Sports Journalism BA(Hons)

This module provides the knowledge for you to gain an understanding of the role of technology in shaping and being shaped by mediated communication, with a particular focus on digital media technologies. The module combines the critical analysis of media technologies with practical skills to use those technologies in the journalism, media and creative industries.

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.

This module introduces you to a range of types and styles of journalistic writing. You will also be guided to develop transferable skills to write for a broad range of media formats. You will engage with key concepts related to the practice of writing and analyse material online, in magazines and newspapers and in broadcasts. Through regular writing activities you will develop and hone your writing skills.

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.

This module examines transformations of employment, agency and practice in creative and cultural industries. Through the study of forms of media work and labour, you will develop an understanding of the wider context of contemporary work and employment and critically assess its interplay with political, social, cultural, technological and economic structures. Knowledge and understanding of media and creative industries are in turn are applied to skills required in selecting appropriate career paths and opportunities, including employment, freelancing and entrepreneurship, and portfolio building.

The module develops your abilities in sports journalism, with a particular focus on reporting and writing for the written sports media. You will gain experience of covering sports events on location, allowing you to produce match reports suitable for online platforms and print outlets and to use social media platforms to provide live coverage. You will develop your skills in researching news and feature stories for the sports media, identifying and interviewing newsmakers within sport, and writing news and feature articles and liveblogs in a variety of styles suitable for a range of publishers. There will also be teaching in media law, and you will attend and report on the courts. The modules includes a series of industry-like newsdays, allowing you to work to deadlines in a live environment.

This module gives you an understanding of the technical, legal and professional standards involved in digital radio and audio production for broadcast and online; and the practical skills needed in the maintaining of a functioning online radio station with additional online content. You will further develop your abilities to create, produce and present sports radio journalism, and will receive individual voice training. You will also plan, produce and present a sports radio programme. You will work together as a group to plan and run a pop-up radio station along with its associated online platforms.

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 and visual brands – magazine, influencers and public relations (PR) - and your critical, analytical and evaluative skills. You will analyse the diversity and complexity of the magazine market alongside online brands and promotion. 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. You will examine the economics, techniques and organisation of magazine design and production and investigate the nature of the publishing industry. The module also looks at the market for new magazines and you will examine how editors and publishers identify new opportunities, allowing you to develop your own entrepreneurial ideas. You will work with design software packages used in the magazine industry. As the module continues, you will apply what you have learnt to the practice of Magazines and PR, and further develop the creative, analytical and technical skills you need to succeed as a public relations practitioner.

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 provides the opportunity for you, working individually or as part of a small group, to devise, plan and create some form of media output or outputs, working in partnership with an external organisation or other suitable client. This could take the form of an individual work placement, or individual or group project work.

This module examines the relationships between sport, media and culture. It will explore key approaches and debates in Sport and Leisure Studies, examining the nexus of sport and media, while placing sport in sociological and historical contexts. You will think about the role sport plays in the production of local and national, raced and gendered identities; the structures of sporting organisations, bodies and managements; the role of sport and exercise in local, national and international politics; and the political economies of sport and media. By the end of the module you will understand the role of sports in the structuring of contemporary society, and the centrality sport plays in media cultures.

This module provides the advanced knowledge and practical skills for you to understand the technical, legal and professional standards involved in producing content and broadcasting from a sports newsroom. It will enable you to achieve professional standards of capability in newsgathering, editing and presentation. This will be in a range of outputs in various media including video, audio and written work. In particular, it will stress the importance of team skills in the newsroom context. The aim is to encourage you to produce work which will have a beneficial impact on your employability.

The module gives you an insight into the world of investigative journalism and will help you to develop the skills involved in successful investigations. You will learn about the history of investigative journalism, subject its activities to analysis and examine its specific techniques. Through a series of exercises, you will develop the skills that will be required to undertake an investigation of a contemporary subject.

Sustainability is discussed in boardrooms and on protests, but what exactly does it mean? And what is its significance for those using, working in and leading media businesses? This module situates these issues in the field of environmental social sciences and draws on the widely used, and often critiqued, idea of sustainable development. This will help you understand what sustainability might mean today and for your future careers in journalism and the media. You will create examples of sustainable media content, such as longform journalism or podcasts, based on your learning.

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.

This module examines video games in culture and video games as culture. It will allow you to explore key approaches and debates in video gaming analysis, while placing video games into their historical, social and economic contexts. You will examine key theories in game studies, including narratology and ludology; debates about play, immersion and flow; the cultures and sub-cultures of gamers and players, including age, race and gender; and the media industries that produce video games. By the end of the module you will be able to analyse video games utilising a variety of theories, and will understand the social and cultural meaning of games.

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.