Join the next generation of talented journalists, producing powerful stories for the digital news era. You’ll gain substantial practical experience in our TV and radio studios and on work placement.
We teach the next generation of talented journalists. This degree gives you all the skills you need to go behind the headlines and build a career as a journalist in the age of the internet.
94% of students said that they were satisfied with the overall quality of this course, according to the National Student Survey 2019
Gain substantial practical experience of researching and producing powerful print, audio, video and online stories
Get to grips with the latest techniques and technologies which are transforming journalism in an era of digital news
Enjoy work placements with media organisations in the UK or overseas
Hone your skills in our outstanding facilities which include TV and radio studios as well as a fully equipped newsroom
Take the chance to specialise in a journalistic genre of your choice – from film to fashion, sport to crime, science to politics
Prepare for a rewarding career in journalism, online or broadcast media production, PR, advertising, corporate communications, law, public administration or politics
Spend time studying abroad in America or Europe
We have a strong focus on employability: 91.7% of graduates from this course had reached graduate level destinations within 6 months of completing this course (HESA 2016).
Top30for Journalism, Publishing and Public Relations**The Guardian University Guide 2021
We've developed this course with your future in mind. New technologies are revolutionising the industry and the ways in which people receive their news. We’ll equip you to be a multi-skilled multimedia professional who can rise to the challenge.
New skills for a new era
In an age of digital news, there has never been a more exciting or challenging time to study journalism. This dynamic course enables you to produce compelling content for both traditional and emerging media platforms.
You'll gain the core journalistic research and writing skills as well as studying media law, ethics and public administration. At the same time, you’ll develop a multi-platform mindset - producing print, radio and TV reports as well as creating blogs and podcasts, digital photos, audio/video stories and content for websites.
Hone your expertise in news gathering
Throughout your studies, you’ll have significant hands-on experience of newsgathering and reporting - developing your news values and working across a designated ‘news patch’ to source, research and produce original stories.
You’ll visit courts and public meetings, make your own contacts, cover community issues, conduct interviews and produce fair, balanced and accurate reports.
We also encourage all students to take part in international study, either through the Erasmus Scheme which allows you to spend time at a university almost anywhere in Europe, or through our American exchange programme, in which students spend a full semester studying at a US university.
Exciting work experience opportunities
As part of your course, you’ll gain practical work experience with a media organisation, in the UK or overseas. All our students are expected to have completed at least 15 days of work placement by the time they graduate.
Drawing on our strong partnerships with local and national media, you can choose a range of work-based modules to expand your professional know-how and boost your CV. We also encourage you to work with charities and arts organisations to gain an insight into why media matters so much. In addition, you can work for various print, radio and online news outlets at the University, which is itself a rich source of news, debate and topical comment.
Outstanding facilities
You'll be based at the main campus at Kedleston Road and at our Markeaton Street site where you'll study in our excellent facilities including three radio studios, a fully equipped television studio, video editing suites, Mac suites and a newsroom featuring the latest software.
We're an Apple accredited centre and you’ll work with the industry standard recording and editing software that is used worldwide. It means you’ll be both confident and competent with up-to-the-minute technology - giving you a real advantage when you're looking for a job.
Variety and versatility
Our emphasis is on developing creative, versatile journalists with expertise in a variety of production techniques. You'll also have the chance to concentrate on a journalistic genre that particularly interests you.
Alongside your traditional reporting skills, we want you to develop a passion for ideas and creative communication, to seek out people and find the human stories behind the headlines. You'll also focus on intellectual and critical development, study research techniques and gain an understanding of audience theory.
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis.
You can also study Journalism through the Joint Honours scheme where you can combine it with another subject.
Three fully-funded football journalism scholarships
The University of Derby has teamed up with Derby County Football Club Women to offer this amazing scholarship. Three full scholarships are available for women starting the course in 2020.
The role of the photographer in the media has undergone rapid and fundamental changes over the past decade. The introduction of digital technology and the ubiquitous camera phone, has meant that every journalist is now expected to take photographs. While specialist photographers still exist, more and more media outlets rely on the images captured by their reporters and readers.
This module will teach you the basics for capturing usable photographs and understanding the role that images play in telling a story. You will study how images have been used by the media over time and how a single photograph has the power to change opinion or to capture the essence of a moment or event. You will be encouraged to take photographs on a variety of cameras, ranging from your mobile phone, to more sophisticated DSLRs.
This module provides an introduction to audio and video journalism skills. You will develop an understanding of how to construct story ideas in sound and vision and gain an induction to the range of technical skills required for audio and video journalism.
This module aims to advance you to the fundamental skills essential to create an online multimedia publication based on the subject matter of your choice to expected online industry standards.
This module will present an introduction to journalism in print and online. You will gain knowledge and understanding of current journalism practice in print and the developing practices online. The module will outline issues facing the industry, as well as presenting research and sourcing techniques applicable to further study. You will be introduced to some of the key laws and regulations affecting journalists.
This module looks at what government does and the role of the media in reporting its activities. It provides a critical introduction to a number of key debates around the historic relationship between government and the media.
You will analyse whether the media holds authority to account or whether it is a mouthpiece of government and those who own the media organisations. It will also look at the roles of key journalists and how their work has highlighted issues within public office.
This module will look at the workings of government at local, national and EU and provide a journalistic understanding of systems of government and how journalists interact with them.
This module aims to develop your critical thinking, reading and writing skills, in preparation for the specific demands of succeeding in your Journalism degree, and to equip you with broader intellectual and transferable skills that will be useful in your career.
It will help you learn how to reflect, plan, and take responsibility for your own learning. It focuses on employability and introduces you to the concept of personal development planning (PDP) through which you will start to formalise your thoughts on career goals and how best to use your time at university.
The module will also build on the skills you learnt in the Introduction to Journalism module, particularly by looking at how to find and write stories from official documents and meetings. You will learn by doing – there will be many opportunities to write for both print and online in this module, and you will build on your basic writing skills.
This module provides you with an opportunity to advance your skills from Introduction to Audio and Video Journalism at Level 4. It will further your appreciation and understanding of the creative and technical processes involved in the production of video journalism.
It will also enable you to contextualise your practice within contemporary journalism, including issues such as ethics, regulation, editorial policy, and audiences. You will develop ways to present compelling ideas for factual video output and refine your appreciation of how to construct stories in pictures and sound. You will also work as part of an editorial production team on a series of news days, which will be part of your assessed work.
In this module, you will examine the legal, regulatory and ethical structures which constrain and assist journalists. You will learn about your rights and responsibilities, and you will study how new technologies, and the increasingly global nature of journalism, are affecting the knowledge journalists need to have to ensure they work both within the law, and in an ethical manner.
You will learn about criminal and civil law, along with the various codes of practice to which journalists are expected to adhere. While this module will look at the constraints created by the various laws and regulations, it will also focus on the way journalists can use the law to help them find and write stories.
This module will enable you to link the theory and practice you have learnt on the course so far to current workplace practices and experience. You will undertake work experience within the journalism work environment, which will involve the completion of an agreed project and process analysis.
The work-based learning must be negotiated for no less than 14 days (112 hours) or its equivalent in the form of a project.
This module provides you with an opportunity to advance your skills from Introduction to Audio and Video Journalism at Level 4. It furthers your appreciation and understanding of the creative and technical processes involved in the production of audio journalism. It will also enable you to contextualise your practice within contemporary journalism including issues such as ethics, regulation, editorial policy, and audiences.
You will develop ways to present compelling ideas for factual audio output and refine your appreciation of how to construct stories in sound. You will also work as part of an editorial production team on a series of newsdays, which will be part of your assessed work.
This module is designed to enhance your knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of presentation methods in multimedia journalism. You will deconstruct and critically evaluate a range of multimedia editorial features from a variety of sources, which reflect a number of approaches in delivering to your target demographic.
The focus of the module is on how to use smart devices and associated technologies to tell your story. You will learn how to recognise the importance of matching your story with appropriate technologies to enhance the reader experience. You will learn by doing and you will be expected to create a number of story experiences through technology.
This online journalism module allows you to acquire knowledge and critical understanding of a genre of journalism of your choice and to progress your digital journalism skills learnt at Level 4. You could choose, for example, football, fashion or food journalism. You will study your chosen genre’s place in the modern journalistic landscape. You will put into practice your journalistic skills by producing digital output.
This module introduces you to the differences between working for the media and for the press office of an organisation. Public Relations is about managing a corporate image and reputation. The development of the internet over the past 20 years has given brands – large and small - far more options when it comes to deciding how it wants to talk to its audiences. Traditionally, organisations had to go through the media to talk to their customers or other stakeholders.
Managing the relationship with newspapers, radio and TV was the key role of the press office. Now, while that relationship is still vital, brands can also talk directly to customers through a variety of digital platforms including their website, social media, and apps. This module looks at the work of the press office, and is aimed at equipping you with the knowledge and skills required for a career in this area.
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop a research project relating to a contemporary media debate or issue. You may choose to expand upon a topic covered in other modules. You may relate your case study to the historical issues which underpin your chosen topic. The module includes an introduction to research skills, a further consideration of study skills and an introduction to research methodologies. It prepares you for the Independent Study at level 6.
The American rock writer Greil Marcus has described pop as “an argument where anyone can join in.” And of course many have. From its very beginnings, popular music has been accompanied by literary comment.
This writing has helped publicise and so effectively sell popular music as a commodity; but it has also invested it with significance. In evaluating the function(s) of popular music writing, the module will contextualise its developments in relation to various styles, movements and “moments” – for example, by considering the various forms that popular music journalism has taken.
In so doing, we will not only look at the emergence of the rock writer – and at the idea of the “professional rock fan” as “opinion leader, the interpreter, the ideological gatekeeper” (Simon Frith) - but also at the form and meanings of output from alternative platforms such as fanzines and blogs. We will also address and assess rock and pop’s “literary” claims through examination of a range of artist-generated outputs – such as autobiography, poetry, fiction, screenplay and, of course, lyrics.
The module mixes the critical with the practical. In this way, it builds on work undertaken on Writing for Media - which explored the craft of writing in and for the media industries – by giving you the opportunity to develop writing techniques and strategies appropriate to different popular music contexts and “markets,” whilst encouraging you to develop your own voice.
Assessment is by seminar participation/presentation and portfolio.
This is a practical workshop double module, which draws upon and develops skills and techniques of levels 4 and 5 practical journalism modules. It allows you to produce of a professional-standard portfolio of your own work.
This will be researched and produced across multi-media platforms to demonstrate your individual journalistic skills, newsgathering abilities, and production techniques. Lectures and seminars will enable you to contextualise your practice within current developments in technology and associated changes in traditional narrative and aesthetic practices. You will also work as part of editorial production teams in a series of newsdays.
This module builds on previous modules to provide a realistic experience of content and production journalism for online.
This is a practice-based module where you will work individually or as part of an editorial news team to plan, create content, and produce an online news site using professional workflows and editorial criteria. You will work within allocated roles over a defined production schedule to produce multimedia content to deadline. You will get the chance to specialise in an area of personal interest and to take on a variety of roles to produce pages for the University of Derby journalism website.
Keeping The Peace? Conflict, Power, and Diplomacy Since 1945
This module will deal with some of the most momentous events in International Relations from the Cold War to the twenty-first century. It will begin with an examination of the Cold War, its origins and course.
You will then analyse to what extent the security environment of the 1990s and 2000s was drastically different from that of the Cold War, studying how the East-West conflict has given way both to smaller regional conflicts, for instance in the Middle East, and to a North-South conflict between supposedly developed and developing states. Attention will also be paid to global security challenges, such as terrorism, and contemporary debates about the nature of war and peace.
You will think critically about the mechanics of international relations, assessing the relative importance of nation-states, international organizations and non-state actors. The module will be assessed by a group presentation and an essay.
This is a practice-based module where you will create content, and then plan and produce print-based pages using professional workflows and editorial criteria. You will work within allocated roles over a defined production schedule to produce content to deadline. We will also seek to partner with an external professional publisher to produce content for its publications. This will be an excellent opportunity for you to experience producing content to professional criteria and to build your portfolio of work for potential employers.
This module sets out to equip you to work as a freelance or set up your own business. While the number of journalists employed by mainstream media companies continues to fall, the number of people who say they make their living as a journalist is rising. Many of these extra journalists work for themselves, either running small online sites or selling their journalistic work as a freelance.
This module will cover both the technical side of setting up and running your own business, and the entrepreneurial skills required to come up with a business idea that can work. You will learn the basics of writing a business plan, including understanding revenues, costs, tax, cash flow, and profit and loss.
The module will also help you understand how the digitisation of news and information is changing the media scene, and the opportunities this presents for entrepreneurial journalists. You will look at how to find opportunities and how to exploit them. By looking at successful – and unsuccessful – businesses, you will understand the pressures and the opportunities of working for yourself as a journalist.
This module provides a deep understanding of current radio broadcast journalism. It examines the history and current position of radio as a broadcast medium set against other modern journalism platforms.
It will take you through newsroom processes, from newsgathering, writing for radio, development of story ideas, treatment and eventual broadcast of these stories. Production values will be of a professional standard, you will explore the techniques used by professional radio broadcaster and learn to apply these with the same high quality.
This module will enhance the skills you have learned at Level 5 in Video Journalism, and concentrate on television journalism. You will produce professional standard television output.
It provides an opportunity to take part in the creative and technical processes involved in the production of contemporary television journalism. It will also enable you to contextualise your practice with theoretical debates and issues in ethics, regulation, editorial policy, and audiences. You will develop ways to present compelling ideas for factual TV programmes and refine your appreciation of how to construct stories in video.
PR has been massively changed by the advent of digital and social media. By its very nature, social media is amplified by the public, consequently any work by a press office can quickly become owned and controlled by others in a way that could never happen before the advent of the likes of Twitter and Facebook.
Many businesses were amongst the early adopters of social media – top brands have 10s of millions of followers – and it is a powerful, if sometimes dangerous, tool in the armoury of those promoting an organisation. This module will nurture your skills to become an opinion former through social media with an eye on the media landscape, and analytics, to react, shape and manage your message.
Independent Study provides the opportunity for you to respond to issues raised in the course of your studies, building on themes studied in the modules at levels four and five and/or forging new areas of study.
Documentary and Factual Production: Poetics and Praxis
This module takes as its central theme the fundamental problematic of factual production, that of art versus reportage. It looks at the way in which news and factual events are reconstructed and re-worked in forms such as documentary, educational programming, docu-drama, television drama, art and fiction film, advertising and artworks and at the ways in which documentary forms of film and photography may take on iconic significance and/or change their meaning through the contexts of their exhibition and display.
The module’s methodology requires the student both to engage with the theoretical and historical concerns within the academic study of media artefacts which interpret factual events and to relate this to practical concerns through undertaking research to underpin a documentary or factual production.
Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.
Campus Tours
Campus Tours are a great way to explore our campuses, facilities and halls of residence. We’ll be running the tours in two-hour timeslots, giving you the best possible experience while adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Delve deeper into the course with our Virtual Open Day, packed with subject and course information to help you make your choice, including tours of facilities, 360° views of award-winning accommodation plus advice and insight from students and academics.
We believe that you learn best by doing, so as often as possible you will be creating content for print, online, audio and video platforms. You’ll have opportunities to work on real-world projects and complete location stories as a matter of course. You’ll gather news, interview people and write reports and features with accuracy.
You’ll be taught by a team which has vast experience in journalism and you’ll gain fascinating insights into the profession thanks to our programme of guest lectures by journalists, broadcasters, historians and political commentators.
Practical experience
We have great contacts with local and national radio, newspapers and TV, which open the doors to a variety of work experience opportunities for you. In addition, you’ll have the chance to hone your skills by contributing to our student-run media, helping with the radio or TV stations or writing for the Phantom newspaper. We’ll also encourage you to produce content for the online news and sports websites run by the Students’ Union.
The course works closely with a number of media organisations to allow students to have their work published. You will also go on visits to professional media companies and get the chance to hear many media professionals at guest lectures.
Assessment
You’ll be assessed in several ways, including academic essays, audio and video reporting, case studies, editing skills, examinations, extended reports, journalistic writing, presentations, process analyses, production design and content production, production skills in image manipulation, reflective diaries, report writing and self-evaluation.
Supporting you all the way
We offer a high level of support to students, including a unique personal tutor system to help steer your academic and professional development.
Who you will meet
The course is taught by highly skilled lecturers who have many years of first hand experience in staff and freelance journalism in print, stills, documentary, radio, TV and online media. Most of them also have national and international awards.
Programme Leader Keith Perch, FHEA, is a print and online specialist who has spent 30 years in the newspaper business, more than 20 of them with Northcliffe and Associated Newspapers. He has edited three of the country's largest regional daily newspapers and run major websites for both local and national newspapers. He also serves on the board of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).
Senior Lecturer Neil Manship, FHEA, began his career in journalism as a news and sport reporter at the Derby Telegraph before becoming a district reporter for the Western Daily Press. He then moved to the BBC as a reporter, producer and presenter for Radio Devon, before becoming a television reporter and producer for the BBC in Bristol. He subsequently spent 13 years as a lead producer and manager for BBC Look North. Before joining the University of Derby in 2014, Neil also worked for BBC Online News.
Senior Lecturer Richard Bowyer is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years experience in the media industry. He has worked on a number of newspapers including the Wolverhampton Express and Star, the biggest selling newspaper outside London. While he was Deputy Editor of the Lincolnshire Echo, the paper received the Newspaper Society Regional Daily Newspaper of the Year award and Richard won an award for his front page designs. As Deputy Editor of the Stoke Sentinel, Richard was involved in major group projects as part of the radical transformation of the industry. He became Editor-in-Chief of the Stoke Sentinel and Group Editor of West Staffordshire Newspapers, along with the publications’ associated web sites, in 2013, before joining the University of Derby in 2015.
Associate Lecturer Martin Shakeshaft has 20 years experience as a news photojournalist and online specialist. He has produced editorial and news images for websites at Channel 4, BBC, S4C, The Economist, the Daily Mirror, the Independent and Newsweek magazine.
Personal academic tutoring
Your personal academic tutor will work with you to help you get the most out of your time at university. Having someone to talk to about your academic progress, your university experience and your professional aspirations is hugely valuable. We want you to feel challenged in your studies, stretched but confident to achieve your academic and professional goals.
Pass Access to HE Diploma 60 credits with 45 at Level 3 with a minimum of Distinction: 15 Merit: 24 Pass: 6
We usually consider an A-level in General Studies as a supplementary qualification. A good application/performance will be taken into account if you do not meet the criteria/offer conditions.
Offers will be made initially based on your application, including predicted grades and/or grades you have already achieved. Following this, if you submit a strong portfolio we will make you an unconditional offer, to reflect the quality of your work and your potential.
Our entry requirements for this course should be read together with the University's general entry requirements, which details subjects we accept, alternative qualifications and what we're looking for at Derby.
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS or you can apply directly to the University for an undergraduate course if you’re not applying to any other UK university in the same year.
Part-time students should apply directly to the University.
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS or you can apply directly to the University for an undergraduate course if you’re not applying to any other UK university in the same year.
This course develops the broad range of knowledge and skills you need to become a multimedia professional, adept in the production of content for print, online and broadcast outlets. Our graduates have gone on to work for magazines and local newspapers; BBC, commercial and community radio; and BBC and commercial TV. Others have set up their own digital businesses or worked for online agencies.
You’ll be prepared not only for a career in journalism, online or broadcast media production but also for roles in PR, advertising, corporate communications, law and public administration or politics. The research and communication skills of a journalist are highly transferable to a huge variety of graduate level jobs.
Ensuring you’re ‘work-ready’
Our Careers and Employment Service will provide you with support from day one of your course to ensure you leave Derby as a ‘work-ready’ graduate - industry aware, motivated and enterprising. Throughout your studies, you’ll also benefit from our Personal Development Planning (PDP) scheme which enables you to reflect on your learning and develop your career ambitions. The support continues once you’ve completed your course too: you are entitled to further help and guidance from the Careers and Employment Service for up to three years after leaving the University.
Contact us
If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.
Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.
Additional costs and optional extras
We’re committed to providing you with an outstanding learning experience. Our expert teaching, excellent facilities and great employability prepare you for your future career. As part of our commitment to you we aim to keep any additional study costs to a minimum. However, there are occasions where students may incur some additional costs.
The information below is correct for entry in the academic year September 2020 - August 2021 only. Entry for future academic years may be subject to change.
Included in your fees
Access to the Equipment Centre which stocks a huge range of cameras, audio equipment, and accessories which are available for booking by students at no cost
Various day field trips – for example, these have included Alton Towers, Shrovetide Football, the Bradford National Media Museum, and Escape rooms in the past year
Mandatory trips to media companies or other interesting organisations. Previous trips have included visiting BBC Radio Derby, the Derby Telegraph, the Nottingham Post and BBC News and Sport at Salford
Mandatory costs not included in your fees
Some equipment including storage drives (about £10) and external storage drives (£50 - £100) for use with cameras.
Optional costs not included in your fees
It is useful but not essential to have a smartphone (£50 - £750)
Some students choose to buy accessories for the phone such as external microphones (approx. £10 - £15) and tripods (£5 - £25)
Some students also find it useful to purchase their own laptop for use in the field but this is not required (from £150)
It is also possible that you will want to travel to cover particular news stories - as this is not required by the course, the cost is not covered in your fees.
Please note: Our courses are refreshed and updated on a regular basis. If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.
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