Creative Media Production and Technology (Journalism)

This course is designed for people who want to develop a career in the journalism and publishing industry. It will focus on both print journalism and digital media production, as well as social media and broadcast journalism. The two year full time course provides a range of experiences, allowing individuals to progress straight into the workplace or onto higher education. In your first year you will study the Diploma progressing to the Extended Diploma in your second year.

This course is ideal if you enjoy writing creatively and investigative journalism and it is ideal if you have a keen interest in the industry.

The course has no exam and you are assessed continuously over the two years of the course. Each project will test your ability to work in teams, communicate effectively and prepare for media productions. You are assessed through your finished journalism work and your portfolio of work, which should contain all your research, planning and production evidence. Observations from your lecturers will also form a part of your assessment. All units you study are graded, and a final major project will determine your final grade for the qualification.

What topics will I study? 

You will have the opportunity to develop practical and creative skills through a variety of assignments, such as news and feature writing; photojournalism; broadcast journalism (radio/TV); and magazine/newspaper design and production.

You will learn about: journalism law and media theory; professional writing skills; research techniques and how to use research to write news stories, features; interview skills and how to conduct interviews for print, radio, TV and online outlets; page layout and design using industry standard software; photography; and video and audio recording and editing skills.

You will:

• Develop practical and creative skills through a variety of assignments, such as news and feature writing, photojournalism, magazine/newspaper design and production, documentary and podcasts
• Find out how to conduct interviews for print and online outlets
• Create designs using industry standard software such as InDesign
• Develop photography and audio recording and editing skills
• Work with professionals from the BBC and the Met Office, among others
• Research writing skills and journalism law

The course has no exam and you are assessed continuously over the two years of the course.

This course is ideal if you enjoy writing, photography and investigative journalism. This course is ideal if you have a keen interest in current affairs and would like a career in roles such as magazine editor, documentary maker, researcher, photo journalist, sports journalist, marketing and advertising.

This course is studied on its own and cannot be combined with other courses.

Future Steps: You could go on to university level to study a Journalism degree or a Communications, PR or Marketing degree. You could also get a job in the journalism and publishing industry or an Apprenticeship through companies such as the BBC and Sky Academy.

You will need five GCSEs at grade 4 or above, or equivalent, including English Language. If this does not include Maths, you must study this alongside the course. You will need a keen interest in journalism.

You will have access to a Learning Resource Centre (LRC) with a full range of new media equipment purchased specifically for practical media production, plus computers with industry standard software. You will also have access to a state of the art HD live TV studio and a radio studio.

Approx £30 course fee to cover industry speakers, course trips and equipment costs.