Journalism - PgCert/PgDip/MSc (Full Time)

Course Overview

This course focuses on the study of news and current affairs journalism in all its guises – from ‘traditional’ print, radio and TV coverage to the increasingly interactive approaches of news gathering and reporting to audiences of today’s online, digital and emerging multimedia platforms. 

The course is designed to give you an overview of the ethical and intellectual issues and debates underpinning industry practice.

Course modules cover everything from the study of news values, reporting styles, interview techniques and media law to more technical aspects of producing newspapers, news websites and online magazines, and radio and TV news packages and bulletins. You will develop an impressive portfolio of transferable skills, ranging from the ability to write lively, succinct copy to tight deadlines, to the confidence to pitch story ideas, design your own web pages and record, edit and produce your own broadcast and online news items.

At the end of Semester 2, you will undertake a compulsory unpaid four-week placement, which will enable you to put into practice the theories and skills you have learned during the course. The placement will enhance your newsgathering, reporting and production skills, by giving you the opportunity to work side by side with professionals, write to deadlines for print/broadcast and the web, and gain a more rounded and in-depth overall feel for what a career in journalism entails.

Organisations that have previously hosted placements include BBC Sport, The Herald, The Scotsman, STV, Northsound, DC Thomson in Dundee, and Aberdeen’s Evening Express newspaper.

The expanding global communications industry provides excellent career opportunities for those who are equipped with a broad range of technological, creative and transferable communication skills.

This course provides you with both the academic and professional knowledge and skills required to work successfully in the journalism profession or a wide range of alternative media-based roles. We will prepare you to become an accomplished journalist who can make sense of fast-moving situations and research and report stories accurately, ethically and impartially.

Opportunities exist in broadcasting organisations such as the BBC, STV, Northsound and Original FM.

Graduates have secured employment at an array of news outlets, from local DC Thomson-owned newspapers the Aberdeen Press and Journal and Evening Express to the Perthshire Advertiser and Original FM. One student gained valuable experience at BBC Sports in Salford and covered the 2016 Rio Olympics and Wimbledon. Others have reached executive positions in the wider communications field, including Edrington Group and global PR agency Weber Shandwick.

SEMESTER 1

You will develop key skills in journalistic writing, interviewing and researching stories, underpinned by an in-depth understanding of journalistic ethics and UK and Scottish media law. You will develop an understanding of the social, economic and political roles of contemporary media and the role of the journalist in society.

SEMESTER 2

You will continue to develop your specialist skills, in-depth knowledge, and practical experience. You will present a written research proposal for submission, which will normally form the basis for the master's dissertation. You will undertake a four-week fieldwork placement with a news or other media organisation at the end of the taught modules, giving you the chance to put your

SEMESTER 3 

The Dissertation can take the form of either a traditional academic study, of 15,000 words or a practical project, in the form of an extended piece or portfolio of journalism. Practical options include documentary-style films, videos or radio packages or print, online or multimedia portfolios or long-form investigations. You will work independently on your Dissertation, under the guidance of a supervisor with academic and/or professional expertise in your chosen topic.

FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/2021