Masters Degree Description
Accredited with distinction by the Professional Publishers Association, this practical MA gives you the essential skills to work as a journalist for multiple audiences across myriad platforms.
- Journalism is about the world outside. It’s about the story and the people who make it. It’s about being on top of the zeitgeist. And being on top of the deadlines.
- The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked second in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 16th in the world (third in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies.
- This MA gives you the practical skills to work as a journalist at the highest level in print and online. We will learn what news means, and where it comes from. We will give you the ability to write compelling features and interviews. We’ll also be focusing on the kinds of questions you need to ask – of the individual, the state or the organs of power. And we address how the new digital world has transformed the way we go about journalism, adding new platforms and new technical skills.
- The programme is practice-based so you’ll be creating magazines and working on our local news website while you’re here. EastLondonLines is a live news site run from the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies and covering a large area of East and South London. Working on ELL as a journalist will give you unrivalled hands-on experience of being part of an editorial team, finding and breaking news stories and features. You will have options to choose to learn data, video and podcasting skills as well as using cutting edge open source technology to investigate and present stories.
- You will work in a small group both during your editorial control period of Eastlondonlines and on your magazine project because working in such teams is common professional practice. Underpinning the practice-based work are more theoretical modules essential to give background – these cover media law and ethics, politics and public affairs, and journalism in context.
- You’ll discover how different mediums dictate how you create a story and how to adapt your style of writing to reflect the nature of the platform, from print newspapers to digital features. Join us and discover how to express yourself concisely, grab the attention of readers and think on your feet in this swipe-left-and-right world.
Entry Requirements
You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard and have evidence of some journalism (or equivalent) experience.
Fees
For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more
Programme Funding
Goldsmiths offers a range of financial support including postgraduate scholarships, bursaries and fee waivers. These are awarded based on a variety of criteria, for example academic achievements or personal circumstances.
Student Destinations
The MA Journalism has just received a renewed two-year accreditation from the Professional Publishers Association, with the new, highest accolade of a ‘distinction’ awarded to us.
This is now given by the Association to reward programmes of the highest overall quality which achieve a distinction level in the majority of categories in the accreditation process, which cover all aspects of the programme.
Module Details
The programme is divided into a series of modules that cover the key practical skills and theoretical background. There are no optional modules or alternate pathways.
The four practical modules focus on the basic journalistic skills common to different media: news and feature research and writing, interviewing, image, video and data skills print and online production techniques. In the summer term, you work in groups to produce magazines. In the past, these have won the annual Periodical Publishers Association competition for student magazines. This year, one group of our students took the top prize in the successor Magazine Academy Awards for a magazine about independent cinema.
There are four lecture-based theoretical modules in which we give you the background theoretical knowledge to become expert practitioners. These are:
- Journalism in Context, which places journalism in the wider political and social context
- Media Law and Ethics, which delivers a grounding in legal issues
- Politics and Power, a module that delivers a basic grounding in how government and public sector operate
- Asking the Right Questions, which teaches advanced research skills for journalists, and is delivered by expert guest speakers
Practice modules are largely assessed by portfolios of your work, while theory modules are all assessed by essays or written research work.
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