BA (Hons) Investigative Journalism and Research

Level 1

Law for Production Journalists 1
Journalism students are required to abide by the law, in terms of newsgathering and research methods, data collection and retention, use of communication networks and publishing and broadcasting material to audiences. This module introduces students to the legal system, to the operation of the courts, and examines the impact of legislation and codes of practice on the work of journalists.

Reporting Continuity and Change 1789-2000
The module introduces students to key cultural and technological influences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that shaped the development of the modern media. Significant elements include the rise of the provincial papers, censorship and satire, new journalism and notions of the moral majority, the documentary film movement, the development of the BBC and the role of the media in moulding national and regional identities.

Public Administration 1: Democracy and Bureaucracy
This module will study the political and administrative structure of government, local government and EU institutions, evaluating how the legal system operates within the democratic process, which in turn depends on journalists monitoring, interpreting and explaining current affairs to voters and taxpayers.

News Media Theory and Analysis
This module explores media practices and institutions, utilising the theories of journalism studies and other related media theoretical concepts. It encourages students to discover the link between theory and practice through the use of case study and appropriate methodologies and engages them in critical evaluation of journalism practices across different platforms.

Journalism Skills (Double module)
Students will progress through the key journalistic skills of newsgathering, writing, editing and design in the modern mass media world. Using a blend of practice and theory, students will be encouraged to develop a rounded awareness of the media and will produce portfolios of their work. There will be a focus on newsgathering and writing skills which is then reinforced with the use of editing techniques. The way design influences different media will also be analysed.

Multiplatform News Production (Double module)
This module introduces students to the editorial and production skills required for broadcast news production in the increasingly multiplatform environment. The focus will be on newsgathering and output production for both radio and television with attention given to related online content. Students will work in a newsroom environment within strict time constraints.

Level 2

Law for Production Journalists 2
This module builds on legal and administrative knowledge gleaned at Level 1, examines how criminal and civil legislation affecting print, online and broadcast journalists has developed, identifies areas of conflict and uncertainty, and requires the student to apply knowledge of legislation and case law to given scenarios including responses to actions in the civil courts.

News, Features, Reportage
Students will proactively gather news and feature stories employing the full range of research and interview techniques in a newsroom setting. They will also participate in press conferences, press briefings, speech events, magistrates’ court hearings, and council meetings. The emphasis will be on the creation of imaginative and original copy, conforming to professional standards with careful consideration of angle, choice of interviewees, attribution and corroboration of facts.

Public Administration 2: The Journalist as Public Watchdog?
This module focuses on the use (and misuse) of public and private funds by institutions and considers the operation of internal and external checks against corrupt dealings, fraud and false accounting. In the context of the current political and economic climate, students are encouraged to consider whether or not the ‘Fourth Estate’ is in an effective position to challenge corrupt and unethical practices on the part of politicians, bureaucrats and associated business interests. .

Reporting Social and Cultural Diversity (Theoretical Option)
The role of the media as a ‘mirror’ of society means that journalists encounter cross-cultural issues in their newsgathering and news processing functions. This module will prepare students to write stories with cultural sensitivity, care and compassion.

Ethics and International Human Rights for Journalists (Theoretical Option)
This module highlights the importance of a critical and comparative knowledge of human rights issues to the practice of journalism and aims to develop students’ awareness of the range of ethical issues facing journalists.

The Origins of Modern Britain 1945-1980 (Theoretical Option)
This module examines British society from c1945. It will enable Journalism students to critically consider the historical background to some of the issues which feature in contemporary news agendas and look at the role of the press in recording them.

Radio News and Features (Production Option – double module)
Students will produce news bulletins, undertaking a range of roles within the radio newsroom environment. They will also develop a range of production skills culminating in the production of an individual radio package (short radio news feature) with supporting promotional online materials and, as part of a workshop group, a current affairs magazine programme. Critical listening, voice training and presentation skills will be part of the curriculum.

Television News Production (Production Option – double module)
This module is designed to meet the needs of those students wishing to specialize in the production of television news as a professional discipline. Students will be taught to write, shoot and edit news stories for video, to be broadcast either online or in a conventional television news format. Students will also take part in live television news day

Online Production and Digital Photography (Production Option – double module)
The module comprises 2 complementary elements; aiming to both help students develop web-design and writing skills and the techniques of digital photography. In the online element, students will learn to mark up copy in HTML using a text editor (Notepad) and a Web authoring program (Adobe Dreamweaver). They will also look at content-management systems and database-driven web sites. The photography workshops will focus on the practicalities of digital photographic production.

Journalism International Exchange (Option)
Some students may study for the duration of Semester B of Level 2 at one of the international institutions with which the School has a partnership arrangement. During the semester abroad, students will share classes with local students. Not only will students be living and socialising in another 'culture' providing opportunities to study their respective countries, they will also have an opportunity to examine international journalism industry practice.

Level 3

Level 3 Course Structure
All students begin their third year with a research methods module worth 30 credits. They then opt to complete either a research project (60 credits) or a journalistic investigative project (60 credits). If the former, they will take a module exploring Theories of Communication (30 credits); for the other project they will first take a module looking at the history and specific techniques of investigative journalism (30 credits).

All students who opt for this route in the final year of their BA degree will have taken the first two years of the Journalism BA (single and joint) and gained at least 60 per cent or over in their second year. You will want to develop your specialist skills in (and knowledge of) the fascinating and challenging area of investigative journalism and be particularly motivated to do a substantial piece of independent, journalistic research.

You will develop in-depth research skills which you will be able to deploy independently either in an academic or journalistic field. The programme draws on a particular Western tradition of investigative journalism which is built on the principles of holding the authorities to account and championing the rights of marginal and excluded groups of people. Thus you will explore the practical and theoretical aspects of:

• the development of citizen journalism
• the growth of global networks through which investigative journalists can share material and contacts
• the growth of NGOs and campaigns around the world in the area of press freedom and freedom of expression.

The programme will be particularly relevant if you are considering a career in journalism or the communications industry more generally. The course will also prepare you for post-graduate studies. Graduates of media related courses in higher education tend to have above average successes in the jobs market – largely because of the wide range of specific and transferable skills students learn. Such skills you will also learn on this new and exciting programme.

For further information and funding your study please see our Fees & Funding pages.

Fees and Funding