Journalism and Media at Kingston

If you are a keen writer, constantly asking questions and have broad interests in pop culture, politics, news and digital media, then Journalism and Media at Kingston University might be for you. I personally am a very curious person, with my primary passions being in music, however I’m very involved in politics, popular culture and global current affairs, which has been very useful in terms of approaching my modules that require vast understandings of general knowledge.

I think the journalism and media course here equips students with the skills that are vital for aspiring journalists today; for example, one of my favourite modules is ‘Thinking About Journalism’, where we get thinking about the role a journalist plays in society. We question the current state of journalism, approaching issues we have with class and gender inequality, bias and propaganda as well as the relationship between journalism and power. I think having this module has really affected the way I view journalists and the way I consume news, encouraging me to read across publications and challenge what we’re being told. The course in Kingston stood out to me when I first looked at universities, due to the weekly guest lectures, where industry professionals will discuss their career with us. This has taught me a lot about the types of jobs I can go into in journalism, what a journalist's career looks like and bridging the gap between professional journalists and students, enabling us to network.

As expected, it’s a very practical course. We use lesson times to go out and find stories, or edit our practical media work, plan our group projects and organise interviews for longer research-based feature pieces. One of our main practical assignments in our first term was to create a podcast in a small group, debating issues in journalism and linking it to recent news. This taught us how to use audio editing software, work in a group on a professional scale, come up with branding, marketing and researching our competitors in the field of journalism podcasts. This has helped me think more about potential career prospects in broadcasting and marketing as this project was particularly enjoyable.

Kingston University has a lively campus, with constant activities, lots of sports clubs and societies which have played a major role in settling into university life. I’ve been able to reignite my passion for sports, taking up fencing again and making friends out of it, as well as attending the big sporting socials every month, which have been really enjoyable and have pushed me out of my comfort zone, but in the best way possible.

Thea (Kingston Rep)