Journalism BA Honours

The course has creativity, flexibility, innovation and entrepreneurship at its core. It focuses on online and cross-media skills throughout, since they are now central to everything modern journalists do, not just an add-on or afterthought.
There are three key strands to the course:
Journalism practice, which focuses on key journalistic skills, production techniques, and a final project module including running a live online site.
Journalism in context, which helps students to understand the social, political, economic, legal, regulatory and ethical contexts within which journalists operate.
Media and communications research, which develops students’ understanding of the social and cultural uses of mediated communication.
The Journalism BA has a flexible structure which, while it focuses on core journalistic and critical and analytic skills, also allows students to choose specialist options and take control of their studies.
Learning takes place through a combination of face-to-face teaching and independent study, including lectures and seminars, practical workshops, group and individual projects, and presentations.
The majority of assessment is of coursework, including journalistic news stories and features, video and audio packages, multimedia stories, blogs and blog posts, and research reports and industry case studies.
Subjects of study
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course. For more details on course structure and modules, and how you will be taught and assessed, see the full course document.
Year 1 (Credit Level 4)
Subjects of study include:
Digital First: Introduction to Producing Online/Multimedia Journalism
Introduction to Consumer and Lifestyle Journalism
Introduction to Journalism
Journalism: Stories and Histories
Media and Globalisation
Media and Society
News, Features, Comment
Year 2 (Credit Level 5)
Subjects of study include:
Journalism, Politics and the Media
Media Law and Ethics
Pitch, Produce, Publish: Creating Modern Magazines
Theories of Media and Communication
Researching Media and Communication
Specialist Journalism (students choose from pathways on Fashion Journalism, Sports Jounalism, International Journalism and Literary Journalism)
Multimedia Storytelling and Production (students choose from Broadcast and Online pathways)
Year 3 (Credit Level 6)
Subjects of study include:
Dissertation
Extended Essay
Final Journalism Project
Media Futures
Specialist Journalism (students choose from pathways on Arts and Entertainment Journalism, Technology and Video Games Journalism and Investigative and Data Journalism).
Westminster electives
As part of your course you can take elective modules. Electives are an exciting opportunity to widen your experience at university and to gain skills and knowledge that will help make you more employable. Find out about Westminster electives.
Work placement
From Year 2 to the end of Year 3 you are encouraged to do as many work placements as possible. Work experience is a degree requirement, and you will need to find your own placements, though staff will help.
Course team
The teaching team includes:
Jim McClellan, Course Leader
David Lancaster, Senior Lecturer
Patrick Stoddart, SeniorLecturer
Edmundo Bracho-Polanco, Lecturer
Anastasia Denisova, Lecturer
What your tuition fees cover
For details of what's included in your tuition fees, download our course fee information.