Sport Journalism BA (Hons)

Program Overview

The Sport Journalism BA (Hons) program at the University of Bedfordshire provides a comprehensive understanding of sports media, journalism, and reporting, equipping students with core practical skills, a solid foundation in research and writing, and expertise in digital storytelling and multimedia news production. Through practical experience, industry partnerships, and guest lectures, students gain invaluable insights into the legal, ethical, and regulatory aspects of sports journalism and develop the skills necessary for successful careers in the field.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Sport Journalism BA (Hons) program at the University of Bedfordshire is designed to equip students with the knowledge and expertise in the specialist area of sports media, journalism, and sports reporting. The program aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the political, commercial, and regulatory contexts of sports journalism, as well as the ethical and legal frameworks within which journalists operate. Students will develop a strong foundation in traditional research and writing approaches, as well as new and developing media forms, including digital storytelling, audio and video recording and editing, and multimedia news production.

Objectives:

The program aims to:

• Develop students' core practical skills in journalism and sports reporting.
• Provide students with an in-depth understanding of the wider political, social, historical, and economic sporting environment.
• Equip students with the skills to identify newsworthy stories and write news stories and feature articles for a range of platforms.
• Enhance students' writing skills through editing workshops and the creation of long-form pieces of journalism.
• Develop students' digital storytelling skills, including audio and video recording and editing.
• Provide students with practical experience in sports reporting, broadcasting, writing, and editing in live situations.
• Build students' digital broadcast news skills for television, radio, and online platforms.
• Equip students with the skills to produce a variety of radio programs and audio content to an industry standard.
• Introduce students to legal, civic, and regulatory knowledge related to journalism.
• Provide students with the opportunity to showcase their knowledge, skills, and ideas through practical projects and dissertations.

Outline:

Year 1:

• Inside the Journalism Industry: This unit critically examines the political, commercial, and regulatory contexts of journalism, as well as ethical and legal journalistic practice.
• Sport in Society: This unit introduces students to the origins, history, and development of various sports and its relation to the media.
• Sport, Media and Culture: This unit examines the complex relationship between sport and media, including the link between sport, sponsorship, advertisers, and stakeholders, as well as the ethical implications.
• Reporting and Writing: This unit teaches students how to identify newsworthy stories and write news stories and feature articles for a range of platforms, while also considering elements of professionalism and ethics.
• The Art and Craft of Journalism: This unit improves students' awareness and critical appreciation of fine journalism, enhancing their writing skills.
• Introduction to Digital Storytelling: This unit develops students' digital storytelling skills, including audio and video recording and editing.
• Practical Sports Journalism: This unit provides students with practical experience in sports reporting, broadcasting, writing, and editing in live situations.
• Digital Production Skills: This unit builds on students' digital broadcast news skills for television, radio, and online platforms, refining their editorial and voice skills.
• Multimedia Newsdays: This unit provides students with the opportunity to put their broadcast and online skills, along with their journalistic knowledge, into practice through real-life, on-the-ground reporting.

Year 2:

• Advanced Multimedia for Journalism: This unit builds on the skills developed in Multimedia Newsdays, providing students with the opportunity to work on more complex and longer-form radio and television pieces.
• Radio 24/7 for Journalists: This unit equips students with the skills to produce a variety of radio programs and audio content to an industry standard under professional work environments.
• Radio, Audio and Podcasting: This unit enables students to develop their digital audio editing skills by producing various types of content using studio and location recording techniques.
• Public Relations and Marketing: This unit introduces students to public relations as a tool for reputation management and marketing communications, integrating concepts from public relations, advertising, and digital media to form effective marketing communication strategies.
• Law, Regulation & Public Administration: This unit introduces students to legal, civic, and regulatory knowledge related to journalism.

Year 3:

• Practical Special Project – CnC: This unit provides students with the opportunity to conduct a project within an area of their interest that is relevant to their studies, potentially exploring topics within radio and audio, media communications, and journalism.
• Dissertation Special Project – CnC: This unit allows students to undertake a major research project into a topic of their interest that is strongly relevant to their field of study.

Assessment:

Assessment methods vary across the course, enabling students to develop strategies for a range of tasks, methods of evaluation, and presentation, giving them valuable employability experience. Students receive formative feedback with every formative assignment and summative feedback is given within 20 working days of submission for level 4 and 5 and within 15 working days for level 6. Individual tutors offer the opportunity to discuss any feedback in more detail at each level of study. As student skills and subject knowledge develop over the duration of their course, it is expected that they will develop increasingly sophisticated responses to assessment and employ increasingly effective methods of peer and self-review.

Teaching:

The program is taught by a team of industry specialists in both sports reporting and general journalism, across a range of platforms. Students benefit from regular news days, developing their skills through real-life sports reporting assignments. They also have the opportunity to work on live projects for industry organizations, including Coolr social media agency, Pooja Studios, Luton Town FC's Media and PR department, MK Dons FC, and MKFM radio station. The program features guest speakers from both the worlds of sport and media, including Keanu Rattray, Digital Content Manager at FIFA, and Mick Payne, Match of the Day producer. Field trips to studios and course-related destinations, including MKFM, Luton Town FC, MK Dons FC, BBC Broadcasting House, BT Sport, and Sky, are also offered.

Careers:

Career opportunities for graduates of this course include sports journalism, publishing, copywriting, public relations, media research, and digital media. The University also has industry links with the BBC, ITV, MKFM, Reuters, Bloomberg, and leading UK newspapers. The program is delivered at the Luton Campus, which features a Mac-equipped newsroom with a radio news booth and transmission gallery, high-spec multi-camera television studios, industry-standard radio facilities, outside broadcast (OB) recording equipment, Netflix-standard film cameras, and digital video-editing suites with Adobe Creative Cloud software.

UK 2024/25

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year.

International

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.