Course Catalogue

To equip students with the fundamental skills and knowledge as required by the industry body National Council for the Training of Journalists To arm students with the range of entry-level skills and qualifications required to work successfully in converged newsrooms To provide students with the skills and knowledge required to become freelance or entrepreneurial journalists. To provide working journalists or those with a serious interest in journalism the opportunity to critically evaluate the products of journalism. To provide students with the skills to be able to critically analyse and understand the structures and frameworks within which journalism works. To enable students to synthesise knowledge from several different disciplines to apply it to journalism; To allow students to develop research skills at Masters level evidenced by a research dissertation OR major project accompanied by a critical analysis and academic reflection on that project. To enable students to develop the ability to situate the study of Journalism within the broader debates in media and cultural theory. To provide an educational experience which facilitates the development of all students irrespective of race, gender, physical ability and sexual orientation. The programme allows students to gain a sound understanding of the nature and operation of journalism in a rapidly changing environment. As with all Master's level programmes, study will be at, or be informed by, the forefront of the academic and professional discipline. Students will show originality in the application of knowledge, and they will understand how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research. They will be able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and they will be encouraged to show originality in tackling and solving problems. They will have the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative, in complex and unpredictable professional environments.

Students are taught with a wide mix of teaching methods including lectures, demonstrations, screenings, seminars, workshops, work simulations; tutorials, group and individual project work, live projects, supervised independent learning, open and resource-based learning, multi-media and new media learning, production practice; large and small group and individual learning and teaching situations; tutor-led, student-led and independent learning sessions. Specialist IT resources and other studio-based resources play an important part in the delivery. Essays, reviews and reports; examinations; individual and group presentations (whether oral and/or technology based); critical self- and peer-evaluation; role-analyses/evaluations; logbooks, diaries and autobiographical writing; individual or group portfolios of work (whether critical, creative, self-reflective, or the outcome of the professional practice); group and individually produced artefacts, including productions in sound, audio-visual or other media; individual and group project reports; research exercises; tasks aimed the assessment of specific skills (e.g. IT skills, production skills, research skills, skills of application).

Students will engage in real-world learning throughout their programme. On Multi-Platform Journalism, they will be creating content and publishing to live digital platforms. On this and other modules they will engage in real-world journalism in terms of interviewing, filming, editing. They will also cover key sources of content in the real world such as criminal courts, local council meetings, inquests, press conferences, events etc. As part of Portfolio, they will be engage in a work placement, minimum two weeks, to employ their skills and knowledge in an external real-world environment.