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Journalist / Reporter

Wartawan · Kreatif & Media

Starting
RM2,200 - RM3,200
Senior
RM5,000 - RM10,000
Entry
Diploma / TVET
Short answerA journalist finds, verifies and reports news — newspapers, TV, radio, and increasingly online-only outlets.
What must be said first, because it shapes the whole job: media in Malaysia operates inside a specific legal framework. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, defamation law, and the Sedition Act all apply.
Knowing where those lines are is not a weakness — it is part of the craft. Journalists who understand the law can report difficult stories safely; those who do not, cannot.
No licence to be a journalist, and the portfolio is the qualification.
And the honest part: this industry has shrunk. The pay is low, and students deserve to know that before choosing.

What does a Journalist / Reporter do?

Finds, investigates and reports news — society's eyes and ears.

A day in the life

Journalists chase & report news: covering events/press conferences, interviews, investigations, writing to daily deadlines.
Media is now digital-first: fast writing, short videos, social platforms.
24-hour newsrooms — news doesn't wait.

Is this right for you?

A good fit if you: are shamelessly curious, write fast & clearly, handle deadline pressure, and hold to the truth.
Less suitable if you: want fixed schedules or avoid controversy.

Salary & career ladder

Salary range
Junior reporter: RM2,000–3,000.
Reporter (3–5 years): RM3,000–5,000.
Senior reporter / editor: RM5,000–9,000.
Chief editor: RM9,000–18,000.
Business and financial journalism pays at the top of this range, and at international financial publications, higher.

The honest comparison
Pay in journalism is lower than most other careers on this site with similar educational requirements.
The reason is structural: the advertising that funded newsrooms moved to platforms, and the industry shrank as a result.
That is not something that changes because someone works hard.

Choose the industry, not only the craft
This is the most useful advice in this whole category, and almost nobody gives it.
Two people with the same skill can earn twice the difference, and what decides it is not talent — it is who is paying.
Pays low: small agencies, work for small businesses, general social media content. High competition, low client budgets.
Pays high: banks and financial services, technology companies, oil and gas, product companies, multinationals. Their budgets are larger and the cost of bad work is higher.
And highest: overseas clients paying in foreign currency — possible in creative work because the output is a file.
The most expensive mistake in this field is spending five years getting better at your craft while staying in an industry that cannot pay for it.

The routes that most raise income
Specialisation — finance, law, or data. These pay because the supply of people who can do them is small.
Moving into communications — PR and corporate communications pay two to three times more for the same skills. Plenty of journalists do this after 3–5 years, and the newsroom experience makes them better at it than people who never had it.
Working for international publications — Malaysian journalists write for regional and international outlets, paid in those currencies.

What AI changes — and this cuts both ways
Exposed: routine reports from press releases, summaries, simple news writing, translation. Tools do this now, and this was the entry-level work that used to fill newsrooms.
Not exposed: getting someone to talk to you. Verifying that a document is real. Being at the scene. Knowing that what someone told you does not add up, and finding out why.
And this is the part running the other way: as AI-generated misinformation rises, verification becomes more valuable. The core journalistic skill is not writing — it is knowing whether something is true.
Concrete advice: build your career on reporting and verification, not on writing fast. Fast writing is now cheap; knowing what is true is not.

City vs hometown

Media HQs in KL; bureaus & stringers in every state — district reporters cover their home states.

Study path after SPM / UEC

Journalism/Mass Comm degreeThis page will be honest about the industry
Journalism matters. It is also an industry that has shrunk in Malaysia and worldwide, because the advertising that funded it moved to platforms.
Starting pay is low — around RM2,000–3,000 — and it rises slowly.
That is not a reason not to do it. It is a reason to do it with a plan rather than a hope.

The legal framework — and why this is a skill, not an obstacle
Malaysian media operates under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, defamation law, and the Sedition Act.
Journalists who understand these can report difficult stories safely. Those who do not either avoid the story or create a problem for their publisher.
This is part of the training, and it is why a law degree or legal knowledge is a genuine asset in this career.

The route
SPM (languages) → journalism / communications degree <i>or</i> a subject degree (economics, law, science) plus writing skill → newsroom internship → reporter → specialisation.

A Malaysian advantage rarely mentioned
We are multilingual. A journalist who can interview a trader in Chinese, an official in Malay, and read company documents in English can report stories a monolingual journalist cannot touch.
This is an advantage convertible directly into work and salary, and trilingual students should know it.

Specialisation is what makes this career work
Plenty of people can write. Far fewer can read a financial statement, understand a court judgment, or analyse a dataset.
Business and financial journalists are paid the most for that reason.
Data journalism — overlapping with data analysis — is a growing field with small supply.

The exit route to plan for, not fear
Plenty of journalists move into public relations, corporate communications, or copywriting after some years.
The same skills — writing fast, understanding an audience, working to deadline — pay two to three times more there.
A few years in a newsroom is excellent training for other careers, and that is not a failure.

Related fields
Public relations officer — the most common move, higher pay. Copywriter — writing for sales rather than news. Photojournalist — same newsroom, different medium. Data analyst — data journalism is the intersection.If you are taking the UEC instead of SPM
Everything above still applies to you — the subjects are the same disciplines, only a different exam paper. What changes is the route after it.
The UEC is not accepted for direct entry into a Malaysian public university degree. That is why independent school students overwhelmingly go to private universities in Malaysia, or abroad.
The UEC is treated as equivalent to STPM and A-Level, and it is recognised in the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia and Taiwan — which is why the overseas rate from independent schools is so high.
And the part that costs families real money — read this one properly:
PTPTN eligibility runs through SPM, and a UEC alone does not carry it. To keep the loan available you need a complete SPM, which means two things people get wrong:
Sejarah must be passed. Since SPM 2013 a pass in Sejarah (minimum E) is compulsory for the certificate itself — fail it and you do not have a complete SPM at all.
Bahasa Melayu is usually required at credit (grade C), not merely a pass.
The institution and programme must also be PTPTN-recognised — check that on the PTPTN gateway before you commit to a college.
The UEC route pushes you towards a private degree, and PTPTN is what pays for it. If you have not sat SPM, sit it — and do not treat Sejarah as the throwaway paper.
These conditions change. Verify the current rules with PTPTN before relying on any of this.

Universities

UiTM (journalism), UKM, USM, Taylor's.

Tuition fees

Public cheap; private RM50,000–RM80,000.

Scholarships

JPA/PTPTN; big outlets run trainee programmes.

Certification & licence

The portfolio is the qualification — and that means something specific
No body licenses creative work in Malaysia. No protected title, no registration, no examination.
What exists instead is your work, and employers judge it in a very short time.
What that means in practice:
You can start building your qualification today. Unlike medicine or law, nobody stops you doing real work at sixteen.
A degree opens the first interview and not much more. After that, it is the portfolio.
Be wary of colleges selling "creative certificates". In a field with no regulator, nobody validates what that certificate is worth — and employers know it.
Three good pieces beat thirty mediocre ones. A portfolio is judged on the weakest piece in it, not the best.

The legal framework you work inside
This is not academic background — it decides what you can publish.
Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 — governs print publication.
Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 — governs online content; MCMC is the regulator.
Defamation law — Malaysia has active defamation law, and journalists and publishers can be sued.
The Sedition Act and other security-related laws also apply.
Why this matters to learn, not just to know exists: journalists who understand where the lines are can report difficult stories safely and accurately. Those who do not either avoid the story entirely or publish something that creates trouble for their publisher.

Academic qualifications
Journalism, Mass Communication, Media — the usual routes. Check MQA accreditation.
The frequently stronger alternative: a degree in economics, law, political science or science, plus demonstrated writing skill. Subject expertise is the differentiator in a field where plenty of people can write.

What actually gets checked
Clips — published work. This is your portfolio.
A newsroom internship — many journalists are hired out of theirs.
Languages. In the Malaysian context, being multilingual lets you report stories others cannot reach.
Verification skill. With AI-generated misinformation rising, the ability to verify a source is the core journalistic skill — and it is becoming more valuable, not less.

Pros

Cons

Future & the AI era

AI writes routine news (results, market reports) — "press-release rewriting" is dead.
Investigation, sources & trust stay human — even more valuable in the AI misinformation era.

Step by step, and how long each takes

  1. SPM — languages, and start writing nowSPM
    Languages are the core qualification here, and Malaysian students have a specific advantage.
    A journalist who can interview in Malay, read documents in English, and speak to a community in Chinese or Tamil can report stories others cannot reach.
    Start writing now. The school magazine, a blog, a report on anything. Nobody stops a sixteen-year-old reporting something and publishing it.
    History and Malay are useful — you need to understand Malaysian context to report on it.
  2. Degree — and it need not be journalism3–4 tahun
    Journalism, Mass Communication, or Media are the usual routes.
    But consider this seriously: a degree in economics, law, political science or science plus writing skill can make you a better journalist than a journalism degree alone.
    The reason is practical: a journalist who can read a financial statement can report business stories others miss. A journalist who understands the law can report court accurately.
    Expertise is the differentiator in an industry where plenty of people can write.
  3. Clips — and this is what actually gets checked实作
    Clips (published work) are your portfolio, and they matter more than your degree.
    How to build clips as a student: write for the campus paper, contribute to online outlets, start your own coverage of something nobody in your area covers.
    A newsroom internship is the most direct way in, and many journalists are hired out of theirs.
    A local story nobody else is reporting is worth more in a portfolio than an opinion about national news.
  4. Specialisation — where this career becomes sustainable之后
    General reporting is where most people start, and where pay stays low.
    What builds a career:
    Business and financial journalism — requires reading financial statements, and pays the most.
    Court and legal reporting — requires real legal understanding.
    Data journalism — overlapping with data analysis, and a growing field.
    The most common move: plenty of journalists move into public relations, corporate communications, or copywriting — where the same skills pay two to three times more.

Key SPM subjects

Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Inggeris, Sejarah

Sejarah →BM →English →

Questions students actually ask

Journalism pays badly — should I go into it?
The honest answer depends on whether you plan the next part.
The reality you must know: starting pay is around RM2,000–3,000, and it rises slowly. The industry has shrunk because the advertising that funded it moved to platforms. That is structure, not something effort changes.
But there are three ways this career works:
1. Specialise in something. Financial, legal or data journalism pays far more than general reporting, because the number of journalists who can read a financial statement or analyse a dataset is small.
2. Plan the move. Plenty of journalists move into PR or corporate communications after 3–5 years, where the same skills pay two to three times more. That is not a failure — newsroom experience makes you better at that work than people who never had it.
3. Use your language advantage. Malaysian journalists who work in three languages can report stories others cannot reach, and can write for international publications.
When you should do it: if the work itself is what you want, and you go in knowing the numbers. Not if you are hoping the pay will rise by itself.
Practice SPM Sejarah →K1 papers + AI answers · 3 languages

Where to study — universities and total fees

University Course Total fees Duration Location
First City University CollegeDiploma · DIPLOMA IN MASS COMMUNICATIONRM 19,5652 YearsBandar Utama, Selangor
Han Chiang University College of CommunicationDiploma · Diploma in Mass CommunicationRM 26,3002 YearsGeorge Town, Penang
SEGi University & CollegesDiploma · Diploma in Mass CommunicationRM 28,1253 YearsKota Damansara / KL / Subang / Penang / Sarawak
University of CyberjayaDiploma · Diploma in Mass CommunicationRM 30,0002 yearsCyberjaya, Selangor
INTI International University & CollegesDiploma · Diploma in Mass CommunicationRM 34,4822 yearsNilai / Subang / Penang
Kolej MDIS MalaysiaDiploma · Diploma in Mass CommunicationRM 38,7002 years 5 monthsEduCity, Iskandar Puteri, Johor
Dasein Academy of ArtDiploma · DIPLOMA IN MASS COMMUNICATIONRM 45,3002 years and 4 monthsWangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur
University of CyberjayaDegree · Bachelor in Mass Communication (Hounours)RM 50,0003 yearsCyberjaya, Selangor
First City University CollegeDegree · BA (HONOURS) MASS COMMUNICATIONRM 53,6803 YearsBandar Utama, Selangor
SEGi University & CollegesDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons)RM 55,7553 YearsKota Damansara / KL / Subang / Penang / Sarawak
SEGi University & CollegesDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) – ODLRM 55,7553 YearsKota Damansara / KL / Subang / Penang / Sarawak
INTI International University & CollegesDegree · 3+0 BA (Hons) Mass Communication, University of Hertfordshire, UKRM 67,2783 YearsNilai / Subang / Penang
INTI International University & CollegesDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons)RM 68,7863 YearsNilai / Subang / Penang
UCSI University / UCSI CollegeDegree · BA (HONS) MASS COMMUNICATIONRM 69,9503 YearsCheras, Kuala Lumpur
Xiamen University MalaysiaDegree · Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (Honours)RM 78,0003 yearsBandar Sunsuria, Sepang, Selangor
INTI International University & CollegesDegree · 3+0 BA (Hons) in Mass Communication, University of Hertfordshire, UKRM 80,4503 YearsNilai / Subang / Penang
Taylor’s University / Taylor’s CollegeDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours)RM 112,9923 yearSubang Jaya, Selangor
Taylor’s University / Taylor’s CollegeDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours) (Digital Media Production)RM 112,9923 yearSubang Jaya, Selangor
Taylor’s University / Taylor’s CollegeDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours) in Advertising and Brand ManagementRM 112,9923 yearSubang Jaya, Selangor
Taylor’s University / Taylor’s CollegeDegree · Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours) in Public Relations and Event ManagementRM 112,9923 yearSubang Jaya, Selangor

Fees are a guide only and change every year. Confirm the current figure with the university before you decide.

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Sources

Figures and policy on this page are checked against these reports. Last reviewed 2026-09.

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