Journalism (Foundation Year), BA (Hons)
Program Overview
This four-year Journalism (Foundation Entry) BA (Hons) program at UCLan provides a practical, hands-on approach to journalism, developing students' technical, writing, and ethical skills. It offers work placement opportunities, industry accreditations, and access to state-of-the-art facilities, preparing graduates for a wide range of careers in the journalism field.
Program Outline
Journalism (Foundation Entry), BA (Hons) - UCLan
Degree Overview:
This program is a four-year, full-time degree offered at the Preston Campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). It is designed for students who have the potential to succeed in a degree program but lack the formal qualifications for direct entry into an Honours degree program. The program emphasizes practical, hands-on learning and provides a broad range of future employment opportunities. It does not require specialization in a specific area or platform.
Objectives:
The program aims to:
- Provide students with an insight into the practice of journalism and the skills and knowledge required by journalists.
- Develop students' technical and writing skills in news reporting.
- Equip students with the ability to create engaging news stories and feature articles.
- Prepare students for work placements in journalism, creative media, communications, or other relevant organizations.
Outline:
Year 0:
- FDE Introduction to Specialisms: This module introduces students to the various ways creative practitioners have shaped society and how society influences creative practice. It focuses on developing foundational skills for a range of specialist areas and introduces students to the diverse choices within Arts and Media. It explores how to come up with ideas, find stories and contributors, and reach diverse communities. It emphasizes inclusion and diversity, teaching students how to tell stories that reflect people from different backgrounds.
- News Reporting: This module teaches students the skills needed to be a news reporter, both technical and writing. It covers using broadcast cameras, audio recording equipment, and editing video and audio.
- Media Law and Regulation: This module helps students recognize the ethical and professional issues faced by journalists within liberal democracies, enabling them to make informed practical decisions in their work. It covers the legal and regulatory framework in which journalists operate and applies this knowledge in a newsroom environment through practical sessions.
Year 2:
- Newsday 1: This module involves participating in at least 15 news production days, simulating a typical day in a real-life newsroom. Students develop their technical and writing skills.
- Features Journalism: This module teaches students how to write engaging feature articles for specialist and non-specialist publications and magazines, both in print and digital. It also covers the basics of photojournalism and how to promote journalism to a wide audience.
- Reporting Politics and Society: This module introduces students to the framework, structures, and institutions of central and local government and other public bodies in the UK in relation to journalism.
- Ethics: This module helps students recognize and understand the ethical issues journalists face, providing them with the tools to make informed and ethical decisions about their work. It meets the requirements of UK journalism industry accreditation bodies in teaching ethics and regulation.
Year 3:
- Newsday 2: This module involves participating in 15 news production days, simulating the life of a reporter in the industry. Students find stories, create TV and radio bulletins, and produce website and social media content.
- Work Placement: This module prepares students for a work placement in journalism, creative media, communications, or another relevant organization. Students undertake a placement to enhance their employability, reflect on, and critically analyze the relevant organization, industry sector, and employment opportunities available.
- Optional Modules: Depending on the number of compulsory modules taken, students can choose optional modules to complete their course. These include:
- Podcasting: Students plan, script, record, and edit a podcast (or series) about news, current affairs, a sporting subject, or a topic of their choice. They then create a brand to market their podcast.
- Digital Project: Students learn how to use digital platforms to tell stories creatively. They explore how solutions-based journalism impacts audience engagement with digital content.
- Creating a Brand: Students work in teams to create a new brand and learn the skills needed to turn it into a successful business. They also learn to use industry-standard software for print and online design.
- Research Project: Students draw upon previous learning to initiate and undertake a sustained research-based study of their choice in the field of journalism.
- Documentary: Students plan, film, interview, script, and edit a short television documentary about a news/current affairs or sporting subject and topic of their choosing. They then critically reflect on the process.
- Reporting Politics and Society: Students study central and local government and other public bodies in the UK.
- Ethics: This module helps students recognize and understand the ethical issues journalists face, providing them with the tools to make informed and ethical decisions about their work. It meets the requirements of UK journalism industry accreditation bodies in teaching ethics and regulation.
Assessment:
Students are assessed through a variety of methods, including:
- Production of live news days
- Editing and production of print material to deadline
- Production of pre-recorded packages
- Writing tests
- Interviewing tests
- Academic essays
- Individual and group presentations
- Formal examinations
- Coursework Assessment is both formative and summative and is closely aligned to learning outcomes.
Teaching:
The program utilizes a variety of teaching methods, including:
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Workshops
- Practical exercises
- Guest lectures
- Industry visits The faculty consists of experienced journalists and academics who are experts in their fields. They provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the journalism industry.
Careers:
Graduates of this program are well-prepared for a variety of careers in journalism, including:
- Broadcast journalism (TV and radio)
- Print journalism (newspapers and magazines)
- Online journalism
- Public relations
- Communications
- Marketing The program's strong industry links and work placement opportunities provide students with valuable experience and connections that can help them launch their careers.
Other:
- The program is part of the Google News Lab University Network, providing students with access to in-person and online training on topics such as immersive storytelling, data journalism, trust, and more.
- Students can showcase their ideas, enthusiasm, skills, and talent at the cJAM careers event, which features industry professionals and offers placement opportunities to successful students.
- The program offers all compulsory NCTJ modules plus optional modules, many of which are built into degree-level assessments.
- The University pays for the first attempt of all NCTJ exams.
- Six fully-equipped newsrooms
- Four radio studios
- TV studio and adjacent gallery
- Two broadcast production areas
- Two video editing suites
- Live news feeds from the Press Association
- Industry-standard workflows
Accreditations:
The program is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) and recognized as providing "general excellence in broadcast journalism training." It is also accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), which recognized UCLan as the top-performing Higher Education course in the UK in 2022.
Industry Links:
The School has extensive and excellent links with industry, including ITV and the BBC. These organizations have mentored students from diverse backgrounds and helped them develop careers in broadcasting.
cJAM Employability Event:
This annual event shakes up the traditional career fair format and provides students with face-to-face time with up to 30 successful industry professionals, all of whom offer work placement opportunities. Students can:
- Hear from keynote industry speakers.
- Take part in an industry Q&A session.
- Network informally during breaks and lunch.
- Have eight minutes of one-to-one time to pitch to selected industry guests to try and win a placement.
