The name

Why is it called an Institute?

The word “institute” means: an association organised to promote art, science or education; a permanent organisational body created for a certain purpose; a research organisation; or a professional body.
WORDNET: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute

The Institute of Journalists Malaysia was conceived of as a professional body, to represent the journalism profession in Malaysia, and as a permanent organisation to foster and promote the practice of free and fair journalism to high professional standards.

Thus it meets most aspects of the definition of “institute”.

There is a misconception that “institute” only means school, because of common usage by colleges, particularly of art. However, the Malaysian Institute of Directors is a professional body, so is the Malaysian Institute of Management, which is both a professional body and a training institution.

The IoJ’s objective is to be the leading professional body for all journalists, In its effort to raise standards in journalism, the IoJ will also make efforts to improve the skills, abilities and knowledge of all journalists.