Broadcast Journalism

Core modules:

Researching News

Finding, researching, and developing news stories is a basic journalistic skill and one that is common to all media. This module is intended to equip students with the understanding, knowledge, insights and skills necessary for effective journalistic research and news gathering. It seeks to develop in students some of the basic practical skills involved - such as effective interviewing and researching - with the development of 'news sense' and an understanding of the potential sources of news in a variety of settings. It will demonstrate the generic nature of news gathering skills across all media.

15 credits

Broadcast News

This module introduces you to news production for radio, television, the web and social media. You will learn basic technical skills covering recording and editing for radio and television, and the conventions of writing and presenting. It emphasises the nuts and bolts of radio and television news bulletins and starts the process of encouraging you to use production techniques effectively. You'll learn how to use a content management system and begin to learn how writing for the web differs from writing for broadcast. You will apply newsgathering and interviewing skills in broadcast situations which are structured to simulate the professional working environment. You will also have one to one voice training sessions to improve presentation skills.To get the most out of this module, you should be listening to and watching as great a variety of broadcast news as you can. A typical week might include some combination of 'Today' on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Sheffield, Hallam FM, BBC 5 Live Breakfast Programme, the main television news bulletins, Sky News and BBC News as well as all the regional programmes you can find, particularly 'Look North' and 'Calendar'. You should also log on regularly to news websites and if you haven't already done so, join Twitter (www.twitter.com) and follow as many journalists as you can find.

15 credits

Law for Journalists

This module aims to develop students' understanding of legal constraints on journalists working in the UK, including defamation and contempt law. Students will also study how matter can be published in the public interest, and how a journalist can challenge invalid restrictions. There will also be a study of the Editors' Code of Practice and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

15 credits

Ethics and Regulation

This module examines some of the major ethical controversies in journalism. Students will explore debates about the tension between freedom of expression and the exercise of responsibility, and about the need to balance privacy rights with publishing material in the public interest. There will also be study of regulation, truth-telling, media representation of vulnerable groups and journalists' relationship with their sources. Students will explore how ethical behaviour is encouraged in journalism, and consider how the industry codes seek to achieve this in the UK.

15 credits

Power and Society - The Institutions of Government

This unit explores the institutions and organisations which significantly affect the nature of our society and which effect change within it. It explores the nature of the relationships between local, national and international institutions of government and seeks to equip journalists to understand how those relationships reflect or effect the decision making processes in society. It will also examine the structures and processes of the institutions of government at local, national and European level.

15 credits

Advanced Broadcast Journalism

The focus of this module allows you to build on the basic skills developed in JNL6008. You will work on features, bulletins and programmes covering a range of formats and styles and further develop your online skills. A key exercise is a block of radio and television newsdays.

30 credits

Broadcast Journalism Portfolio

This module requires students to submit a substantial piece of journalistic work in either radio or television. The project should be accompanied by a detailed written appraisal of the editorial and production processes involved.

60 credits

Optional modules

You must choose one from the list below.

Dealing with data for journalists

News reporting relies increasingly on knowing how to understand and analyse data. "Now that information is abundant, processing is more important." (Philip Meyer). Data science is the scientific discipline that feeds into this new type of journalism. It provides methods for collecting and systematizing data, which is then analysed using a combination of statistical and machine learning techniques, and finally presented in an appealing and understandable format. This module will equip students with the confidence to appreciate and apply the most widely used statistical techniques, which constitute the very core of data science and, hence, facilitate responsible evidence-based journalism.

15 credits

Communicating with the Media

This module will provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to communicate messages through the media. Case studies and practical workshops will allow students to learn about the practice of media communication. They will learn how the media operates and how to communicate messages through interviews, press conferences and news releases. Topics covered in the module will include the development of communication strategies, the understanding of news values and news cycles and strategies for successful and ethical communication.

15 credits

Critical Incidents in International Journalism

In this module students will explore and analyse international critical incidents (for example, in the UK, US, Asia and Africa) and the efforts to ensure high-quality journalism that follow them. Students will engage in the critical analysis of media reform history, theories and perspectives related to critical incidents in journalism. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to develop their own media reform project and/or participate in an existing one.

15 credits

Radio and NGO Communication in conflict-affected areas

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other such organisations are valuable information sources, mediators and actors in conflict-affected zones and use local media, particularly radio, to amplify their messages, programmes and advocacy. This module focuses on, and engages with, the public and political communication used, and sometimes misused, and even abused, by radio and NGOs, internationally and historically, during times of conflict and the challenges they encounter culturally, politically, economically, legally and institutionally. In this case, 'internationally' means from the perspective of the Global South.

15 credits