It's a bit of news that's sent shockwaves through the journalism community. 

After 60 years, the shorter journalism course at City of Portsmouth College, formerly Highbury College, has been axed. 

For those outside the industry, Highbury College in Cosham was once the breeding ground of many of the country's top journalists. Sky’s Mark Austin, Times Radio’s John Pienaar, BBC's Alex Forsyth, The Portsmouth News' editor in chief Mark Waldron, Newsquest's very own Head of Editorial AI Jody Docherty-Cove, plus many, many more are included in its alumni. 

It used to run a very successful 20-week course accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). It covered everything you'd need to get a job in journalism - court, law, public affairs, etc. It was a badge of honour to be able to complete everything required and get good grades in the short time-frame.

In recent times, this course was extended to 28 weeks, probably because so many found learning shorthand - and reaching the dizzy speeds of 100 word per minute to get a gold standard - so challenging. 

Over the years it's run many variations of the course, all accredited by the NCTJ, with six month and even one year versions - with some even offering free places to those coming straight out of school. 

Many students spent time on placements with local news organisations too, either inspiring them to follow their journalism dreams or putting them off entirely. It was an effective way of ensuring those who enter news do so with their eyes open to its all-consuming nature. 

Its course fees, and shorter length, appealed to many people who wanted to use it as a cheaper alternative to university. And even those who had been through a journalism degree at uni, often found themselves at the end of their course, considerably poorer, and still lacking the vital practical skills required by many employers. 

At one time Highbury College was one of only four places in the country where you could get this sought-after diploma in journalism. However last year, it was one of 62 courses run by 32 centres. 

Has this small centre lost out to the competition? Or is it a symptom of the merger between what was once Portsmouth College and Highbury College? Merging these two centres in 2021 on the face of it looked like a good idea, to streamline further education in the city, but has it meant that it lost the unique selling points of each individual centre? Only the college would know that. 

In a statement the college blamed the small numbers of applicants. A dwindling number, perhaps put off by the hard work required, or perhaps unaware of the course entirely. From personal experience, it was usually the latter. 

I know through the amount of students asking to come into my newsrooms for work experience - and from the amount of schools and students signed up to Newsquest's Young Reporter Scheme, there's no shortage of appetite. Journalism still seems attractive - even if the marker of a good story is now judged by the amount of page views it gets rather than the amount of copies it sells in shops. 

A spokesperson for the City of Portsmouth College said: "Our Highbury Campus has a long and proud heritage of journalism training spanning six decades. During that time we have trained some of the country's finest journalists. 

"The decision to end training was certainly not taken lightly but reflects the changing face of the industry which has sadly resulted in a slow but steady decline in student interest. 
 
"We are of course committed to supporting all students and apprentices currently on courses through to completion. 

"The very small number of new applicants for this September will receive the appropriate careers information, advice and guidance from our specialist team to support them with their next steps.

"Should there be a resurgence in interest in future years we will of course look at reintroducing journalism studies but at this stage it's simply not viable."

What the axing of this rather unique small course will mean for journalism in general will only be seen in years to come. I have already seen other courses, in particular News Associates in London, stepping in to fill this void. Perhaps online training will now be the future? However, I still have serious doubts about how effective online shorthand tutoring is. 

As someone who regularly employs local talent - and who spent two years on a multimedia course at Highbury next to the journalism class - it's certainly a shame that this once incredible breeding ground has lost its way, been devalued and eventually shelved.  

The outpouring of shock on social media - from right across the media industry - should be enough to show that albeit small, this course was mighty and those who taught here should be proud that their legacy lives on through top quality standards stretching throughout the media.