Course description

The highlights

This is a flexible Master’s degree in Journalism which allows you to pick modules to focus on your interests and aspirations. You are introduced to the role of journalism in democracies and the impact journalism and news media has on peoples lives and societies. Your research, critical thinking and research skills will be developed culminating in a thesis or practice based project.

• You will be a curious individual who question the world we live in and want to interrogate why society operates as it does
• You will be taught in our purpose build journalism facilities which include radio studios, a television studio, video editing suites, Mac suites and a newsroom featuring the latest software
• We’ll make sure you have an exceptional student experience, with more contact hours than most universities and staff that go the extra mile to support you
• We offer three undergraduate journalism courses.

Focus on what matters to you

This programme is designed to give you the opportunity to specialise in the areas that interest you.

You will examine key debates and current affairs, national and international and look at the impact upon societies. There are options to tailor the study to your interests. Your thesis or practice based project can be on a topic, subject of genre of journalism of your choice.

A blend of new and traditional skills

There has never been a more exciting or challenging time to study journalism.

You are encouraged to critically view news and current affairs nationally and internationally. This will develop your skills in analysing and synthesising information and presenting your own arguments.

There are optional modules in:

• Data Journalism and Data Science, which will help you understand data analysis and how it is applied by journalists
• Investigating Journalism and Politics enables you to examine the relationship between journalism and politics and critically explore notions of power and influence in the reporting of politics, nationally and internationally
• Audience Studies offers a critical introduction to the ways in which the media engages with audiences.

Our academics have extensive links with media companies, individual journalists, and other industry organisations such as regulators and societies. You can use these links to help you find work experience and projects with national, regional, and local newspapers, BBC and independent radio, specialist reporting groups such as the BBC’s combined data unit, the Centre for Investigative Journalism, and many others.

How you will learn

We use a range of approaches to enable your learning. These include lectures, seminars, tutorials, debates, workshops and guest speakers from the media industry. In addition, there is an emphasis on self-directed study, as you would expect for a masters.

We have a blended learning strategy, which means that in addition to face-to-face teaching, you can also find materials for all modules on the virtual learning environment, which will support your independent work.

How you are assessed

There are a variety of ‘summative assessments’ towards the end of each module, such as essays, oral presentations, reports that draw on qualitative and quantitative data, and critically reflective pieces.

As well as the summative assessments, we will ask you to undertake regular small-scale tasks — such as asking you to explain theories and concepts or asking you to produce a small piece of journalistic content. We’ll provide feedback on these activities to help you evaluate your own strengths, weaknesses, abilities and talents: a critical part of masters-level study.