Course description

The highlights

• Study our brand-new curriculum, which has been updated to keep pace with the industry. Exciting new modules include Live Radio and Podcasting, The Newsroom, and Fashion Journalism.
• Through coursework and placements, you’ll gain direct experience of producing stories for online, print and broadcast formats.
• Learn from tutors that are highly experienced and well connected, having worked in online, print and broadcast roles for organisations like the BBC, ITV News, and local media outlets.
• Hear the latest insights, get advice from the best in industry and build contacts. We recently visited the BBC’s flagship political programme, Sunday, and took part in a Q&A with Laura Kuenssberg.
• After the first year, choose many of your modules and focus on areas that interest you, such as PR and social media, politics, live radio and podcasting, or data journalism.

A global journalism degree for 2023 and beyond

Journalism is a global, multiplatform industry that evolves as quickly as the technology that supports it does, so we've ensured our course evolves too.

Take our new Podcasting and Live Radio module — an optional module in year three. There’s been a huge growth in podcasts and smart-speaker journalism over the last few years, so we’ll teach you how to have fun creating niche podcasts and how to monetise these in a saturated market.

Then there’s our core modules in year two, The Newsroom and Future Trends in Journalism. In The Newsroom, you will take part in ‘news days’ across all platforms of journalism (broadcast, online, and print) working in groups to meet the challenges of a live scenario with fixed goals and a strict deadline. Meanwhile, in Future Trends in Journalism, you will learn how to use smart devices (e.g. phones and speakers) and associated technologies to tell the story and understand how your audience views content on those devices.

We’ve also given the course a more global outlook, considering journalism’s role in global affairs, politics and international relations, and decolonisation.

Find the stories that interest you

This degree starts by teaching you the essential knowledge and skills that all journalists or content creators need today — skills in researching, sourcing interviewees, writing news articles, producing online content (including search engine optimisation: SEO), and recording and editing audio and video. We’ll also cover an essential element of all journalism degrees, Media Law, but you’ll study this in a creative and fun way.

From year two onwards, you will have more freedom to determine the content you want to create and the format you want to make it in. Through optional modules and assignments, you can set your own agenda and go out and find stories to report on, whether those are about politics, business, fashion, sport, music or food. We'll also provide opportunities for you to cover local events, such as fashion shows, sports competitions, music concerts and more.

Publish your work

We give all journalism students an online platform for their work: the StoryHub website and Twitter feed, so you can publish as frequently as you want. You’ll also get the opportunity to gain work experience, and even paid work, with media outlets such as Reach plc and the BBC. Every year, our students cover the unique Ashbourne Shrovetide Football event, producing content that is often used by the BBC and Sky.

Plus, if you choose to join our student-run communications agency, you can get extra experience of working for real clients and further insight into how content is used for PR and marketing purposes.

Building industry knowledge and contacts

This BA (Hons) Journalism features a packed programme of guest speakers and events designed to boost your industry contacts and career prospects. For example:

• We visited the BBC’s flagship political programme, Sunday, and took part in a Q&A with Laura Kuenssberg.
• We hold an annual Employability Day. This gives you a unique opportunity to speak one-to-one with media and journalism professionals and ask them anything you want.

Outstanding facilities

You'll be based at our Markeaton Street and Kedleston Road sites, which have everything a journalist needs. Our facilities include three radio studios, a fully equipped television studio, video editing suites, Mac suites and a newsroom featuring the latest software, including Adobe Creative Suite.

Our radio studios have recently been refurbished and fitted with Calrec technology — a leading range of broadcast audio mixing consoles and equipment. All large media companies are now migrating to this technology, so we're ahead of the game.

All of this means you’ll be confident using industry-standard technology, giving you an advantage when you're looking for a job.

Study abroad

We can offer opportunities for you to spend time in another country, including studying at our partner universities or working on a placement or internship

How you will learn

You will learn in a variety of ways, including through:

• workshops
• news days
• work experience/real projects for employers
• lectures and seminars, including guest lectures from key industry figures
• fieldtrips
• technical visits
• conferences.

Assessment

You will be assessed by coursework assignments, which may include:

• features and news articles
• videography and podcasting
• live broadcasting
• social media campaigns
• smartphone and smart speaker journalism
• academic essays.

These assignments will enable you to build up a wide-ranging portfolio of work to show employers when you graduate.

Who you'll meet

Neil Roberts is a senior lecturer who has spent 25 years working in newspapers and TV, including the Liverpool Echo, the News of the World, BBC Sport, ITN and IMG. He’s worked on major stories such as the death of Princess Diana and the 2005 London bombings, and has interviewed stars such as Paul McCartney and David Beckham.

Neil Manship is a senior lecturer who began his career as sports reporter at the Derby Telegraph. He then moved into radio and TV, working as a reporter, producer and presenter for the BBC. This included 13 years as a lead producer and manager for BBC Look North. He’s most proud of producing ‘Programme of the Year’ in The BBC Nations and Regions Awards.

Richard Bowyer is a senior lecturer an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience. He’s worked on numerous Midlands’ newspapers, including the Wolverhampton Express and Star, Lincolnshire Echo and Stoke Sentinel, rising through the ranks to become Editor-in-Chief of Staffordshire Sentinel Newspapers (his career highlight) and later, Group Editor of West Staffordshire Newspapers and its associated websites.