IELTS at 8.0 (Or equivalent)

Theory and practice are integrated. Radio and online is covered in the first semester and television and online in the second semester. There is individual and group work on broadcast and online assignments. All teaching takes place in the broadcast newsroom and studios and occasionally on location filming. Contact time takes place through the workshop sessions in which lecture and practical material is combined with a programme of directed reading and viewing and listening.

BJ Newsroom
Radio Studios
TV news set
StaffsLive website
Microphones and cameras
Internet
Library
Blackboard

Flemming, Carole (2010). The Radio Handbook, Routledge.
Gandon, Mike (2013). English for International Journalists, Routledge.
Hicks, Winford (2006). English for Journalists, Routledge.
Hudson, G & Rowlands, S. (2012). The Broadcast Journalism Handbook, Pearson.
Mills, Jenni (2005). The Broadcast Voice, Focal.
Thompson, Rick (2005). Writing for Broadcast Journalists, London, Routledge.
Trewin, Janet (2003). Presenting on TV and Radio, Oxford: Focal.

This 30 credit module examines concurrently online, radio and TV reporting and presentation. The module aims at integrating the major theories and practical skills of the broadcast and online journalist. It also gives students a grasp of professional presentation techniques. It investigates, analyses and gives practice in news and feature stories, voice and package reporting, interview techniques, bulletin editing, the use of actuality, the use of records/engineering and digital editing. It gives practice at news reading and analyses various styles of news presentation.

The Journalism Department’s bespoke website – StaffsLive – is an integral part of the teaching and learning. Students are given full instruction on writing for the web, SEO techniques, uploading text, video and audio, searching for images (including copyright issues) and live Tweeting.

The module examines broadcast and online journalism practice to give essential skills in the field as well as an understanding of the relationship between the practice of broadcast journalism, the production values of broadcasting and definitions of news.

Continual Assessment in Newsdays at the end of each semester to include radio and TV presenting and reporting, online journalism plus editorial control. Assessment will include performance in delivery of scripts, bulletin editing and packaging. Publication of items on StaffsLive are also part of the assessment. (100% weighting)
[Learning Outcomes 1-8]

1. DEMONSTRATE SOUND EDITORIAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT MAKES A NEWS STORY AND ABILITY TO FIND THE NEWS ANGLE
[Knowledge and Understanding; Problem Solving]

2. DEMONSTRATE PROFESSIONAL BROADCAST AND ONLINE WRITING STYLES
[Application; Knowledge and Understanding]

3. DEMONSTRATE A PROFESSIONAL VOICE FOR BROADCAST
[Application; Knowledge and Understanding

4. RECORD, EDIT AND COMPILE PACKAGES FOR RADIO, TV AND ONLINE WITH CLARITY AND INTEREST
[Knowledge and Understanding]

5. ADAPT TO VARIOUS STYLES OF PRESENTATION, WRITING AND EDITORIAL DELIVERY
[Knowledge and Understanding]

6. DEVELOP ADVANCED CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND CRITICAL APPRECIATION AND AWARENESS OF CONTEMPORARY THEORIES AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE PRACTICE OF BROADCAST AND ONLINE JOURNALISM
[Knowledge and Understanding]

7. DEMONSTRATE PRACTICAL BROADCAST AND ONLINE SKILLS TO A HIGH LEVEL FOR CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
[Application; Knowledge and Understanding; Learning]

8. DEMONSTRATE ORIGINALITY IN THE APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
[Application; Knowledge and Understanding]

This module is your first step to becoming a successful broadcast journalist, or print/online journalist with broadcast skills. It will give you the basic skills needed to produce a news story for broadcast or online. Whatever route you take, you will need to be able to write well. The module will also provide you with the knowledge and skills to assess the relative merits of stories and to carry out the research and interviews necessary to put a story together.