Media & Journalism BA(Hons)

Your first year is all about developing the core skills and working methods you will apply throughout your studies. You will engage in writing, research, critical thinking, digital and organisational tasks and explore how to see the world through a journalist’s eyes, finding and crafting stories using photography, video, and audio.  

The study of news and the world of current affairs and politics will provide a framework for your practice. You will also explore how culture is made, shared, and transformed through digital media. 

Writing Studio 

This module is all about understanding the mechanics of impactful writing. Collaborating with students from across the disciplines, you will examine how language shapes the experiences of audiences across different platforms. 

Then, through practical tasks and workshops, you will develop tools and techniques that will build your confidence in writing with clarity, empathy, and purpose, helping you to craft engaging and persuasive stories for a wide range of different channels and contexts – from news and social media to websites and apps. 

Essentials of Editorial Photography 

How do photojournalists tell stories in pictures? During this module you will develop the technical camera skills and digital editing tools needed to prepare images for publication. Responding to a series of project briefs, you will conduct research and explore methods and narrative models used by journalists and documentary-makers, keeping a reflective record of your photographic practice.   

News Lab: Multimedia Reporting 1  

In the first module on our News Lab series, you will learn the fundamentals of reporting, news writing and how to record and edit audio stories. 

You’ll be supported to investigate and interrogate digital and real-world news sources to generate good story ideas and  learn how to interview people with confidence.   

Journalism, Politics & Society 

Whether reporting on an election, a protest, or a piece of legislation, journalists are expected to keep the public informed about events, people and decisions that affect their lives, helping to hold those in power to account. In this module, using the news agenda to inform our focus, you will learn about structures of power and how journalists engage with government and other public bodies.

Discovering Digital Cultures 

This module provides a framework for understanding media-conscious storytelling through creative technologies.  

You’ll explore how content creators, digital storytellers and creative disrupters approach social media, brand identity and digital citizenship. You will also explore how blended realities, VR/AR and generative AI are shaping our understanding of the media environment. 

News Lab: Multimedia Reporting 2 

Building on News Lab 1, on this module you’ll be introduced to the craft of short-form video. You will study and discuss current and recent audiovisual news stories from the UK and around the world to inform your understanding of different cultural approaches, as a platform for developing your creative practice in a series of hands-on multimedia skills workshops. 

Building on your learning and the creative confidence established in your first year, you’ll further develop your skills and thinking, while engaging in longer-form outputs and contexts. 

Through collaborative group projects and responding to industry-aligned media briefs, you’ll learn about longer-form journalism, studying the work of noteworthy writers and documentary-makers as well as creating your own feature article. This work will be underpinned by the study of media law and ethics. 

Media Law & Ethics 

This module introduces you to the freedoms and constraints faced by journalists and content creators.  

Using current and historical case studies, you'll develop a working knowledge of these frameworks, to inform your practice and encourage critical discussion. A recurring theme is freedom of expression – exploring its limits and how it relates to other key human rights. 

Creative Non-Fiction 

In this module you’ll explore how to take creative, journalistic and critical approaches to traditionally non-fiction writing forms including essays, interviews, travel writing, reviews, journals, diaries, and biography.  

You will consider how the need to convey factual information can be balanced with the creative potential of language, narrative and form, and consider the ethical issues involved. 

News Lab: Local is Global  

Develop your multimedia storytelling skills by exploring stories connected across borders.  

You will focus your work - individually and collaboratively - around a theme with both local and global resonance, considering journalism’s role in promoting social justice and challenging Eurocentric assumptions about news cultures. You will also learn how to use digital content management systems to present your work. 

Making Magazines 

Working in an editorial group as you would in industry, you will learn and apply the business, editorial and technical skills needed to produce magazines for print and digital platforms, using industry-standard publishing software. 

Once you have created a new product idea, you will collaboratively identify a clear target market and build a business case to prove its potential before creating a sample edition of your magazine. 

Collaboration 

Developing the teamworking skills developed in the previous module, you will work with your peers and external partners to realise a collaborative project, applying your professional skills alongside valuable transferable ones, such as negotiation, problem-solving and project management.  

You will also develop your reflective thinking and will publish an online CV or portfolio, employing digital tools to showcase your work and skills. 

Long Story 

Exploring case studies of compelling and influential longform journalism in film, audio and writing, you will learn how to apply methods of analysis to deepen your understanding of the craft. You will encounter materials from diverse cultural environments and contexts, challenging assumptions and power structures defined by colonial perspectives.   

You can choose to take an optional professional placement after your second year on a three-year programme.

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the employability team. 

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying. 

How you’ll study during your placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks. 

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

Your final year will be spent deepening your craft and employability skills as you progress to becoming an independent learner, researcher and practitioner. Working in an industry-aligned newsroom environment, you will take on editorial roles and produce multimedia work to weekly deadlines.  

You will learn advanced research and investigation skills as a platform for your final major project, which might be a documentary, a dissertation, or a portfolio of writing or multimedia journalism. The final year also embeds the business, promotional and entrepreneurial acumen needed to accelerate your path to career success. 

News Lab: Going Live  

Put your professional, collaborative and digital skills into practice in a deadline-driven newsroom environment, sharing responsibility for organisation, quality and workflow. You will enhance your knowledge of editorial roles and practise them in a production cycle with live weekly outputs. You will also learn the importance of rigorous editing, and the essential creative and commercial drivers of successful production. 

How to Be Right: Advanced Investigation and Research   

Learn to master a range of techniques to conduct complex research and investigations for academic and editorial projects.  

You will be given the resources to select from, critique and apply a range of methodologies, exploring the distinct approaches and structure of scholarly research and the methods and tools employed by journalists to distil key information from datasets and others’ research. 

The Springboard 

Prepare for industry roles by applying the enterprising, organisational and reflective skills required to help you stand out from the crowd.  

Whether you are aiming for work in the media or publishing, or plan to adapt your skills in a related sphere, this module will help you focus on your career path. 

Final Major Project options: Mini documentary / Creative Portfolio / Dissertation 

Mini documentary:  

Complete your degree with a flourish by producing a piece of non-fiction film or audio. You will deploy digital technologies to experiment with deep emotional storytelling, learning how to refine your story and pitch it to a panel – as you would in industry. Lectures and workshops provide the platform, but the emphasis is on you to demonstrate organisational discipline and self-direction, supported by a supervisor. 

Creative Portfolio: 

Working independently with academic support, you will produce a substantial piece of writing, or a collection of shorter pieces in a genre, form and topic of your choice. Workshops will help you refresh and expand your research and craft skills. 

Dissertation:  

Working independently with academic support, you will produce a piece of substantial written research into a subject related to your studies. Workshops will help you refresh and expand your research and critical thinking skills, while a mix of group seminars and one-to-one supervisions support you through the research and composition phases with regular constructive feedback. 

Our teaching strategy is experiential, supportive, and both creatively and intellectually stimulating. A typical week on Media & Journalism will be a combination of workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials (with a group or individually), but the emphasis is on learning by doing – creating and editing work individually or collaboratively with the support of academics and technical staff in a studio-style setting.  

This in-class work is complemented by independent study, which may include reading, research, meeting your peers to plan projects, attending meetings or events with contacts, sources or clients, doing work experience, or producing work in preparation for a coming class or deadline. Our virtual learning environment clearly lays out what is expected week by week. This core learning is backed up with special events such as screenings, guest lectures or discussion panels; off-campus activities and trips; and opportunities to network, find placements and pitch your journalism to real publishers and other outlets, as well as to showcase it on our own web channels and publishing partners.  

At Falmouth, we use a 'digitally enhanced learning & teaching' approach. Your experience will always be predominantly in-person, including seminars, tutorials and studio teaching, with some, more targeted elements, being online either live (synchronous) or pre-recorded (asynchronous). You can read more here.  

100% of your assessment will be coursework. There are no exams as part of this course.    

Assessment methods 

Media & Journalism students receive feedback throughout their studies, whether as part of the work done in classes or constructive responses to their marked assessments. 

We use a mix of assessment methods, listed below, which all arise from coursework.  

• Portfolio – a selection of your work, sometimes in the form of a structured report  
• Presentation – a presentation made to a lecturer, class and/or panel  
• Report – a formal summary of a project or other activity  
• Journal – a reflective record of your learning and practice  
• Essay – an academic argument addressing a question or a hypothesis  
• Practical – an example of your creative or journalistic work  
• Case Study – a written analysis of a particular example relevant to the context  
• Critical evaluation – a written evaluation of another’s or your own work  
• Dissertation – an extended piece of academic writing, or longform written or media project