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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:
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.
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
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.
This is an integrated multimedia journalism course that prepares you for a career in the global journalism industry by providing you with the core skills for print, broadcast, magazine and online platforms.
During the course you learn how to gather, organise, write and present information to a professional standard across a variety of platforms and to different audiences.
Key areas of study include • print • broadcast • digital/online journalism • writing and presentation skills • interviewing • TV and radio presentation skills • professional practice • global journalism • shorthand.
By selecting options to meet your own interests you are able to specialise in print journalism, magazine journalism, radio journalism and television journalism.
Throughout the course you gain an understanding of how your chosen area operates in Britain and internationally by examining different examples of journalistic practice. You are able to bring your own experience of journalism in your home country and gain insight into practices in Britain, Europe and the wider world. You study case-studies from regions of the world that interest you in order to compare different approaches to journalism.
Print and online journalism modules prepare you to develop the multiplatform skills to operate effectively as a news and feature journalist in any global newsroom. This means learning to develop a strong news sense, an ability to select and prioritise key facts and quotes, and writing skills for different platforms.
You also
Broadcast journalism modules develop your skills in radio and TV broadcasting, and in interviewing and presenting. You produce radio and TV packages in a dedicated TV and radio studio and two dedicated newsrooms.
Alongside practical skills, the course gives you the opportunity to study the ethical, legal and regulatory context in which journalism is practised. Theoretical content deepens your understanding and critical awareness of on-going debates about the economic and political role played by journalists and global news organisations in modern societies.
Read about opportunities and experiences available to our students on our Journalism blog.
Sheffield Hallam University acts as a centre for the NCTJ national examinations.
Semester one core modules
Semester one optional modules
Semester two core modules
Semester two optional modules
Semester three core modules
Journalism is a global industry and this course prepares you for a career in your home country or elsewhere in • print journalism • magazine journalism • sports journalism • online journalism • broadcast journalism (TV and radio) • public relations.
Journalism is a broad term and you could pursue a very rewarding career in any of its many forms.
A career in journalism suits those who are flexible and enjoy team work as you may be dealing with breaking news and a tight deadline. In today’s newsrooms journalists require skills across a range of media-platforms and need to be able to communicate news and information to a range of audiences.
There are opportunities to work on regional newspapers, television and radio throughout the world, but some choose to pursue a career in a national media industry and may therefore be based in a capital city. Many journalists work on a freelance basis and the demand for experienced freelancers is increasing, making this an attractive option, especially for feature writing.
In the UK salaries vary considerably depending on whether the post is a regional or national one. A regional journalist just starting out on a career in the UK can expect to earn £12,000 – £15,000 as a trainee, whereas an experienced person working for a national newspaper can expect up to around £35,000 – £40,000.
This MA is a practical introduction to TV journalism, and aims to teach you the professional conventions of UK news and current affairs broadcast journalism and relevant production skills.
The programme encourages a critical understanding of television journalistic practice, and an informed knowledge of the overall political and industrial contexts in which journalists are now working, including an introduction to multimedia journalism; it locates this understanding and creative development within a wider enquiry into the relationship between media practice and culture.
At the end of the programme you should be familiar with the techniques and practices of television journalism, and conversant with the wider ethical, legal and technological contexts of broadcast journalistic practice.
You will be able to describe the qualities of your own work and of its cultural significance, and have a professional standard portfolio of original television news, current affairs and online reports.
You'll be involved in all aspects of studio work, filmmaking and multimedia web journalism, including editorial experience on eastlondonlines.co.uk, our student-run independent news site. All teaching is workshop-based.
Where practicable and possible, you may undertake a placement of three to four weeks in a news or current affairs production company.
Winner of a Broadcast Journalism Training Council Award for Excellence in Teaching Broadcast Journalism 2007-8.
The programme is a practical introduction to TV news journalism. Modules are practical and skills-based, but are taught within a theoretical framework which is only possible in an institution renowned for its research work.
You'll cover:
In the first term you are taught in lectures, small group seminars and practical workshops for a period of approximately 12-15 hours. During the rest of the week, you are expected to work on individual and joint projects without supervision.
In the second term, teaching time of 8-10 hours is usually concentrated on two or three days per week to allow more time for production.
In the third term you are expected to work, with support, on your production for assessment.
Core modules
Assessment
Essay; unseen examination; production portfolio comprising the research, planning, shooting and editing of original current affairs reports; coursework assessment.
You'll develop:
Our graduates have gone on to pursue careers in:
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
