Journalism and Media Studies
MA
Admissions requirements
An 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.
Duration
1 year full-time
2 years part-time
Programme description
This MA is designed for students with an interest in exploring key critical debates about journalism and news production in relation to contemporary media and society. It offers you an exciting opportunity to address questions of central importance and urgency in contemporary globalised society and equips you with the critical and methodological skills to research a wide range of media. It includes a substantial training component to develop your journalistic skills in a multimedia context.
You will learn how to write for print, broadcast and the web, creating and adapting news stories across platforms, and in relation to local, national, international and global contexts. You will be taught in small groups by research-active faculty, expert production tutors and experienced professional journalists. The practical journalism elements are taught at training rooms based at Brighton’s daily newspaper, The Argus. The structure of the programme allows for flexibility in the choice of courses across theory and practice.
Programme structure
Autumn term: you take Global Journalism; Interactive Media Theory; and Researching and Writing News.
Spring term: you take Advanced Journalism Skills; and choose one option from Journalism in Transition; New Developments in Digital Media; Media Ethics; or Multimedia in Practice.
You also choose one option from European Media in Transition; Media Audiences; Media Technology and Everyday Life; Pervasive and Locative Media: Theory and Practice; Photography: Documentary, Landscape, Politics; Queering Popular Culture; Emotion, Representation and Culture; Science, Technology and Culture; or Video Documentary in Contemporary History.
Summer term and vacation: dissertation/project.
Assessment
Assessment is by term paper, practical video/media work and portfolios of journalism with critical reflections. The final assessment, a major research project, may take the form of an 18,000-word dissertation or a portfolio of practical and written work.