MA, 1 year full time/2 years part time
Subject overview
Journalism is undergoing many changes but remains a crucial part of democratic public life. We aim to provide you with a critical overview of journalistic practice, and practical training in how to be a reporter in all media: newspapers, magazines, online and broadcast journalism.
All of our journalism degrees combine advanced academic study with specialist practical training by our partners Brighton Journalist Works (BJW), at their training rooms in the offices of a daily newspaper operating in print and online, The Argus, in Brighton. You will learn the basic skills of journalism and their application across a range of media, with opportunities to have stories published during your degree.
You will be taught by very experienced faculty within a highly rated university. Media and Film at Sussex is ranked in the top 10 places to study in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2013, in the top 15 in the UK in The Sunday Times University Guide 2012 and The Complete University Guide 2014, in the top 25 in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2014, and in the top 100 in the world for communication and media studies in the QS World University Rankings 2013.
BJW will teach the professional elements of our degrees and prepare Multimedia Journalism students for the National Council for Training Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma in Journalism. BJW run one of the most successful media training courses in the UK and their students have frequently won prizes for their scoops and exam results.
Both BJW and the School of Media, Film and Music offer excellent technical facilities, including a dedicated newsroom equipped with the latest software, television and radio studios, and a suite of digital media labs.
You will have the opportunity to conduct original research in the form of a dissertation or practical project.
Graduates from BJW and Sussex work in the national and international press, digital and broadcast media, public relations, and a range of other professions.
Brighton Journalist Works (BJW) and the University of Sussex
The practical journalism elements of all our degrees are taught by experienced journalists at our partner institution, BJW, whose training rooms are located at Brighton’s daily newspaper, The Argus. This hands-on training is framed within the academic and intellectual agenda delivered at Sussex. Guest masterclasses by industry professionals are a regular feature of our degrees.
Programme outline
This MA is for you if you have an interest in news and current affairs in both print and broadcasting media. It offers both a critical engagement with, and a practical training in, journalism and documentary making. This degree will enable you to:
- master skills and techniques in researching and writing news and feature stories for print and online platforms, as well as subediting and print news design
- contextualise journalistic practice within a theoretical framework of journalism studies
- understand the many transitional processes in the news landscape at local, regional, national and global level
- obtain a professional competence in researching, planning and producing documentary films, including those dealing with current affairs
- conduct critical and theoretical analyses of documentary practices.
Documentary tuition takes place at Sussex, with excellent dedicated and state-of-the-art media facilities. At the end of the degree, you have the opportunity to apply all your skills and knowledge to produce a substantial current affairs documentary film, under the supervision of an experienced member of faculty.
We continue to develop and update our modules for 2013 entry to ensure you have the best student experience. In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the 2012 modules tab.
Autumn term: Documentary Practice • Journalism in Transition • News and Feature Writing.
Spring term: Advanced Journalism Skills • Global Journalism • Research and Project Management for Documentary. You may undertake short optional placements as part of your study.
Summer term: you undertake a supervised research project, which may include a relevant placement and/or documentary production.
Assessment
Assessment is by term paper, practical video/ media work and production, documentation and critique, as well as portfolios of journalism with critical reflections. The final assessment, a major research project, may take the form of a 30-minute documentary, an 18,000-word dissertation or a portfolio of practical and written work.
Current modules
Please note that these are the core modules and options (subject to availability) for students starting in the academic year 2012.
Advanced Journalism Skills
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module will introduce you to the practice and principles of newspaper and magazine design and how to sub-edit and layout pages. You will learn how to re-write and shape reporters' copy for print, broadcast and the internet. You will learn QuarkXpress and how to write snappy headlines. Online subbing and how to write search engine optimised headlines, stand firsts and copy will also be addressed. You will complete a tabloid news page individually and work towards a news day when as a group you will work on a real-life news story and create regularly updated web pages with social media spin-offs and a newspaper front page to deadline. Throughout, you will be encouraged to engage in self-reflective critique of your professional practice.
Documenting the Real
30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module enables you to develop your own practice through exercises and projects informed by a exploration of the history and contemporary evolution of the documentary in national and international contexts. You will examine and evaluate key theoretical formulations of the genre, with particular reference to questions of realism, representation, documentary's truth claims, ethics, and the impact of technological and industrial change on modes of production, distribution and consumption. you will interrogate concepts of documentary form through practical work with a view to enabling you to articulate a critical and creative approach to the relationship between practice and theory. The term culimates in a substantial project and accompanying critique which build on the experimentation and conceptual reading undertaken through the module.
Global Journalism B
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module sets out to explore the role of journalism in an increasingly deterritorialised media environment and in an era when 'the global' has to inserted as a category of news between 'foreign' and 'domestic' stories. The module will examine information flows and institutional relations in the coverage of global issues such as climate change, the "war on terror", and the global economy. It will also investigate questions of transnational news production, and the extent to which the audiences of global journalism might constitute a putative global public sphere. One aspect of this discussion centres around the ethics of covering stories of 'distant suffering'. The areas outlined above are explored through critical reading, seminar discussion and presentation, and then via the written assessment.
Journalism in Transition
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module explores the profound transformations affecting the practice and principles of journalism in an era of networked communication. Beginning with a historical overview of the development of journalism as a field, the module goes on to examine the contemporary tensions and possibilities emerging from technological innovation, particularly the pervasiveness, ubiquity and interactivity of media in everyday life and the apparent blurring of conventional divides between producers and consumers. Debates around the rise of online and 'citizen journalism' will be central to the module, engaging with debates about professionalism, changing news values, proliferation of sources and outlets, the rise of the 'blogosphere' and so on. The module takes an interdisciplinary approach. It will look at changing institutions, organisations, practices and texts from the perspectives of sociology, political economy and cultural studies. The areas outlined above are explored through critical reading, seminar discussion and presentation, and then via the written assessment.
News and Feature Writing
15 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module equips you with essential knowledge and skills in news research and writing and you will be encouraged to produce news material for a range of platforms. You will also explore key theories surrounding different approaches to news and writing and its key ethical and legal challenges.
The module delivers a foundation in the key principles and techniques of news gathering, news reporting and feature writing. You will proceed from exploring news values, finding story ideas, doing research, identifying and interviewing sources to reporting straight news as well as writing different types of feature stories (e.g. columns, profiles, lifestyle pieces, backgrounders). By the end of the course, you will have gained a solid skill and knowledge base in news and feature writing such as:
- drawing on a range of sources and turning raw information into a publishable news report or feature
- building an effective story structure
- grabbing and maintaining the reader's attention in print and online
- identifying the story angle
- quoting people effectively and accurately, and
- using style and vocabulary appropriate to the genre and context
You will practice all of these via in-class exercises and real-life journalism assignments. You will also obtain a critical understanding of the genres and sub-genres of news and feature and apply this understanding to a critical analysis of existing news products. You will be encouraged and instructed to write publishable content for mainstream news publications.
Research and Project Development for Documentary Practice
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module focuses on the methods, processes and research techniques involved in the development of documentary projects from initial concept to distribution, with close analyses of how the different stages of a production are related and may be planned. You will learn how to identify original sources and subjects with a view to creating a distinctive style and approach through practical exercises and the shooting of pilot material. You will study and undertake the development process in relation to acquiring a critical understanding of the markets and other exhibition possibilities for projects from galleries and festivals to the web and television. You will look at how to locate and utilise archives, contributors, interviewees, performers, locations and facilities. Key areas to be explored include scripting, budgeting, scheduling, copyright and contracts, with reference to contemporary and historical examples. You will also look critically at a range of production methods and ways of working through looking both at case studies of specific productions and companies. You may undertake short optional placements as part of your research for this unit.
Entry requirements
UK entrance requirements
A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. We also welcome applicants who do not have this academic qualification who are able to demonstrate in their application that they have relevant professional/creative skills and experience.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to column A on the Overseas qualifications.
If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas
qualifications table, contact the University.
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
Visas and immigration
Find out more about Visas and immigration.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
Additional admissions information
If you are a non-EU student and your qualifications (including English language) do not yet meet our entry requirements for admission directly to this degree, we offer a Pre-Masters entry route. For more information, refer to Pre-Masters.
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex
For pre-application enquiries:
Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
For post-application enquiries:
Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
Related programmes
Fees and funding
Fees
Home UK/EU students: £7,3001
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £7,3002
Overseas students: £14,1003
1
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
3
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.
Funding
The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.
Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2013)
Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.
Sussex Graduate Scholarship (2013)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 16 August 2013
Open to final year Sussex students who graduate with a 1st or 2:1 degree and who are offered a F/T place on an eligible Masters course in 2013.
Faculty interests
Journalism is part of the School of Media, Film and Music at Sussex. Also refer to the Media, media practice and cultural studies subject area.
Dr Gholam Khiabany Academic leader of the journalism degrees.
Dr Monika Metykova Lecturer in Media Communications/Journalism Studies.
Marcus Ryder Honorary Senior Lecturer in Journalism. Head of Current Affairs at BBC Scotland.
Profiles of members of staff at at Brighton Journalist Works (BJW) are listed below.
Chris Chandler Former Deputy Editor of The Argus, and group editor of the Leader and Life series of newspapers in Sussex and Surrey.
Louisa Hannah Journalism lecturer. Has experience of launching NCTJ postgraduate fast-track courses at Further Education colleges.
Richard Lindfield Lecturer, journalist and broadcaster. Weekend News Editor for Heart FM, and former BBC Producer who lectures on fast-track courses in public affairs, and video shooting and editing.
Mark Longhurst Presenter of Sunrise on Sky News, teaches broadcast journalism on our MA in Multimedia Journalism.
Paula O’Shea Managing Director. Journalist for ITN News, the BBC and local newspapers before setting up and running NCTJ courses at City College Brighton and Hove and at the University of Brighton.
Pete Taylor Lecturer. An experienced journalist online and on magazines and newspapers. He is a media law and sub-editing lecturer.
Careers and profiles
This degree equips you with the skills for a career in newspaper, magazine and television journalism; documentary production; a related media and communication industry; or a research career in journalism and documentary production.
Marcus's faculty perspective
‘I’ve been responsible for award-winning Panorama television programmes and Sony-winning radio documentaries as well as looking after all of BBC’s current affairs programmes for Scotland, from election coverage to stories on immigration.
‘I was incredibly excited when I discovered that the University of Sussex was starting an MA in journalism. As an alumnus I see this as an opportunity to give back to my University and impart some of the experience I have of working in the television industry for almost 20 years. I will be giving lectures but more importantly I will be giving workshops on practical skills that I have to use on a daily basis. I believe it is my practical experience that will be most useful to students, complementing the theory they will be learning.
‘Now that I am in charge of several programme teams of journalists I recognise that it is becoming increasingly competitive to enter serious journalism. We want to recruit people who not only understand current affairs but who have practical experience. I believe that Sussex’s MAs in journalism, with their mixture of theory, lectures by practising journalists and hands-on experience, will prove to be priceless for anyone aiming to work in the industry.’
Marcus Ryder
Honorary Senior Lecturer and Head of BBC Scotland’s Current Affairs programmes
For more information, visit Careers and alumni.
School and contacts
School of Media, Film and Music
The School of Media, Film and Music combines rigorous critical and historical studies of media, film, music and culture with opportunities for creative practice in a range of musical forms and the media of photography, film, radio, and interactive digital imaging.
School of Media, Film and Music,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 873481
E mfm@sussex.ac.uk
School of Media, Film and Music
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