Journalism MA

This journalism course offers you a fast-track but thorough grounding in practical journalistic skills. You will gain a strong working knowledge of the media industry and develop the cutting-edge skills you need to build, manage and navigate a career within today's media landscape.

Why choose this course?


• This course offers you a unique, multidisciplinary approach blending an academic emphasis with focused practical modules taught by established media professionals.



• It allows you to explore the political, social and cultural dimensions of news and media, while also mastering the vocational skills required to work across journalism and media production.



• If you choose to study the MA, you will have the opportunity to tailor your degree to your interests and gain valuable experience undertaking an academic dissertation or journalistic work suitable for publication or broadcast.



• Depending on your interests or career aspirations, you can also specialise by taking certain modules to graduate with an MA Investigative Journalism.



What you will learn

Engaging with a combination of academic modules that draw on theoretical traditions and the history of ideas to understand the issues we face today, you will learn from authors from politics, cultural studies and sociology. You will learn to analyse and apply their thinking on issues such as the role that media should play in society, to contemporary issues such as disinformation, corruption and the culture wars.

In practical modules you will develop your skills in writing, creating, designing, researching and analysing across a range of journalistic specialisations and platforms. These are taught by established media professionals who will equip you with all the skills you need to write, research and communicate as a journalist, as well as how to design and produce print publications, audio and video.

How you will learn

The course is available for full- and part-time study. It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening. You will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops with an emphasis on interaction and engagement.

We offer this course as a Master’s, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate.

The MA course starting in October is part of our Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both.

If you require a Student visa to study in the UK, you will only be able to apply for the on-campus study option for this course. Online and flexible options will not be available to you because they may affect the conditions of your visa.

Highlights


• We offer an extensive portfolio of internationally respected courses that engage with the latest ideas and techniques in journalism, media and cultural theory, arts policy and management, film and television studies, creative marketing, digital culture and East Asian cultural studies.



• We also affiliate with a number of research centres and networks, including Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture, Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology and the Centre for French, Francophone and Comparative Studies.



• We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.



Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this course, you will have gained transferable skills, including:


- high-level oral and written communication skills


- the ability to work across different media platforms, formats and genres


- research and analysis skills


- the ability to work as part of a team.


Graduates can pursue career paths in journalism, the media, or public relations. Possible professions include:


- journalist


- editor


- researcher


- social media manager


- professional communications and public relations role.