Sport Broadcast - MSc/PgD/PgC

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. Students this year have enjoyed placements with BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, World Rugby, WRU, Made In Cardiff, S4C, Glamorgan Cricket, Swansea City, Cardiff Devils, Sport Wales and many other local and national broadcasters, sports organisations and governing bodies.

Guest speakers have included several award winning presenters, reporters, journalists, producers, directors, camera operators, editors and lighting experts: Eddie Butler (BBC commentator), Frances Donovan (Premier League TV presenter), Carolyn Hitt (Wales Online & BBC presenter), Dylan Ebenezer (S4C/ Sgorio presenter), Nick Hartley (ITV/ITN reporter) and Alan Wilkins (ESPN & Eurosport presenter).

Course Content

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: 

• Television Broadcasting (20 credits) 
• Radio and Digital Broadcasting (20 credits)
• Research Skills in Journalism (20 credits)
• Ethics, Media Law and Landscape (20 credits) 
• Professional Broadcasting Placement (60 credits) 
• Production Dissertation (40 credits) 

There are no option modules for the programme.

Learning & Teaching

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.

Assessment

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.

Employability & Careers

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.

Visit the Sport Broadcast - MSc/PgD/PgC page on the Cardiff Metropolitan University website for more details!