BA (Hons) Journalism and Media

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose this course?

This is a fascinating time to be a media professional, with traditional media like magazines, television, and radio, jostling for attention alongside PR, blogs, podcasts, and social media. You’ll gain two vital media skills by combining journalism and media. This exciting course will develop your practical, professional writing skills, shed new light on how the media works and get you some hands-on experience that employers are really looking for.

You'll gain real-world skills including how to create and publish content for a broad range of formats including video, podcasts, print, and online. In the final year, you can take up work experience, work for a client or even start your own media business—all guided by tutors.

The course places a strong emphasis on building confidence in your communication skills and employment prospects. You'll have the opportunity to learn about internships and take part in industry events thanks to our affiliation with the Public Relations and Communications Association, one of Britain's top trade organisations for PR professionals. You can attend our Media Matters guest lectures (see below for more detail) given by a range of media speakers from top journalists to our recent graduates.

Our inspiring, industry-experienced academic team will develop your journalistic skills, alongside learning about media theory and skills, including digital, and other roles within the media. We’re rated TEF Gold, making us one of the best universities for teaching and support.

What's the course about?

Teaching delivery is varied. Workshops are used for modules where the degree of practical skills taught is enhanced by the supervision of experts in their field but there are also seminars and lectures. Attainment of learning outcomes is also assessed in a range of formats from traditional essays to presentations, creating adverts or campaigns, or working in a small group to create presentations or another creative project.

In your first year, you’ll explore the basics of journalism, learning about how to tell factual stories in written form, through blogs and podcasting, and video. You’ll also reflect on how journalists should and do behave and their relationship with the government. You’ll also learn about the media industry and about how media is changing in our globalised world.

In your second year, you’ll start to broadcast, brainstorm ideas for a magazine concept, learn about how journalism changed the world, and gain insights into the fast-paced world of news. In media, you’ll explore the world of branding or magazine design, learn about the publishing industry and have the opportunity to create a short video documentary.

Work placement/study abroad option: Between your second and final year, you’ll have the option to study abroad or complete a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about, but it will also give your CV a boost. If you would rather go straight to your final year, that’s fine too. You can decide in your second year with us, so there is still plenty of time to think about this.

In your final year, you’ll get a wide range of options. In journalism, you will report on international stories, create your own website, have work experience, freelance, or create your own media business. You will also practice writing for a variety of audiences. In media, choose between practical projects such as creating a media project for a client or designing for the web, or learning more about Public Relations, Advertising, or the relationship between media and identity and celebrity and media. This is when you’ll use our membership of the P.R.C.A and B.S.M.E to your best advantage to gain opportunities to network professionally and build up your professional skills.

Your main campus is de Havilland

You’ll share this campus with students from business, law, sport, education, and humanities subjects. The student housing is close to our Sports Village which includes a gym, swimming pool, and climbing wall. You can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner in our on-campus restaurant or bar (in the newly built Enterprise Hub) on days you don’t feel like cooking. You can also use the common room to play pool, video games or just to hang out with friends. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.

This course includes the options of:

• Work placement
• Study abroad