On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Develop a portfolio of work of professional standard, consistent with ethical, legal and regulatory principles.
Apply appropriate research methods in a way that demonstrates an understanding of research integrity.
Demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of approaches to journalistic stories and research.
Critically evaluate, structure and express complex information and argument.
Manage, conduct and disseminate work whilst positioning it within the wider context of journalism studies and for a specified audience.
This module consolidates the skills that have been gained in the previous five modules and requires these to be employed in the production of an independent journalism project. As part of their preparation, students will be expected to research, plan and critically review their project for ethical integrity and apply theoretical paradigms appropriate to the project’s professional context.
The module requires students to be working at a significantly higher level of independent learning in line with a postgraduate qualification, and to apply this learning to the production of project-based work at Masters level.
This module is taught via a series of seminars researching and discussing contemporary issues affecting journalism in relation to storytelling, meaning-making, public service vs public interest, and journalistic research ethics and integrity.
Students receive group and individual help to guide them with their initial ideas and to develop these into proposals for their projects. Individual tutors are assigned to supervise the ongoing production of the student’s project.
Seminars
Hours: 12
Intended Group Size: Cohort
Individual supervision
Hours: 15
Intended Group Size: 1
Guided independent study
Hours: 573
Further details relating to assessment
The practical project is the equivalent to either a 20-minute TV or radio documentary or a multimedia online artefact which must be equivalent to 20 minutes and contain, at the very least, audio, video and text. The project must be produced to a professional standard. Further details may be found in the Module Handbook, including a breakdown of required components for multi-media production projects in line with accreditation requirements.
Students are able to choose the topic and platform for their project within the stated requirements in the Handbook. The contextual analysis will require them to explore how their practical project fits into current thinking (for example, through a literature review) and to position their own work in the context of that thinking and other work that already exists (for example, through a reflective report on their own practice).
Students work mainly independently under tutor supervision to bring together all the skills they have learned on the course in a project that is firmly situated in professional practice.
Please see Module Handbook for full details.
001 Practical project; 20 minutes or equivalent; 12 months after registering for MA 60%
002 Contextual analysis; 5,000 words; 12 months after registering for MA 40%
Module Coordinator - Carolyn Jackson-Brown
Level - 7
Credit Value - 60
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 7PGS1S7T23