Study Journalism Studies and graduate with a university degree

1st in Scotland for Communications and Media Studies (Complete University Guide, 2011)

Journalism Studies combines all the elements of a good Arts degree with a marketable, career- orientated specialism. It  provides you with a broad academic grounding in the contextual knowledge, as well as the critical and practical skills, that will enable you to understand, analyse and produce journalism across the range of media – print, broadcast and online.

Stirling is recognised internationally as a centre of excellence in journalism research and has built up a strong reputation for the teaching of journalistic skills. Working journalists regularly contribute to teaching, while journalism lecturers frequently contribute their expertise to the media.

Year 1

Highers BBBB.
A-levels BBC.
IB Diploma with a total of 32 points.
HNC or HND with Bs in graded units.

Access courses and other UK/EU and international qualifications are also welcomed.

You are encouraged to gain work experience in journalism before you apply.

Year 2

HND in Communication or Practical Journalism with Bs in graded units.

General entrance requirements apply.

International students can study our Undergraduate Certificate if they do not possess the necessary entrance requirements to be admitted directly to the first year of an undergraduate degree course.

Other information

If examinations are taken over two sittings, or there are repeats or upgrades, the entrance requirements may be higher.

Required subjects

English Standard Grade (2), Intermediate 2 (C), GCSE English (C) or equivalent.

information on possible sources of funding

Full-time (three modules per semester).
Part-time (one or two modules per semester).
February entry also available.

You will take Journalism Studies plus two other subjects in Year 1.

Semesters 1 – 2

You will take the following modules in common with all students in the Film, Media and Journalism department:

• Media I: Creative Industries
• Media II: Representation, Meaning and Identity

Semester 3

In Semester 3 you will take the following module:

• Introduction to Journalism Studies

Semester 4

You will take the following modules:

• Writing for Journalists
• Journalism Research and Analysis

In addition, you may take either Digital Media and Culture or Reading Film and Television.

Semesters 5 – 8

You may study modules in:

• Print and Photo Journalism
• Introduction to Audio and Video Production
• Analysing the Language of News
  
• Digital Journalism
• Issues in Journalism
• Dissertation
• Introduction to Law and Government for Journalists
• Researching Media and Culture
• Advanced Reporting
• Journalism Project

Three further advanced semester modules may be selected from a range of modules offered in the Film and Media course. These are likely to include:

• Public Relations
• Advertising
• Sport, the Media and Popular Culture
• Gender and Representation
• Terrorism in the Media
• Cultural Theory and Media Practice
• Radio Feature Production
• Television Feature Production

A new pathway in Communications Practice may be taken in combination with Journalism Studies. Students taking this pathway will be required to take, as part of their course, modules that offer an introduction to the communications industries and to complete their final-year dissertation on some aspect of communications practice.

Lectures, seminars, workshops and presentations are the main teaching methods and you will take part in live reporting assignments whenever possible. The degree is assessed by means of essays, examinations, individual and group practical assignments, and a dissertation on a topic related to journalism.

Journalists and editors from a range of newspapers and broadcasting organisations contribute guest lectures and seminars. The annual Hetherington Memorial Lectures have featured distinguished journalists John Lloyd, Jon Snow, Roy Greenslade, Jonathan Freedland, Sheena MacDonald, Elinor Goodman and The Guardian editors present and past, Alan Rusbridger and Peter Preston, and broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell.

(For a Combined Honours degree where the two subjects have differing entrance requirements, the higher entrance requirement usually applies.)

Film & Media.

Media Studies is joint first in the UK in the National Student Survey 2011.

You have the opportunity to study abroad through Stirling’s well-established connections with several American and European universities.

We are a pioneer in film and media education and research, nationally and internationally active in the field since 1978. We are one of the largest departments in the UK and have consistently been rated top in Scotland in Research Assessment Exercises since they began. Stirling is also rated in the top ten for student satisfaction in Journalism and Media subjects.

We have extensive links with the media industries and many of our graduates have pursued successful careers in print, broadcast and online journalism.

The BA Journalism Studies also offers a foundation for vocational postgraduate study in journalism and related fields such as public relations and media management.

For news about graduates, visit: www.fmj.stir.ac.uk/social-media/intelligencer.php