As you'd expect from a Russell Group university, the Journalism Studies BA is intellectually demanding.

The best journalists grapple with the complex legal and moral issues around their work. They need the brain power to make tough decisions in an instant and call it right every time. You'll need to prepare for this by getting stuck in to the heavyweight academic content on the course.

We'll also equip you with practical skills like framing a camera shot, shorthand (still a vital tool in journalists' locker) and editing digital audio and video. You'll learn to write sharp, attention-grabbing copy, structure news bulletins and use social media like a pro.

But it doesn't end there. You'll need to go out and uncover stories for yourself, attending council meetings and court cases, and making contacts in your 'patch'. Then with your team you'll turn your stories into TV, radio and web content back here in our newsrooms, meeting real deadlines to break the news.

So you’ll need initiative, persistence and imagination to be successful on the course – and as a journalist. It's no easy ride and we know it's asking a lot. But don't be put off. If you get a place on the course, it means you're good enough.

For optional modules that are outside of the department, we aren't able to prevent timetable clashes as we don't have access to check other departments timetables. Due to this you need to check your timetable for every week (as the timetabling may differ between weeks) and let us know as soon as possible if if there are any clashes. We aren't able to change the timetable for these clashes and so whilst we will try to accommodate, there are times when you will be required to choose another optional module.

Teaching on our degree courses is organised into modules. Each module is a programme of study concerning a particular aspect of journalism, media and communication. Modules all have their own particular reading lists, timetables of lectures and workshops, and systems of assessment (exams, coursework and so on).

All the content you'll cover in the first year of the degree is combined into an a module called Essential Journalism. In your second and third years, core modules cover more of the fundamental skills and knowledge; while optional modules allow you to shape the degree to your career goals or research interests, such as investigative journalism, storytelling with data, or advanced broadcast production.

A full outline of your degree structure, with a list of all modules (including the Guided Module Choice list for Levels 2 and 3) can be found searching for your programme in the Programme Regulations Finder. This will show a breakdown of which modules take place at each level of study.

Level 1 Modules

Essential Journalism (CORE) - 120 credits

This module develops news writing, news production and academic skills, combined with theoretical understanding of journalism in both a national and international context. It also provides an introduction to key future themes such as media law, ethics and analysing information. Students will learn how to write and structure news stories, develop interviewing skills, source and use quotes, and journalistic social media skills, amongst others. Themes include; journalism and politics; media freedom; journalism and society; audiences; technology and innovation in journalism; law and ethics; current debates in industry; and analysing news agendas.

Level 2 Modules

Core modules

Live News Production - 60 credits

This module will give students a range of multi-platform production skills to showcase their journalism and to enable them to operate as critically thinking professionals. The module will gradually build up students' real world experience and will enable them to operate as self-motivated individuals as well as within a team. Students will work as Journalists in a variety of ways - ranging from the fast paced Newsday environment to the production of features, documentaries, projects and portfolios over a longer period of time. Students will learn to work as professionals while adhering to industry guidelines and making connections with academic theory.

Media Law for Journalists - 20 credits

This module provides for those wishing to be journalists, or studying journalism, essential knowledge of media law applying in England and Wales, and of regulatory codes which UK journalists should comply with. This law includes that of defamation, privacy and contempt of court, and other law governing court reporting. The codes seek to uphold journalistic standards generally, including protection of people's privacy and of the identities of sources promised confidentiality. The module also demonstrates that UK journalists can assert `human rights' which in law and the codes uphold freedom of expression, including publication of material `in the public interest'. 

Optional modules - A

Reporting Justice - 20 credits

This module introduces journalism students to the skills required to write news reports from Crown, magistrates' and coroners' courts cases. Student will visit these courts to makes notes on real cases for these reports. Feedback is given to each student on their draft and finalised reports, and on their notes. Their accuracy in note-taking and speed in writing such a news report is assessed in a formal examination in which they write up a news report of a hypothetical 'prosecution opening' of a trial.

Introduction to PR for Journalists - 20 credits

This module will provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to communicate messages through the media. Case studies and practical workshops will allow students to learn about the practice of media communication. They will learn how the media operates and how to communicate messages through interviews, press conferences, news releases and social media. Topics covered in the module will include the development of communication strategies, the understanding of news values and news cycles and strategies for successful and ethical communication.

Optional Modules - B

Data Driven Storytelling - 20 credits

Data-driven approaches to reporting are gaining in popularity and importance in today's world. Established media institutions, such as The New York Times in the US or The Guardian and Press Association in the UK (and many more around the world) already have units that specialise in data journalism. Thus, it becomes essential for the next generation of journalists to be data-literate and to appreciate how data can be verified and used not only to find stories but to tell stories. This module is designed to make you confident and comfortable in working with data and, furthermore, to expand your journalistic toolkit for data-driven, analytic and investigative journalism.

Introduction to Investigative Journalism - 20 credits

The module provides an introductory grounding in the skill sets, methodology and knowledge needed for investigative journalism, and includes practical assessment. It includes opportunity for students to further develop knowledge of how to use the Freedom of Information Act.

Journalism and Political Communication - 20 credits

Journalism and Political Communication explores news media coverage of political events, procedural political processes such as policy making and societal processes such as civic campaigning. By focusing on different aspects of political communication - broadcast and digital - both in Britain and internationally, the module seeks to answer a significant and central question: Does media reporting of politics help to inform and clarify or to obfuscate public understanding of policy, political processes and political issues? The module is delivered via interactive lectures and seminars. Assessment is via a case study on a topic selected by the student and approved by the module leader.

Journalism in History - 20 credits

This module aims to set the processes and outputs of UK journalism in their historical context. You will develop an understanding of how journalism developed as a commercial activity and a recognisable profession in the nineteenth century, and how these beginnings influenced the shape of journalism throughout the twentieth century, with the growth of the tabloid press, the battles of the press barons, the rise and fall of the print unions, coverage of scandals, and the growth of consumer and lifestyle journalism. You will discuss and debate key issues such as the emergence of a free press, campaigning and investigative journalism, the development of an alternative media and representation of diversity within the press.

Level 3 Modules

Core Modules

Magazine Journalism and Production - 40 credits

In this module you will produce a multi-platform brand specifically for a target market. It combines working under your own initiative and working as part of a team to launch a new magazine that you will write and design as well as creating digital and social content and appropriate multimedia, as well as commissioning content from colleagues. You will undertake market research, an analysis of your competitive set and produce a business plan that demonstrates the commercial potential of your brand. When working as a team, you will learn how to deal with different personalities and skill sets while developing a sense of professional conduct as you produce a magazine that is the sum of all your work.

Final Project - 40 credits

You will prepare and execute a substantial piece of work that either analyses an issue in journalism, or is a piece of journalism publishable on a platform of your choice. Under the guidance of a named supervisor you'll be able to choose your own topic, and in the process be able to see how almost any topic can be investigated and researched from a journalistic and academic perspective. You'll be able to make an informed choice about the nature of your project in relation to your own strengths, weaknesses and ambitions.

Optional Modules - A

News Project - 20 credits

This module aims to coach, support and develop the skills required in specialist reporting, such as crime, education, data, health, politics, in a bid to allow you to report more creatively, analytically and develop off-diary news-gathering abilities to appeal to both regional and national, and international audiences as well as exploring campaign opportunities and developing project management skills by the creation of a branded news organisation.

Television and Radio Live Production - 20 credits

The module will cover the production of individual radio packages including pitching story ideas, and using sound and audio imaginatively to create radio packages. You will be part of a team producing a television news magazine-style programme, where longer television news packages and special reports will be put together over a number of weeks.

Optional Modules - B

Free Speech and Censorship - 20 credits

Free Speech and Censorship critically explores the historical and contemporary status of freedom of speech and expression and the limits and constraints on this liberty. The module covers topics as varied as the philosophies of free speech; the history and significance of free speech; debates about harm and offence; the political economy of censorship; privacy and surveillance; censorship during war and informal censorship. Students taking this module should be interested in examining these debates as they apply to contemporary media and political systems. Assessment is via a case study on a topic selected by the student and approved by the module leader.

Gender, Feminism and the Media - 20 credits

This module critically examines the media through a feminist and gendered perspective. It considers how women, ‘femininity’ and women’s issues are constructed in the media across a variety of cultural contexts. It introduces theories and approaches with which to analyse a variety of media including newspapers, magazines, and social media. Students will comparatively analyse traditional and social media from a feminist, intersectional, and postcolonial perspective. They will consider the role of the media in both perpetuating, but also challenging, normative ideas about gender. The module draws on a variety of case studies. Topics include LGBTQI+ identity, activism, and the body.

Radio and Development - 20 credits

Radio plays a crucial role in development. It is the main source of information in many countries in the Global South and obtaining factual, independent and timely information allows listeners to make informed decisions, promoting empowerment and democracy. This module focuses on, and engages with, the role of radio in development. It examines theoretical discussions and also practical applications used, and sometimes misused, by radio and development agencies internationally, during conflicts and pandemics and the challenges they encounter culturally, politically, economically, legally and institutionally. It brings together practical skills (radio production) and theoretical understandings.

Please note that information about the Guided Module Choice list for 2023/24 can be seen in the Degree Structure section above. All module descriptions of modules that are from outside of the department can be found in the Online Module Directory.

Your course is made up of scheduled contact hours as well as independent study.  Your scheduled contact hours are the lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops.  Independent study is the work you do outside these classes and is essential for completing your course successfully.  Independent study will include additional reading, reviewing your learning from lectures, tutorials etc, completing set tasks, preparing for and completing assessments.  Your tutors will provide information about essential tasks that you are expected to complete.  In the early stages of your course you will be supported in developing the skills you need to carry out effective independent study.

Studying a full-time degree requires a similar time commitment to a full time job. Your tutors will provide guidance on the amount of time you are expected to spend on different aspects of your course.  This is to provide a guide; in practice, every student studies differently.   It is really important, therefore, to develop time management and prioritisation skills to ensure that you can maintain a healthy balance between your academic work, other activities that you do and other responsibilities that you may have. See links below for help with this.

Independent Study Top Tips

• Organise your space - this can help to maintain a divide between leisure and study. See also a list of quiet study spaces provided by the University. 

• Establish regular patterns for independent study. Develop a weekly timetable with scheduled slots for undertaking different tasks, balancing these with other activities you do. You can find examples in our Study Skills Online Time Management resources. 

• Reflect on how you prefer to learn for different tasks or under different circumstances. Watch this short video to understand more about your preferred ways of learning and for ideas on other possible approaches. 

• Read the guidance provided on Blackboard and in this handbook. This will help you understand what to prioritise for your independent study. Engage with the reading lists for your modules. These materials have been identified by your tutors as important for your learning on the module and engaging with them will put you in a good position for success. 

• Set up a study group.  Independent study doesn’t necessarily mean studying on your own.. View this workshop on Setting Up a Study Group or visit 301 Academic Skills Centres Peer Learning webpages to find out more. Be aware, though, that you shouldn't collaborate with other students on work that you will be submitting for assessment - this is known as collusion and it is not good academic practice.

• Independent study and wellbeing are closely related. A range of factors including physical health, social health and emotional health heavily influences performance of any kind, including academic. Balancing your overall health and wellbeing and safeguarding regular time to do this will increase your resilience to stress and support your overall academic performance. Take a look at the guidance available on Academic Skills for Wellbeing. 

• The approach you take to your independent study will need to develop over time. What works well for you in the first year might not lead to the same success in year two or when you move into the final year of your programme when you may be working on a dissertation or final-year project. You may find it helpful to access the Study Skills Online: Reflective Practice resources to support you in reflecting on your academic progress.  

• If you are still unsure about how to structure and approach your independent study, speak to your personal tutor and consider booking a 1:1 study skills tutorial at the 301 Academic Skills Centre.

Access further guidance and support for independent study

There are a range of resources available to support you in developing your approach to independent study:

301 Independent Study Online guidance and interactive workshop

Library Research and Critical Thinking tutorials and workshops

301 Study Skills Online (Online resources and workshops covering a range of topics including; Time

Management, Reading techniques, Note Taking, Critical thinking, mind mapping, reflective practice,

learning online, digital lecture capture and more)

Student Wellbeing Resources (Resources from the Student Wellbeing Service including; 1:1 appointments,

student support groups, a blog, and other online resources)

Assistive Technology (Information about the assistive technology tools that the University provides to support your learning)

1. Online add/drop form

You need to complete the online add/drop form to officially request a change. The online form is available from 8am on the first day of each semester.

1. Log into MUSE using your university name and password

2. Choose 'My Services', then 'View All Services'

3. Under the letter 'M' choose 'Module Add Drop'

4. Follow the instructions on the screen

2. Approval

Your add request will be sent to the department who owns the module.

The department will make a decision based on availability, and notify you of the outcome.

3. Blackboard & timetable

If your request is successful then your student record will be updated, and you will gain access to your new module's Blackboard page. Your timetable will also be updated to show your new class times.

Please be aware that this could take up to two days. 

When you drop a module, you will not be automatically removed from the Blackboard site.

If you would like to transfer onto a different degree programme, please be aware that places on most programmes are limited. You should read the information on this page and make contact with the admissions tutor or course leader of the programme you are hoping to transfer onto. You should also seek advice from either the Journalism Student Experience team or an academic member of staff. 

The dates for the current, future, and past standard semesters at the University can be found here.