This course offers a hands-on curriculum that allows you to develop core journalistic skills in broadcast and digital media. You will learn the technical skills to master tv, audio and digital reporting. The course has a very practical focus, so you will develop your own story ideas and gather your own material through research and reporting for journalistic course work. You will be given full training in using our up-to-date media resources, ensuring that you graduate from the course as a multi-skilled journalist being competent in digital and broadcast journalism. While mainly being taught at our creative Harrow Campus, modules are also delivered at our Regent Street Campus in the heart of London allowing you the opportunity to report stories of this dynamic city in walking distance of the BBC or Buzzfeed.
The MA has been accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) which means we provide industry backed journalism training for online, TV and radio. Our students regularly win BJTC awards, and the course has been awarded the BJTC award for excellence in teaching.
Our teaching staff are highly experienced journalism professionals, and our graduates go on to work with a variety of leading media organisations including BBC TV and Radio, BBC News Online, ITN, Russia Today, Al Jazeera, the Financial Times and The Guardian, Conde Nast, and many other media houses in Britain and around the world.
There is a strong emphasis on learning through 'hands-on' practice, in small class groups, using our professional studios and standard facilities. Most of your assessed course-work will be 'real' journalism assignments, a preparation for the world of contemporary journalism.
As well as regular classes taught by experienced journalists on our staff, we also invite other media professionals as guest speakers or to critique student work. We support you in applying for work placements, encourage you to go to journalism events and network with professionals, and to pursue other journalism experiences.
You will have the chance to air your work on Smoke Radio, the University's multi-award-winning internet radio station, or post items onto the MA's own news site, Westminster World.
The course is taught over two semesters, and for the Masters students followed by the largely self-directed final project in the summer. Unlike many other journalism MAs, you can undertake an extensive practical Final Project. This could be a TV or radio documentary or a digital project. Students may undertake placements in the period from the Easter break to the end of the course to gather further work experience in a news or current affairs production company of usually three to four weeks. This MA can be taken as a part-time course (daytime) over two years studying two days a week after initial more intense orientation weeks.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Core modules
Optional modules
This course is accredited by Broadcast Journalism Training Council, BJTC.
Though designed to prepare you for a career in journalism, this course could also lead to a career in public relations, communications, or any other professional pathway which requires effective communication skills, and the use of convergent media.
Our graduates work in journalism and content production as editors, reporters, producers and successful freelancers. They have gone to work as editors with BBC News, written cover stories of The Guardian, have become producers at CNN and overlook the content output of a fashion brand or an NGO. Both pathways are accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC).
We assist students to get work placements during the course, provide career advice, arrange network events, and keep close contact to potential employers.
This course is suitable for students with a first degree, looking to become well-rounded broadcast journalists. You will have a keen interest in TV and radio news and current affairs plus sport, lifestyle and national and international politics. Though this course is NOT about presenting on screen or on air, you must be prepared to present your material on camera or mic, and write and direct material for others to perform. The MA in Broadcast Journalism is essentially about visual and audio communication of topical information, and requires a desire to communicate through essential team working. City provides an alumni network second to none in the UK broadcast industry; and provides possibly the best employment opportunities of any postgraduate broadcasting course in the UK.
Professor Sir Paul Curran, President says this about Journalism at City:
"Journalism at City began as a postgraduate department in 1976 and has developed some of the most respected MA Journalism courses in the country. Alumni include the BBC¹s Sophie Raworth and BBC Head of News James Harding, Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan, Editor of The Sun Tony Gallagher, Justine Picardie, Editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar UK, Channel 4's Ramita Navai and Al Jazeera's Barbara Sheera. Recent graduates are reporters, producers, editors and web content providers, across platforms ranging from the Financial Times and the BBC to Buzzfeed and Vice TV."
The MA in Broadcast Journalism produces award winning young journalists and has a superb reputation. You will learn learn comprehensive TV and radio skills. The course benefits from a large cohort of between 50 and 60 students with great networking and peer support. Teaching groups of 15 ensure personal contact with Professor Lis Howell; TV reporter Colette Cooney; Dr Abdullahi Tasiu; and key staff like radio practitioner Sandy Warr.
New from autumn 2016 Broadcast Journalism aims to offer 45 minutes long TV news programmes on news-days produced by students gaining practical training. Newswriting, television and radio journalism are taught in groups of fifteen and larger groups through lectures, workshops and broadcast simulation.
This degree is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC)
Work placements are an integral part of the Broadcast Journalism MA. MA Broadcasters arrange their own placements - with help from academics if necessary. You must have 15 days of work experience whilst on the course. This usual happens during the the Christmas break. The size of the City cohorts past and present means unique networking opportunities with present students and 4,000 alumni.
Organisations who have hosted City students in the past include:
In 2014 we completed a £12m development project for our Journalism facilities. These facilities were developed in consultation with experts from the BBC and ITN and were praised by the BJTC. They include:
Some courses are taught in lecture theatres, but most are small-group workshops that allow you to develop your journalistic skills and knowledge with the support of our expert academics.
Activities include lectures, practical work in groups and individually, personal tutorials, and independent learning
This pathway is taught by professors, senior lecturers and lecturers, with industry practitioners as visiting lecturers, and a number of key industry visiting speakers.
All MA Journalism courses at City are practical, hands-on courses designed for aspiring journalists. As a result, much of your coursework will be journalistic assignments that you produce to deadline, as you would in a real news organisation.
Assessments vary from module to module but include coursework, practical work both in groups and individually, a Final Project, a written timed test, and essays.
All of our Broadcast Journalism MA students must undertake core modules in Ethics, Rules and Standards and a Final Project. As a Broadcast Journalism student you will take a module in Newsgathering for TV and Radio; a module in Newsdays and longer form film-making; and a module in Data Journalism. Teaching hours are between Monday to Friday during working hours, and occasionally outside those times.
According to the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey (DLHE), 96.8% of previous graduates from this course were in employment six months after completing the course earn an average salary of £23,000.
Previous graduates go on to work as journalists, producers, or Head of Media & Communications.
Alumni include famous names such as:
Recent graduates of the MA Broadcasting include:
A master's degree course that has been designed and will be delivered by sports journalism industry professionals to create practitioners of Sport Broadcast and prepare them to be industry ready for employment in sport broadcast journalism. The master's degree course has been written in collaboration with the Broadcast Journalism Training Council who will make an accreditation visit in 2017.
Students will develop and master a wide spectrum of broadcast journalism production skills, learn to self-shoot and edit and sharpen their journalistic instinct and editorial judgment. They will critically examine the reciprocal relationship between socio-political issues, modern media coverage and professional sport. Students will also study elements of media law, and analyse how ethics, a sense of fairness, impartiality, accuracy and a robust knowledge of regulations and rights play a crucial part in operating within the modern broadcasting landscape.
The inclusion of a significant work placement module (60 credits) in this sports journalism degree offers the opportunity to work in our internal broadcast unit for a minimum of 15 sport-news production days and provides a second placement opportunity with one of our external broadcast partners. We have placement opportunities with all the major broadcasters in Wales and further afield for students who are prepared to travel; these include a number of Welsh medium placement opportunities. Through this, students will gain practical, real-world experience of various broadcast roles; presenter, reporter, producer, director, videographer, camera operator, floor manager, video editor, social media producer, commentator and all-round broadcast journalist. Students will learn to research, network and build contacts, elevating their sports reporting and writing skills to the next level and master the art of story-telling and content making in the fast-changing digital age through social media platforms, blogging and podcasts.
Due to the popularity of the postgraduate sport programmes, please ensure you submit your application as early as possible within the year. Programmes will be closed over the summer of 2018 when full capacity is reached. Please contact the programme director for further information.
Proposed modules on the programme include: 80 taught credits, a 60 credit professional broadcasting placement module and a 40 credit production dissertation. Proposed titles of the modules are:
There are no option modules for the programme.
All modules, with the exception of the Production Dissertation and the Professional Broadcasting Placement are 20 credit modules. Allocated teaching timetabled (contact time) delivery for such modules usually equals a minimum of 30 hours of time supplemented with up to 60 hours of directed study time and up to 60 hours of independent study time. Contact time is normally made up of lectures, seminars, practical laboratories/workshops, fieldwork, professional visits, placement learning and individual and/or group tutorials. Group discussions and practical tasks are frequently used. Student learning is supported through the use of our Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) that provides learning resources over and above that found in the learning centre (library). All learners are supported with access to a personal tutor. Initially, this is usually the Programme Director with the dissertation supervisor adopting this responsibility at a later date within the students' programme of study. All students are supported with a professional placement supervisor from both the University and industry when undertaking the Professional Broadcasting Placement module.
This programme will be assessed through coursework, work placement assessments, portfolios of creative work and group tasks.
All students will receive support for assessment through academic support in the library, formative tasks and peer assessment.
A 60 credit work placement is designed to ensure that graduates of the programme have had significant “real world experience” and engagement with the industry that will make them uniquely prepared for work in the Sport Broadcast Industry. With its focus on skill acquisition together with academic reflection on the socio-political implications of Sport, graduates from this programme will be able to meet the needs of a rapidly developing Sport Broadcast industry.
Accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council
Determined, articulate, and fascinated by current affairs? Learn journalism in our Broadcast Zone, using industry-standard tech, then go into the city to film and record – and put your skills to the test on production newsdays, working with a team to hit tough deadlines for the bulletins you create.
We'll prepare you for the multimedia environment by teaching you how to create audio and video for the web and how to use social media effectively.
A masters from Sheffield is the mark of someone who thinks differently. Graduates from our applied courses are creative, disciplined journalists.
They’re working in radio and television, newspapers and magazines, print and online, across the UK and internationally.
The BBC, Guardian, Daily Mail, Channel 4, Sky and Wall Street Journal all employ Sheffield journalists.
Our teaching staff are professionals who have worked at the highest level in newspaper, magazine, radio, television and online journalism. This is a great place to learn practical skills. Three quarters of our research is rated world-leading or internationally excellent. The discussion of ideas about journalism, its past, present and future, is part of all our courses.
We have strong links with the industry. We send our masters students on a three-day field trip to London, visiting national news organisations for briefings on current developments with senior editors and meeting politicians and political journalists.
Guests from the media industries, regulators, campaigning groups and research institutes give lectures in the department. Broadcast editors run radio and television newsdays, and print and online production editors bring their expertise to newspaper, web and magazine exercises.
If you’re taking one of our applied courses, we encourage you to go on a work placement of one to three weeks during vacation time. Employers regularly notify us as opportunities come up and we have a dedicated work placement administrator to help you find a placement that’s right for you. Our students often find a work placement leads to a job after graduation.
All our applied postgraduate courses are accredited by the main professional bodies representing the media industries: the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the Professional Publishers Association. Our International Political Communication and Global Journalism programmes are not accredited and have limited practical content.
The University has invested £3 million in a superb new home for the department in 2014, with four large newsrooms designed to simulate a real working environment. The print newsroom is equipped with 30 PCs, all of which have access to the latest print production software such as Adobe Indesign, Incopy and Photoshop. You’ll also have access to a Press Association newsfeed, telephones, daily newspapers and Sky TV.
The broadcast newsroom is equipped with industry-standard software for radio production. We have a state-of-the-art radio studio and digital audio recorders. Students on the applied MA courses learn how to create packages, put together live news bulletins, shoot professional news pieces on HD TV cameras, and use Apple Final Cut X to cut rushes together. They acquire the skills needed to prepare text, audio and video content for publication online. These degrees also show how to use audio recorders, video and stills cameras to gather content. In the web newsroom, students use audio, video and image editing software to create their own sites.
There are a limited number of external bursaries for UK students on the Print, Magazine and Broadcast courses, from the AHRC, Scott Trust and Journalism Diversity Fund. Please see our web pages for details.
A range including:
There are lectures, seminars, group workshops, individual and team assignments.
You’re assessed on essays, examinations and practical broadcast journalism – producing news stories, radio and TV news items and features, web pages and portfolios.
Want to bring your sports knowledge to radio, the internet or television screens? Southampton Solent’s Sports Broadcast Journalism master’s degree is an advanced course designed to help bring you closer to a career working in video or audio production in the world of sport. Taught by industry professionals and academics, this is a challenging course where teaching is led by professional standards and industry practices.
On this advanced-level course, students learn how to source, gather and deliver professional sports content on numerous different video and audio platforms across a wide variety of sports. The course also encourages students to develop their editorial and technical skills and build relationships with external clients, whilst creating a portfolio of video, audio and academic material to showcase their abilities to potential employers.
With an increasing demand from sports audiences for innovative approaches to storytelling and high-quality production, broadcasters must constantly update their practices and utilise social media to research and promote their work. Understanding and adapting to changes within this fast-moving industry is core to the teaching on this master’s degree.
Regular ‘news days’, where students will need to respond, gather and produce stories for a same-day news and radio output, are built into the course programme to further increase students’ exposure to a realistic broadcast environment and prepare them for the deadlines and quick-thinking they’ll need to demonstrate to become a sports broadcaster. This element of the course is regarded by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council as good teaching practice.
Recent BA (Hons) Sports Journalism graduates gained full-time employment at Daily Mail Online, The Guardian, Sky Sports, BBC Local Radio, M&Y Media, Inside the Games, Southend United FC, plus a variety of Freelance Journalist roles. Some students have moved into Public Relations, with one in an Account Manager role that earns £50,000 straight out of university.
This course is well-suited to those with a sport or journalism background who wish to move into sports broadcasting across traditional and digital platforms.
The course content is ideal for students wishing to gain a deep understanding of the technical and practical aspects of broadcasting.
Students on this course have full access to the University’s industry-standard broadcast facilities, which include four television studios, eight radio studios and extensive editing and production facilities which are configured to industry standard. High definition camera equipment is also available to all video production students.
Students also have access to camera equipment and professional recording devices, plus radio and TV studios. Use of computers with Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Audition plus the use of normal Solent resources: library and IT centres.
Suitable roles for graduates include sports journalists or editors at TV stations, radio stations, productions companies or live TV units; newspaper or magazine content production; online presenter/producer; freelance broadcasting; public relations; digital and social media communications; crisis management.
Graduates would be advised to gain the Diploma in Journalism or National Qualification in Journalism which is offered by the National Centre for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).
MPhil/PhD options are open to those wishing to pursue academic research and teaching.
The course team themselves are current industry professionals engaged in regular broadcast practice with television and radio channels such as Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, BT Sport, ITV, BBC, BBC Radio Solent.
The course also builds on Solent’s current relationships with professional and amateur sports clubs in the South, including Hampshire County Cricket Club, for whom the University is an official provider of video content, and Southampton Football Club. Previous students on our sports journalism courses have benefitted from guest lectures and workshops by industry speakers.
The MA course is new but the BA (Hons) Sports Journalism course is taught by lecturers who are all still working in the industry (Sky Sports, ITV, BT Sport, BBC Radio Solent) which means that getting high-profile guests in to talk is very easy. The guest lecturers have come down to do Q&A's, Mock Interviews, critique work and offer career advice.
Recent broadcast guests include: Sarah Gomme and Fred Dinenage (ITV Meridian); Tom Hepworth (BBC South Today); Nigel Dean (Sky Sports); Chris Eldergill (CNN World Sport); Jeff Freeman (IMG); Paul Belverstone (Premier League Productions)
Assignments in several units to suit the needs of their employers, including:
Half of the Professional Practice unit involves an extended work placement within the Broadcast Industry. The course has links with industry and will provide an extended work placement (up to 15 weeks) with a broadcaster. That's Solent is the first partner but there are also conversations happening with BT Sport, Eurosport and Perform. The placement will take place in Period Two of the course but will include one day of university work each week to attend Sports Broadcast Production.
There will be one assessment in Period 1 which will be on the lecture-based teaching and then a Period 2 assessment will be a reflection on their 15-week work placement.
Students are able to gain vital hands-on experience in relevant environments such as local or national television and radio stations.
The course is aligned with and has been written in consultation with the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC), who also accredit the University’s Sports Journalism undergraduate degree. BJTC partners include the BBC News, ITV News, Sky News, Reuters.
Our MA Broadcast Journalism course will equip you with the necessary skills, knowledge, understanding and other attributes expected of professional broadcast journalists at the start of their careers.
You will engage critically with, and make informed judgments on current professional practices and ethical issues. In addition you will be expected to apply specialised techniques. At Masters' level, you will plan and carry out a significant project of original research, culminating in a documentary or broadcast portfolio.
Areas of focus will include:
Our course is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC).
To flourish in the digitally-enabled field of contemporary journalism our course will equip you with the following essential skills:
Modules
As a student on the MA Broadcast Journalism course, you will take three modules:
These modules will hone your journalistic practice.
Your creative and collaborative skills will be developed by producing infographics, working with short form video, and broadcasting 'live' on social platforms, as well as undertaking a work placement.
In addition, you will undertake three pathway-specific modules:
Broadcast:
Sport:
Mobile & Social Media:
All students them complete the MA by undertaking a significant research practice project.
The course has an outstanding employment record. Recent graduates have found work at the BBC and STV, a host of commercial radio stations such as Radio Clyde and Heart, busy media offices, and a range of high-quality journalism employers.
"It's clear that without the training and experience gained by studying at UWS I wouldn't be where I am in my career. From practice 'news days', to learning media law, all of the knowledge gained during my Postgrad is put to daily use. The teaching provided is second to none, with regular visits from industry professionals. Employers are regularly impressed with the quality of graduates from UWS. One just needs to look around my newsroom to see the large number of people who studied the course; proof that it's a well-respected and clear route into the profession."
Alan Jenkins, Broadcast Journalist, STV
This course has been designed to help you find challenging and rewarding work in journalism.
During your time with us, you will learn the skills that you will need to become an incisive, thoughtful and successful journalist.
As well as a general professional grounding in journalism, you will also be able to specialise in your second semester in print and online journalism, broadcast journalism or sports journalism, depending on which pathway you choose in your second semester.
Upon graduation, you will be awarded a PgDip or MA degree and will have had the opportunity to achieve the NCTJ Diploma - all are important qualifications to help launch your career in the UK media industry.
This is a highly intensive course and only for you if you are fully committed to becoming a working journalist, particularly in the UK. You will study modules closely aligned with the NCTJ syllabus so that you are also able to pass seven components of the NCTJ Diploma, such as Media Law and Reporting.
During trimester 1, you will study the basic skills of writing news in print, broadcast and online formats. These key skills are supported by study of media law and also ethical practice to encourage you to become a highly aware journalist. Intrinsic to this course are daily sessions of shorthand, a traditional skill still valued by the modern news industry, including broadcast organisations.
You will be able to sit NCTJ examinations at the end of trimester 1 and also complete the NCTJ Portfolio during trimester 2, when you will be encouraged to sit the NCTJ's shorthand exam and pass at 100 words per minute.
At the beginning of trimester 2, you will be able to take one of the three pathways in news, broadcast or sports journalism. However, you will be able to gain the NCTJ qualification, irrespective of the pathway you choose.
Once you pass the Postgraduate Diploma, you are eligible to study the optional MA Major Project in trimester 3 (summer) to be submitted in mid-September.
Work placements are arranged during trimester 1 and trimester 2.
The majority of the course is delivered largely through workshops and students are assessed mainly by coursework and projects, with some formal examinations.
80% Workshops and 20% Lectures.
Careers range from newspapers to radio and TV, websites and the public relations sector.
CAREER PROSPECTS
Thanks to our strong links with the BBC, many of our graduates are now employed by the British public service broadcaster, working for news and sports output across radio, TV and online. Several of our students have secured the very competitive BBC news traineeships in recent years. Others have gone on to get positions with regional newspapers and news agencies, while some have entered public relations, where companies value the core journalistic qualification offered by the course.
LINKS WITH INDUSTRY
Students get the opportunity during the course to do industry placements in their chosen specialism area. This gives them valuable experience of working in newsrooms, having content published or broadcast, and the chance to establish useful links with professionals. Our placement partners include the BBC, ITV (Granada Reports), the Manchester Evening News, Bolton News, Key 103 and local news agencies.
The course is suitable for students with a good first degree, and a strong interest in international news and the way it is reported. The course combines a strong emphasis on practice with rigorous academic discussion of current trends in global journalism.
Students who successfully complete this MA in International Journalism are very employable in the media.
The MA in International Journalism is a keystone course at City and has built up a worldwide reputation. This course has been running since 1982 and has more than 1,000 alumni working in journalism around the world.
During the course, you will become adept at print, broadcast and online journalism in a global context by:
You will learn how to gather and report in various styles and modes for a range of media (print, broadcast, online). You will also explore the contemporary global domain of journalism.
The course attracts students from all over the world, who will become your future professional network. You will benefit from being in one of the world’s most significant media cities with access to thousands of international journalists and sources.
On this course you will gain from using both traditional and contemporary journalism tools, and acquire comprehensive skills,which you can take back to your own country or move on with to anywhere in the world.
We actively encourage all our journalism student to undertake work placements during their studies with us. Many of our students are very pro-active and opt to undertake a placement. Placements are an essential step in developing their career in journalism as they help students put their learning into practice and make contacts in the industry.
Work placements are not formally assessed or arranged as part of the MA Programme but your personal tutor can advise you in suitable organisations to approach that may suit your chosen specialisms.
You will gain practical skills in our state-of-the-art digital television studio, digital editing suites, radio studios and broadcast newsrooms.
In 2014 we completed a £12m development projects for our Journalism facilities. These facilities were developed in consultation with experts from the BBC and ITN, and were praised by the BJTC. Our facilities include:
The International Journalism MA is a professional/practice course with an emphasis on developing practical skills in journalism. The teaching staff are all professional journalists in print, broadcast or online. We focus on "learning by doing" - you cover real stories and produce newspapers, run a radio station, broadcast on the internet, and produce television news programmes and multimedia websites.
During the course, you have opportunities to meet, listen to and question journalists and other people from the media. You are encouraged to reflect on your own experiences as journalists and the ways in which practicing journalists do their jobs by developing an understanding of ethical issues in journalism, the media and international reporting.
You will be treated as a professional journalist throughout the practice-based elements of the course. Learning is intensive and at times teaching hours will resemble those of a full-time job.
Some modules are taught in lecture theatres, such as Global Journalism and Society and Ethics, Rules and Standards, but most are small-group workshops that allow you to develop your journalistic skills and knowledge with the support of our expert academics.
Assessment is part of learning, and course assessments vary to reflect the learning being
achieved. They include workshop exercises, studio work, oral presentations, essays, reflections
and production (making journalism products), and different forms (written, oral, visual, aural), as
well as being individual and team-based.
You will take modules in storytelling and online journalism before specialising in either print, broadcast or online journalism. This choice informs your studies for the rest of the course through to the completion of a final project.
There is a dissertation option if you prefer a more academic route through the course.
You are encouraged to complete an internship, either in the UK or overseas. This must be arranged by you.
Core modules
Elective modules
Core electives:
Electives:
According to the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey (DLHE 2014-15), 92.6 per cent of graduates from this course are in employment six months after completing the course (95.5 per cent in work or further study). Graduates work in both global and national media and in allied occupations around the world.
Most recently, these have included roles from researchers to editors in broadcasting such as:
and major newspapers and magazines including:
In the heart of London’s huge and diverse media district,students have unrivalled access to industry internships and contacts.
