Good universities in the UK for MA Journalism

I'm a final year undergrad student studying Finance. I want to become a journalist though, preferably a sports journalist. Have been writing for this sports website for the past couple of months as an intern and my editor said I should definitely consider a career in journalism as according to him, I 'have what it takes'.
Which are the good universities in the UK for a MA in Journalism? What are their requirements generally? Do I stand a chance as someone who has not studied journalism in any form before? Can I still apply if I want to start this October? Thanks.

Reply 1

elstevens

I'm not sure about whether you can still apply, but I've heard before about City's reputation for Journalism MAs. I'm not sure how good they are, but it's a place I was told to think about, as following my degree I'm planning to do the same as you. They also do quite a range of courses.

http://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate/index.html

The other place I know that does one is London College of Communications, but again I'm not sure whether they're one of the best.

http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma_journalism_print.htm
or
http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/MA_journalism_tv.htm

I'd heard more about the City courses than LCC, but really I think as long as you do an MA you enjoy and outside of your course you gather all the experience you can get you should be alright. I think experience is what employers will look for though, and getting to know people is important. So many people have told me that it's all about who you know.

Also, I think you do stand a chance. I did work experience at a paper and they asked me what I was going to study at university, and I was torn between an English degree or a Journalism degree, and they told me that doing an MA or converting to Journalism would be fine, as long as I carried on getting experience (which you've done). It gives you a specialist area to talk about as well.

Sorry I've rambled, but I hope I've helped a little at least.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 2

fhatthewuck

OP

Original post by elstevens

I'm not sure about whether you can still apply, but I've heard before about City's reputation for Journalism MAs. I'm not sure how good they are, but it's a place I was told to think about, as following my degree I'm planning to do the same as you. They also do quite a range of courses.

http://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate/index.html

The other place I know that does one is London College of Communications, but again I'm not sure whether they're one of the best.

http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma_journalism_print.htm
or
http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/MA_journalism_tv.htm

I'd heard more about the City courses than LCC, but really I think as long as you do an MA you enjoy and outside of your course you gather all the experience you can get you should be alright. I think experience is what employers will look for though, and getting to know people is important. So many people have told me that it's all about who you know.

Also, I think you do stand a chance. I did work experience at a paper and they asked me what I was going to study at university, and I was torn between an English degree or a Journalism degree, and they told me that doing an MA or converting to Journalism would be fine, as long as I carried on getting experience (which you've done). It gives you a specialist area to talk about as well.

Sorry I've rambled, but I hope I've helped a little at least.

Thank you so much for your help. I looked through a few of the courses on the links you provided and they all mentioned that 'relevant journalism-related experience' is required. I've only been writing for this website for a month and a half, so would it be a better idea to continue writing for another year and then apply? Or is this much experience sufficient?

Reply 3

fhatthewuck

OP

Original post by elstevens

I'm not sure about whether you can still apply, but I've heard before about City's reputation for Journalism MAs. I'm not sure how good they are, but it's a place I was told to think about, as following my degree I'm planning to do the same as you. They also do quite a range of courses.

http://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate/index.html

The other place I know that does one is London College of Communications, but again I'm not sure whether they're one of the best.

http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma_journalism_print.htm
or
http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/MA_journalism_tv.htm

I'd heard more about the City courses than LCC, but really I think as long as you do an MA you enjoy and outside of your course you gather all the experience you can get you should be alright. I think experience is what employers will look for though, and getting to know people is important. So many people have told me that it's all about who you know.

Also, I think you do stand a chance. I did work experience at a paper and they asked me what I was going to study at university, and I was torn between an English degree or a Journalism degree, and they told me that doing an MA or converting to Journalism would be fine, as long as I carried on getting experience (which you've done). It gives you a specialist area to talk about as well.

Sorry I've rambled, but I hope I've helped a little at least.

Also, how is Sheffield and Cardiff?

Reply 4

elstevens

Original post by fhatthewuck

Thank you so much for your help. I looked through a few of the courses on the links you provided and they all mentioned that 'relevant journalism-related experience' is required. I've only been writing for this website for a month and a half, so would it be a better idea to continue writing for another year and then apply? Or is this much experience sufficient?

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a break and try to get as much experience as you can, but it's always worth trying. You have some experience, and it may be enough, but I'd probably recommend just going crazy and applying everywhere for experience :smile:

.

The other thing is, my friend applied for Fashion Journalism at London College of Fashion, and she mentioned she'd had a blog and they looked quite favorably on that, so just try to do as much writing as you can on your own as well. Also, the earlier you start one, the less it looks like you've just done it to help your application. I think they're really just trying to see how committed you are to the subject.

Recently, I've found this website which occasionally comes up with quite good opportunities for writing, especially if you have time on a year out.

http://london.craigslist.co.uk/wri/

The other thing would be to look for proper internships. A lot of big magazines that I've looked at have said they won't take anyone on until they are in, or have finished, higher education, so you have that on your side as well.

Reply 5

elstevens

Original post by fhatthewuck

Also, how is Sheffield and Cardiff?

I wasn't sure whether they did MAs, but I know they do BAs and as far as I'm aware they're well respected for their courses. I want to say especially Sheffield, but I'm not sure whether I'm just making that up or not. It would definitely be worth looking in to. I really don't know enough about places. I wish I did now, haha. I just assumed I'd look into it when I was nearer finishing my degree.

EDIT:

You were correct! http://coursefinder.cardiff.ac.uk/postgraduate/course/detail/1137.html

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

elstevens

Also, there are these, but now I'm going to stop because I feel like I'm become obsessed with your future :smile:

. Let me know if you find anything interesting, and good luck!

http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-journalism/

http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/201/courses-7/postgraduate-courses-43/international-journalism-ma-79.html

http://www.shef.ac.uk/journalism/prospectivepg
http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/sscience/journalism/index.html
http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/sscience/journalism/journalweb.html

Reply 7

fhatthewuck

OP

Original post by elstevens

Also, there are these, but now I'm going to stop because I feel like I'm become obsessed with your future :smile:

. Let me know if you find anything interesting, and good luck!

http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-journalism/

http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/201/courses-7/postgraduate-courses-43/international-journalism-ma-79.html

http://www.shef.ac.uk/journalism/prospectivepg
http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/sscience/journalism/index.html
http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/sscience/journalism/journalweb.html

Sorry this is off-topic, but someone just posted this on another thread of mine, where I'd asked about becoming a journalist.
Why would you want to do that? I understand that you might enjoy doing journalism more, but you have to be realistic. How many jobs are there in journalism compared to finance? Not many. You are closing alot of doors, by going down this route and no offence to you, but one month of experience will count for F all.

You will need to work for free to start with btw, that's just how the industry works unfortunately.
Having second thoughts now

Reply 8

elstevens

Original post by fhatthewuck

Sorry this is off-topic, but someone just posted this on another thread of mine, where I'd asked about becoming a journalist.
Why would you want to do that? I understand that you might enjoy doing journalism more, but you have to be realistic. How many jobs are there in journalism compared to finance? Not many. You are closing alot of doors, by going down this route and no offence to you, but one month of experience will count for F all.

You will need to work for free to start with btw, that's just how the industry works unfortunately.
Having second thoughts now

Journalism is known for being hard to get into. In fact, that's a bit of an understatement. If it puts you off then don't go for it. I know how hard it will be, but I've never wanted to do anything else, and therefore I'll try and get in to it anyway I can.

However, if it's just a job you just fancy a bit then you really need to have a think about it. It takes a lot of networking, and working for little or no money just for experience to get anywhere. It's really up to what you want I guess.

Finance and journalism are two completely different things. Would you rather work with numbers or words? Yes, it'll be hard, but try and do journalism if that's what it'll take for you to be happy. I, personally, would be very depressed do anything that didn't involve words, writing and books. I know there's a slim chance I will get into it, but I couldn't care less because that's all I've ever wanted to try and do.

Good universities in the UK for MA Journalism

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