Sports Broadcast Journalism Degree

Program Overview

This accredited sports broadcasting program combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience through industry-style news days and a professional placement. Students learn TV and radio production, documentary-making, and media law, preparing them for careers in sports journalism, editing, and other broadcasting roles. The program provides access to industry-standard facilities and a team of experienced practitioners.

Program Outline

Outline:

• Year One
• Core Modules
• Sports Broadcast Production:
Teaches TV and radio content production, law and ethics, and broadcast specialisms (commentary, voice training, social content). Weekly industry-style news days refine and perfect TV and radio skills through nine-hour days with live output and real deadlines, including reacting to breaking news.
• History and Context of Sports Broadcasting:
Examines the history of sports broadcasting and global issues surrounding sport, such as commercialisation, racism, corruption/match-fixing, mega events, sports politics, gender, disability, migration, and how it has become a multi-billion pound business that dictates policy.
• Year Two
• Core Modules
• Sports Documentary-making:
Provides an opportunity to move away from live sports output and investigates longer-form features and documentaries for TV or radio. Teaches new production techniques and the processes involved in pitching and getting a documentary commissioned.
• Professional Practice and Media Law (with a 12-week professional placement):
Examines career goals, identifies skill-sets, and development needs.

Teaching:

• The academic team has vast sports broadcast experience and all practitioners still work in the industry, giving students access to potential professional connections alongside the latest technologies and approaches to sports broadcast journalism.
• Regular ‘news days’, where students will need to respond, gather and produce stories for a same-day news and radio output, are built into the course programme to further increase students’ exposure to a realistic broadcast environment and prepare them for the deadlines and quick-thinking they’ll need to demonstrate to become a sports broadcaster.

Careers:

• Sports journalist
• Sports editor at TV stations, radio stations, production companies, or live TV units
• Newspaper or magazine content production
• Online presenter/producer
• Freelance broadcasting
• Public relations
• Digital and social media communications
• Crisis management

Other:

• The course is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC), which works with the biggest broadcasters in the UK to ensure the highest professional standards of journalism training.
• Students have access to industry-standard broadcast facilities, including four television studios, eight radio studios, and extensive industry-standard editing and production facilities, as well as professional grade camera, audio and lighting equipment.

• UK and Channel Island part-time fees: £4,250 per year
• International and EU part-time fees: Students from outside the UK are usually unable to obtain a visa for part-time study.