Journalism (Communication) BA (Hons)

Compulsory

• SC1603 - Contemporary Challenges

  This module will introduce students to applications of social and political sciences, providing students with the opportunity to practice the skills needed to communicate the results of their work accurately and reliably, and with structured and coherent arguments.

• SC1601 - Fundamentals of the Social Sciences

  This module will introduce students to key concepts, theories, thinkers and approaches in the social and political sciences and history. Students will also learn the techniques used by a range of disciplines within the social and political sciences and history for gaining and validating knowledge of the social and political world.

• SC1604 - Special Subjects A

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students’ ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

• SC1605 - Special Subjects B

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students' ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

Compulsory

• CO2605 - Researching Your World

  This module provides an advanced understanding of research methodologies, with a particular focus on data analysis. Equipping students with an understanding and appreciation of the important theoretical paradigms that underpin qualitative and quantitative social and communications research traditions. Furnishing students with the tools and skills required to conduct and evaluate their own empirical social and communications research.

• CO2608 - Global Communication

  On this module, students will examine the ways in which the globalisation of communication has transformed social, political and economic relations. 

• JR2615 - Media Law, Ethics and Regulation

  This module will develop an insightful working knowledge and critical appreciation of law and regulation necessary to practise professional journalism. Students will learn how to craft news reports within appropriate legal and ethical frameworks and navigate the potential conflicts and pressures journalists can face. Students will also gain an understanding of the law, court processes, and the hierarchy of the courts as they affect professional journalists.

• JR2616 - Crime and Court Reporting
  • This module will develop proficiencies and competence from reporting in different courts, both Magistrates and Crown Court.
  • It will develop an insightful working knowledge and critical appreciation of the law and legislation necessary to practice professional journalism.
  • Students will be able to craft news reports within appropriate legal and ethical frameworks and navigate the potential conflicts and pressures journalists can be subjected to in their working lives.
  • They will also gain an understanding of the law, court processes and the hierarchy of the courts as they affect professional journalists. In addition to this, the students will understand the sentencing guidelines and the category within the judicial sentencing guide that specific crimes are allocated.
  • Students will also be taught how to work with and understand the sentencing guidelines and preempt the categories a crime will be placed in as outlined within the guidelines.
  • A solid under of the Bail application and understanding of the appeals process both within the lower courts and the high court.
• JR2619 - Cross Platform Journalism

  This module aims to look at how journalists report on stories and issues about politics, arts and culture, including the use of data for researching stories of these kinds. It will develop skills and advance learning techniques in video, written, audio and photojournalism, and layout and design, as well as using equipment and software to competently produce stories that cut across politics and arts-based content across all platforms.  

Optional

• SO2611 - Digital Culture

  This module considers the shape of new media technologies such as iPhones - has changed the basis of contemporary social life and culture. This module will examine some of the key transformations that are taking place through digital culture. Key aims of the module include:

  • an introduction to debates on digital culture and society;#
  • conceptual, analytical and practical resources to understand contemporary issues on digital culture;
  • the use of case studies to focus on debates around digital culture;
  • to consider the extent to which digital culture is changing social relations at local and global levels.
• SO2609 - Gender, Sexuality and Feminism

  This module will introduce students to core ideas in feminism via the key concepts of gender and sexuality. It will develop students’ understandings of social structures, human cultures, and economic inequalities and political relationships. The course will offer theoretical tools and historical insights into gendered, feminised, and sexualised socio-cultural worlds.

• PP2627 - Issues in American Politics

  This module familiarises students with contemporary issues on the American political agenda and demonstrates how politicians adapt policy stances and organisational and electoral strategies to accommodate change in political debate. Students are encouraged to adopt a more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to learning about American politics by examining social, moral, cultural and economic issues through a partisan political perspective.

• CO2607 - Popular Culture and Creative Industries

  This module explores how meanings are developed through contemporary cultural representations, practices and processes, with a focus on creativity and the creative industries sector. It examines popular culture and the rise of the creative and cultural sector in late modernity drawing on relevant sociological, media and cultural studies debates and theories. 

Compulsory

• JR5622 - Fake News, Images and Websites

  The module aims to provide postgraduate students with a critical knowledge and understanding of how different disciplines have sought to make sense of political hoaxes, fake news or images and disinformation in as well as the contexts in which they flourish and are challenged. 

• Journalism Dissertation

  The dissertation aims to enable students to conduct independent research within their field. This will teach students to choose a feasible research project, locate it within relevant academic literature, and devise an appropriate analytical framework to construct arguments that can justify the research question has been answered. Individual supervision will support students in developing and executing the research project.

• Journalism Practice Project & Portfolio

  The practice project aims to extend students’ understanding of journalism practice and principles through the planning and execution of a mini-portfolio that aims to enable students to begin to develop specialisms. It enables students to apply editorial judgement in the selection of stories, the target audience, and the approach taken and the preferred medium, and to recognise and employ ethical and legal knowledge in researching and reporting.

Optional

• CO3621 - Political and Strategic Communication

  The module aims to develop students' ability to apply strategic thinking to campaign planning while providing a strong theoretical understanding of political and strategic communication across various contexts. Students will also learn to trace changes and continuities in communication technologies and practices over time. 

• CO3617 - Digital Media, Social Movements and Change

  This module gives you an in‑depth, critical understanding of how social movements emerge, succeed or fail to create social or political change, using real‑world cases to explore media tools, leadership, collective identity and governmental or international responses. You’ll build strategic thinking by analysing how historical and contemporary movements organise, mobilise and coordinate in the digital age.

• CO3xxD - Politics and Digital Cultures
• JR3xxA - AI for Journalists, Campaigners and Activists

   The module aims to prepare students for the changing nature of news and journalism, campaigning and activism as professionals increasingly appropriate and adapt AI to the workplace. It does so through an engagement with some of the key theoretical debates about the nature of the changing human-machine relationships, the legal and ethical issues arising, and the implications for notions of professionalisation and automation. The practical workshops expose students to a series of case studies and to working with some of the key tools and techniques to identify AI-generated images, check the veracity of machine-generated outputs by tracking them back to the source and identify gaps in news or campaigning materials

• CO3620 - Media Production as Activism

  This module will enable students to develop a broad range of practical skills by using creative practice to respond to, critique and challenge social issues. It will foreground the role of the media in bringing together theory and practice, and in mobilising practitioners and communities around social and political issues. Through a range of local, national and international examples, both past and present, the module will enable students to understand the role of the media as a site of struggle and as a form of creative resistance. Students will develop a high-level knowledge of key concepts such as ‘cultural identity’, ‘resistance’ and ‘radical hope’ and how they connect with the theory and practice of media activism. The module will engage with postcolonial scholarship on media and activism and postcolonial activist media practice. The limitations and possibilities of media as a site of resistance will be evaluated.  

• PP3623 - Media, Politics & Power in America

  This module seeks to familiarise students with the contemporary issues agenda in American politics. It seeks to demonstrate the ways in which politicians and institutions adapt policy stances and organisational strategies to accommodate changes in the nature, content and direction of political debate.

• PP3629 - European Union Politics: Problems and Prospects

  In this module students will discuss the development and functioning of the EU from its inception to the present day and be introduced to and learn to evaluate a range of theoretical perspectives on the EU’s creation, development and functioning. Students will examine a range of political problems in the European integration process, such as legitimacy, domestic and social impact, institutional and policy reform, enlargement, and future directions.

• PP3634 - Public Policy Analysis

  How do governments make public policy? Why do public policies vary across countries? How can public policy be analysed? These are the questions that will be explored in this module. The module will provide the participants with a strong theoretical foundation for analysing public policy and skills to communicate the analyses to non-academic stakeholders in public policy.

• SO3625 - Cities, Culture and Social Change

  This module introduces you to urban sociology and builds your understanding of how cities develop, how they’re lived in and how they’re represented. You’ll explore the relationship between space, culture and social life in contemporary cities, using theoretical tools and practical examples to bring those ideas to life.