BA (Hons) Journalism (Full Time)

The BA (Hons) Journalism at Southampton Solent University is designed to equip graduates with the core skills needed to work in newspapers, on television, in radio or elsewhere in the media.

Finding, gathering and then writing news stories and features to deadline, you will work like a professional journalist. You will be taught to produce text, video and audio content to industry standard. Our cutting-edge, multi-platform website will allow you to publish work online on a daily basis. You will also explore specialist fields, benefiting from our highly successful guest speaker programme with leading industry figures.

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Facilities include industry standard multi-camera TV studios with autocue, radio news studios, Reuters and Sky news feeds, the latest print software and a dedicated newsroom.

The course offers a unique balance of practical and theoretical content. Our lecturers include current industry practitioners who will help you find opportunities for work placements that can lead to a job after graduation.

Solent is a Skillset Media Academy which means it is officially recognised as a national centre of excellence in media education.

Industrial focus

Students are required to complete a minimum of 120 hours' work placement in industry. They gain positions at national magazines and newspapers, major broadcasters including the BBC and Sky, the trade press, public relations agencies, independent radio stations and news websites.

Course content

Year 1

Six core units:

• News Reporting
• Introduction to Radio
• Contexts and Traditions of UK Journalism
• Reporting in Context
• Introduction to TV
• Power, Money and Democracy.

Year 2

Five core units and two options:

• Inside the Newsroom
• Concepts of Digital Music
• Specialist Reporting
• Media Law
• Media Ethics.

Options:

• Photography Practice
• Persuasion and Propaganda
• Layout and Design
• Making Magazines
• Fashion in Film and Ficiton
• Global Affairs
• The Body, the Magazine and Difference
• Fashion and Visual Merchandising
• Health Journalism
• Education Journalism
• Magazine Production
• Music and Society
• Presenting Skills
• Lifestyle Journalism
• Introduction to Fashion and Styling
• Music Journalism
• Sports Journalism
• Web Layout and Design
• Fashion Strategy.

Year 3

Four core units and two options:

• Dissertation
• News Journalism Project
• Professional Practice
• Journalism and Global Issues.

Options:

• Fashion and Editorial Styling
• Digital Photography
• Reporting Politics
• Fashion and Difference
• Buying, Forecasting and Trend Analysis
• The Fame Game
• Life as a Freelance
• The Title Race
• Advanced Visual Merchandising
• Advancing Technology
• Key Characters in Journalism
• Science and Technology Journalism
• Journalism in Film
• Business Journalism
• Travel Journalism
• Changing the World
• Writing Criticism
• Investigative Journalism
• Creative Entrepreneurship Freelance Practice
• Fashion and Styling.

Why choose Solent?

This course will equip you with a broad range of advanced skills required by industry if you want to become a journalist or work in any area of the media. We offer comprehensive study in print, broadcast (television and radio) and multimedia in a curriculum which is constantly updated to keep pace with changing trends in industry.

• Accredited by the BJTC (Broadcast Journalism Training Council) for television and radio.
• On our four-year degree you can spend a year studying at one of our European partner Universities.
• Hosts and prepares students for NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) exams.

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Assessment

Coursework, which comprises journalistic writing, essays, group projects and presentations, workshops assignments and written examinations.

Projects/work experience

Recent study trips to Paris, New York, Tokyo and Beijing to get a European and global perspective; work placements at a wide variety of media organisations.

• Creative thinking
• Writing
• Production skills
• Presentation
• Teamwork
• Working to deadline.

Key info from UNISTATS