Multimedia Journalism - MA

Teaching

Teaching and assessment

The degree is taught by a combination of lectures, seminars, masterclasses, news days, tutorials and editorial conferences. Assessment is by coursework (including essays, reporting exercises and presentations) and examinations.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• teach the professional and academic skills required to practise multimedia journalism to those wishing to pursue a career in the news industry
• educate you to think critically about the ethics, duties and responsibilities of journalism in democratic societies and in emerging democracies and thus improve the quality of journalism as a profession
• produce graduates with a courageous and principled vision of the purpose of journalism and its constitutional value in contemporary democratic societies
• develop a detailed and systematic understanding of particular forms of journalism and their historic and contemporary role in the shaping of culture and society
• develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of the impact of new technologies on journalism
• develop an appropriate range of cognitive, critical and intellectual skills and research skills
• foster lifelong learning skills that will enable you to work with self-direction and originality and to contribute to journalism and society
• bring scholarly and critical insights to bear on the subjects, activities and processes associated with multimedia journalism
• provide teaching and learning opportunities that are informed by high quality research and scholarship from within the Centre for Journalism and elsewhere.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You will gain knowledge and understanding of:

• key principles and practices in the production of multimedia journalism
• the ethical, regulatory and legal frameworks that govern journalism in the United Kingdom
• the historical evolution of journalism
• journalism’s functions and purposes in a representative democracy.

Intellectual skills

You develop intellectual skills in:

• the ability to gather, organise and deploy information, images and data from primary and secondary sources both systematically and creatively
• the ability to create and deploy text and images for publication in print, for broadcast and online
• the ability to carry out detailed research for essays and presentations and dissertations involving sustained independent analysis and inquiry
• the ability to develop substantive, detailed and critical understanding of multimedia journalism and an appreciation of how it is developing.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in:

• the ability to work collaboratively in teams to commission and produce multimedia journalism
• the ability to report to deadline in text, audio, video and online
• the ability to take shorthand notes at a speed of at least 100 words per minute
• the ability to understand the commissioning and funding structures of the news industry and demonstrate a capacity to work creatively within the constraints imposed by them.

Transferable skills

You will gain the following transferable skills:

• the ability to work in flexible, disciplined and independent ways
• the ability to communicate very effectively in writing and in a variety of media
• the ability to use a range of information communication technology skills using web-based technology and multimedia
• the ability to deliver work to a given length, format, brief and deadline
• the ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and communicate their conclusions clearly to a range of different audiences.

Careers

This degree will prepare students for employment in broadcast, print and online media as well as enabling them to take advantage of the new opportunities the awareness of media power has created within campaign and pressure groups, online information providers and businesses.

Study support

Postgraduate resources

The Centre is based in state-of-the-art multimedia newsrooms equipped with the latest audio and video-editing technology, a radio studio and broadcast-quality television facilities. A dedicated postgraduate newsroom opened in September 2010. Newsroom computers offer a wide range of software for teaching and research support. Students have access to Press Association news wires, Sky News Radio and Reuters World Television News feeds. They use the Centre’s dedicated multimedia website, www.centreforjournalism.co.uk which offers live publishing facilities in text, audio and video. The site is a forum for debate about issues in journalism and the news industry involving students and practitioners in Britain and abroad.

The resources for journalism research at Kent are led by the Drill Hall Library at Medway. The journalism collection includes a comprehensive range of texts on the history, principles and practice of journalism. Specialist resources include a complete microfiche archive of popular newspapers of the Second World War. Students have access to online full-text journals plus extensive online newspaper resources. The Centre subscribes to all relevant UK journals. Research students have access to the SCONUL access scheme to visit and borrow from other UK libraries. The Drill Hall Library contains more than 250 study spaces, 370 computers and more than 150,000 items.

Dynamic publishing culture

Staff regularly contribute to newspapers, magazines, journals and books. These have included: Assessing the Delivery of Radio 5 live Public Service Commitments, This is Today – a Biography of the Today Programme, The Newspapers Handbook, Responsibility without Power - Lord Leveson's Constitutional Dilemma, Afghanistan: War and the Media, Face the Future: Tools for the Modern Media Age. Journalism Studies, Contemporary British History, Ethical Space, George Orwell Studies, Journal of Media Law, Communications Law, Travel Journalism, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times and British Journalism Review.

Global Skills Award

All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.