Journalism BA(Hons)

Your phone screen may be the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you check at night, and in this module we look at the role of technology in shaping our world. We combine critical analysis of key platforms and technologies, from Google and YouTube to Facebook and Twitter, with teaching you the skills to use those tools to create professional media content.

This module introduces you to essential media law, ethics and policy knowledge needed for a career in journalism. It will help you understand the structures in which journalists and their employers operate, and the ways in which specific legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks impact the material created and published by media companies. You will learn about these so you can begin to effectively apply them in the context of creating journalism content.

The module introduces you to a range of audio formats and technologies: mobile, online, radio and podcast. You will be provided with the essential recording, editing and studio skills necessary to produce an audio output, and to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate audio content.

Telling stories is at the heart of all kinds of journalism jobs, from news reporting to music reviewing and covering live sport. Here, we help you improve your writing, so you’re comfortable researching and writing pieces in a range of styles. Analysing professional examples will help you get a handle on what you’ll be aiming to match as your skills develop.

The module introduces you to a range of video formats and technologies: mobile, online, television and video. You will be provided with the essential recording and editing skills necessary to produce a video output, and to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate video content.

You’ll often hear us say that media is changing quickly: and we mean it. This module helps you make sense of what that means for your future career, and why the jobs of tomorrow aren’t always the same as the ones of the past. You’ll work on a career plan, so you can be ready for a placement year and other media work opportunities.

There’s a magazine for almost any topic you can think of, and this module helps take you closer to a job working for a publication you’ll love. Industry experts help teach you how to use software packages to design a stunning product. Then, you’re tasked with coming up with your own idea for a new magazine, to fill a gap in the market that you’ve spotted.

This module focuses on developing your understanding of different kinds of promotional culture – public relations (PR), influencers, marketing and advertising – and your critical, analytical and evaluative skills. You will learn how to critically analyse different kinds of promotional culture and evaluate its role in society, developing skills you will need to help you develop successful, effective and ethical promotional campaigns and content. As the module continues, you will apply what you have learnt to the practice of PR, and further develop the creative, analytical and technical skills you need to succeed as a public relations practitioner.

For a career in TV, video and online news, this is where you will continue to build the skills you need to feel at home in a newsroom. Experienced industry professionals help guide you through a series of newsdays, during which you’ll work as a team to create bulletins and online content, broadcast from our studios.

From podcasts to Spotify and even YouTube, listening to audio is one of our favourite things to do. This module helps you develop advanced skills in creating your own, including podcasts, soundscapes, and much more.

Radio is a classic medium and both BBC and commercial radio are bigger than ever. This module helps you develop skills in devising and producing radio programmes, along with news bulletins and online content. You’ll finish by working as part of a team to put on a week-long pop-up radio station, a demanding but exciting assessment.

This module focuses on the study of fandoms and participatory media with an emphasis on areas including film, television, music, sport, politics and consumer culture. It introduces you to key concepts such as textual poaching, collective intelligence and spreadable media, as well as setting out key debates which have framed participatory media including the role of cultural industries, the commercial exploitation of participants and hierarchies of participation. The module allows you to consider the history of participatory media as well as its textuality and economic basis. The module furthermore examines motivations and practices behind forms of participation including enthusiasm and fandom, introducing you to tools and concepts through which you will analyse your own fan motivations and experiences.

The module is designed for students who have the minimum level of English language skills for them to have been accepted onto a university course and who may lack the initiative to ask for help when needed. In this module students are provided with the opportunity to develop higher levels of confidence in their production of spoken and written academic English. In addition, students will consolidate and refine their understanding of syntax and grammatical structures. As the module runs alongside their university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure students develop an understanding of their own learning and the role they themselves play in developing their knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills and knowledge relevant to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) normally level B2- to B2.

The module provides students who have a level of English language skills sufficiently advanced for them to have been accepted onto a University course with the opportunity to improve further their skills in that language, with particular reference to improvements in the accuracy, clarity and fluency of their oral and written work. In addition to this, students will refine and develop their knowledge of academic study skills. As the module runs alongside their university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure students develop an understanding of their own learning and the role they themselves play in developing their knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills and knowledge relevant to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) normally level B2 to B2+.

The module is designed for students who already have a good level of competence in spoken and written English and will support them to further enhance their language and academic skills. Students will refine and develop higher level thinking skills such as critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis, inference and metacognition. Advanced oral role-plays, group discussions and debates will serve to improve spontaneity and sophistication of expression, whilst written activities will build greater fluency in the use of linguistic structures. They will work with extended academic texts and understand such academic skills as synthesising sources, literature reviews, methodologies, paraphrasing and a range of accurate citation skills. As the module runs alongside their university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure students develop an understanding of their own learning and the role they themselves play in developing their knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills appropriate to the B2+ to C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages.

This module allows you to further develop your skills for a career in digital written journalism, along with other media jobs which call for top class writing ability. You’ll research and produce articles that demonstrate an understanding of different platforms and storytelling across a range of media. By the end, you should aim to be pitching and selling your work for publication.

This is where you put your academic learning to use, by doing guided independent research into an area of the media you want to learn more about. You’ll review what others have written about your topic, identify a suitable method to use and carry it out, before analysing your findings. It’s a challenge - but you’ll have a supervisor to help you all the way.

Here’s where you get ready for a career in a newsroom. We simulate a busy journalism workplace, and challenge you to work as part of a team to complete TV and radio bulletins, online and social media output, during fast-paced newsdays. You’ll also further develop your expertise in media law, making sure you’re all set for your first graduate job.

This module gives you the knowledge and practical skills to develop an advanced understanding of the emerging and diverse use of short film in a variety of forms. You will examine how video can be used across digital and broadcast platforms in innovative and complex ways. You will work in small groups to develop video narratives using a range of styles and platforms, with a clear understanding of audience and production.

Gaming is one of the most dominant forms of entertainment, more valuable than the movie and music industries put together. In this module, you’ll examine key debates in video gaming analysis, putting games into their historical, social and economic contexts. You’ll create a video essay to help demonstrate what you’ve learned.

This module will help you imagine and plan for your future. Whether you want to be an actor, director, film-maker, producer, technician, or teacher, or to do something outside the creative industries, you will need to find the right context in which to work with others and develop your practice. In this module you will reflect critically on your current work and investigate potential employment opportunities, thinking about where you may want to take your career. You will conduct research into a specific industry and/or cultural context that matters to you, learning about what others are doing and imagining what you might contribute.

You will be provided with the opportunity to develop higher levels of confidence in your production of spoken and written academic English. In addition, you will consolidate and refine your understanding of syntax and grammatical structures. As the module runs alongside your university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure you develop an understanding of your own learning and the role you can play in developing your knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills and knowledge relevant to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) normally level B2- to B2.

The module provides students who have a level of English language skills sufficiently advanced for them to have been accepted onto a University course with the opportunity to improve further their skills in that language, with particular reference to improvements in the accuracy, clarity and fluency of their oral and written work. In addition to this, students will refine and develop their knowledge of academic study skills. As the module runs alongside their university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure students develop an understanding of their own learning and the role they themselves play in developing their knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills and knowledge relevant to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) normally level B2 to B2+.

The module is designed for students who already have a good level of competence in spoken and written English and will support them to further enhance their language and academic skills. Students will refine and develop higher level thinking skills such as critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis, inference and metacognition. Advanced oral role-plays, group discussions and debates will serve to improve spontaneity and sophistication of expression, whilst written activities will build greater fluency in the use of linguistic structures. They will work with extended academic texts and understand such academic skills as synthesising sources, literature reviews, methodologies, paraphrasing and a range of accurate citation skills. As the module runs alongside their university studies, there is an emphasis on and an incentive to use skills that complement work done in the main area of study and which will be of use in and beyond an academic context. The use of regular AM/AI-proof tasks will ensure students develop an understanding of their own learning and the role they themselves play in developing their knowledge and skills. The module contributes to the attainment of skills appropriate to the B2+ to C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages.