
MA Journalism
Lincoln, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
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STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
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Introduction
This programme aims to provide the professional and practical training needed for a career in the exciting world of journalism. It also offers an academically rigorous approach to critical analysis of the subject.
Students will have the opportunity to develop a hands-on, multiplatform perspective of the journalistic world, with the chance to specialise in a medium of their choice. An assessed work placement enables students to gain hands-on experience and there may also be the opportunity to hear from guest speakers who are leading names in the industry. Previous speakers have included the Head of ITN programmes for ITV news Richard Frediani; Editor-in-Chief (digital) of Empire magazine James Dyer; BBC Director of London 2012 Roger Mosey; and former Head of Channel 4 News Dorothy Byrne.
The School of English and Journalism maintains close working relationships with the BBC and Lincolnshire Echo newspaper. On campus, there are opportunities to gain experience in community radio, multiplatform websites, student newspapers, television, and magazines.
A Newsroom Environment
The teaching of journalism at Lincoln takes place in small groups within a newsroom setting, proving plenty of opportunities for one-to-one interaction with tutors. The programme has a careful balance of practical skills, using multi-platform media, and theory, providing students with the knowledge and intellectual skills needed to understand the world of modern journalism.
The School of English and Journalism maintains close working relationships with the BBC and Lincolnshire Echo newspaper. On campus, there are opportunities to gain experience in community radio, multiplatform websites, student newspapers, television, and magazines.
Days Taught
Where possible, core sessions are scheduled on Thursday and Friday, although students may be required to attend on other days of the week depending on module options. Full-time students should expect approximately 12 hours of contact time per week and should be prepared to undertake at least two hours of self-study for every taught hour.
"This information was correct at the time of publishing (July 2023)"
Admissions
Curriculum
Advanced Research Methods (Core)
This module provides the opportunity to develop a methodological understanding and to receive support and advice on the final project. You will then be expected to prepare a written proposal for a dissertation, a documentary project, or a portfolio of articles.
Essential Reporting (Core)
This module introduces students to the processes of newsgathering and writing news and features for a range of platforms. It aims to develop a critical understanding of editorial processes in news organizations and a working knowledge of how news and feature ideas are generated and packaged for different markets and readerships.
Journalism Production (Core)
This module introduces students to the editorial and production skills required for multiplatform and digital news production. The module focuses on newsgathering and preparing news content for broadcast and online. Students can work in a newsroom environment under appropriate time constraints, experiencing the pressures of operating as a multimedia journalist across a range of broadcast and web-based platforms, including social media.
MA Journalism - Final Project or Dissertation (Core)
The Final Project or Dissertation module consists of either a dissertation, portfolio of articles, radio or television documentary, or chapters for a book or webpages. You are expected to spend the final term during the summer on self-directed learning, having already decided on the form of project that you will produce. You will be allocated your own tutor for support and guidance. This final project provides an opportunity to research and make an in-depth study of your chosen study area.
Media Law (Core)
This module introduces students to the areas of the law most likely to be encountered in the practice of journalism and the practice of PR and related communications activities. Students will investigate the interaction between journalism, PR, communications, and the law, and gain a clear insight into the relationships between journalists and officials, PR/communications practitioners, and their clients/employers, and how information is communicated to an increasingly diverse public.
Specialist Journalism Production (Core)
From a digital-first perspective and focusing, in particular, on news and feature content in your specialist field(s) of interest, this module aims to develop the key skills of journalism through regular practice, including newsgathering, writing and interviewing, and live output production with text and audio and video output as required. Online skills will be used throughout, including social media to drive consumers to the content. The journalism and features produced will be outward-facing, using techniques of electronic newsgathering, digital and non-linear editing, production/journalism for online and print, and an appropriate range of live news broadcasting techniques. In this module, you are expected to take up a work placement in one or several different media organizations of your choice. The module provides prior guidance, together with career advice. Tutors will help with research of the employment market, as you arrange international, national, or local work placements, and will support you as you build an individual career profile, CV, and work experience portfolio.
Arts Reporting (Option)†
This module provides an opportunity to critically explore the various genres of journalistic writing about the arts and popular culture. The module deals with the skills of the reviewer, whether in literature, film, exhibition, TV, theatre, or the creation of other media artifacts.
The module aims to:
- Develop skills in arts and cultural reporting, reviewing & profile/ feature construction through attending cultural events, consuming cultural products, and meeting cultural workers, in a variety of environments.
- Encourage students to develop a range of different approaches in review features, and to reflect critically on them.
- Explore critically the various genres of journalistic coverage of the arts and popular culture, from fine arts to television.
- Acquaint students with the key concepts and debates concerning the principal forms of artistic expression.
- Examine processes by which critical judgments are translated into journalism.
Contemporary Issues in Sports Journalism (Option)†
This module explores the sports journalism industry and the work of sports journalists. Sports journalists are no longer just match reporters and commentators. They have a role to play in the greater industry of journalism, as court reporters, political correspondents, and news gatherers.
This module aims to enable you to expand your knowledge of sports and sports journalism, exploring issues in sports such as drugs, racism, hooliganism, economics, media, and the history of sports and sports journalism. The module will also reflect on the cultural and sociological impact of sports and major sporting events, such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Ethics in Science and Environmental Journalism (Option)†
This module aims to provide an in-depth reflection on philosophical issues and an opportunity for students to consider more fully the kind of dilemmas that they are likely to encounter as working journalists in the field of science and environmental reporting.
International Human Rights (Journalism) (Option)†
This module aims to highlight the importance of critical and comparative knowledge of human rights issues in the practice of journalism. You have the chance to explore human rights issues (such as privacy, confidentiality, and freedom of expression) that are particularly relevant to the practice of journalism.
Journalism and Contemporary Cinema (Option)†
This module is designed to enable you to explore and develop an understanding of issues in journalistic film criticism in their historical, cultural, and institutional context, with the aim of assisting you in the writing and production of your own reviews for specified outlets and audiences.
Journalism and Literature (Option)†
This module aims to explore the relationship between literary production and different genres of journalism through detailed case studies of significant writers including Daniel Defoe, William Hazlitt, George Orwell, George Sand, Dorothy Parker, Truman Capote, Hunter S Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, and Arundhati Roy.
Television News Production (M) (Option)†
In this module, you will have the exciting opportunity to present your own TV News bulletins, prepare and produce TV packages and develop your skills as a TV journalist. Television news is one of the fastest-moving, most exciting, and highly rewarding platforms in the media. A TV journalist can go from presenting news bulletins to live outside broadcasts and breaking the latest news in the space of a working day.
Based in the Lincoln School of Journalisms TV Newsroom, you can learn how to use industry-standard cameras and editing equipment. You can be trained to use a TV studio gallery and have the chance to produce and present your own TV news bulletins and programs.
How You Study
Students can learn in lectures, seminars, and practical workshops. This will incorporate ‘newsdays’ which replicate industry newsrooms.
Teaching usually takes place on two full days per week. Where possible, core sessions are scheduled on Thursday and Friday, although students may be required to attend on other days of the week depending on module options. Across the year, students will select two from a range of optional modules, studying one in each term.
How You Are Assessed
Assessments are a mixture of essays, presentations, portfolios of journalism, broadcast media packages and timed examinations.
The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly – usually within 15 working days after the submission date.
Students in this programme are expected to complete an assessed work placement as part of the course.
Tutors can help with the research of the employment market, help to arrange international, national or local work placements, and support students as they build their individual career profiles, CV, and work experience.
Please note that students are expected to cover their own travel, accommodation, and general living expenses during their placement.
Accreditations
The School has become one of the first institutions in Europe to be awarded a 'Recognised for Excellence' accolade by the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA).
Gallery
Program Outcome
How You Study
Students can learn in lectures, seminars, and practical workshops. This will incorporate 'newsdays' which replicate industry newsrooms.
Teaching usually takes place on two full days per week. Where possible, core sessions are scheduled on Thursday and Friday, although students may be required to attend on other days of the week depending on module options. Across the year, students will select two from a range of optional modules, studying one in each term.
Journalism at Lincoln has a close working relationship with BBC Radio Lincolnshire and a partnership with local news provider Lincolnshire Live and its sister publication the Lincolnshire Echo. The Lincs Live team is based on campus and students have opportunities to work alongside its professional journalists during the course.
Scholarships and Funding
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the University of Lincoln website for more information.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Core modules are designed to support and prepare students for a career in journalism. There are a number of opportunities to gain relevant experience by working for campus media, including the community and student radio stations, a multiplatform website, and the student newspaper.
In a digital age of convergence, journalists must be multi-skilled in a variety of disciplines including research and analysis. Graduates of Journalism MA have the opportunity to develop these skills.
Alternative employment opportunities may lie in the related areas of promotional, lifestyle, technical, and feature writing, public relations, business-to-business, and corporate communications.