is taught in online journalism classrooms and what instructors perceive to be important for students to be work-ready for online newsrooms. The results show that online journalism education is still defined by traditional journalism, for instance, in tasks specialization, when future journalists are required to be well versed in multiple aspects of journalism and technology. The survey finds that people skills and communication abilities have become a must in this new media age, and that instructors’ previous online journalism experience may make a crucial difference in classroom instruction. For online journalism educators and programme administrators, this article may help in developing the appropriate curriculum to prepare students to work in the changing media industry.