Studying Journalism at Salford

The Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) is an accreditation body supported by the BBC, ITV, Sky News, Associated Press, Reuters, Global Radio and the National Union of Journalists. The BA Journalism Multimedia and BA Journalism Broadcast courses at the University of Salford are among more than 50 journalism courses with BJTC accreditation. The BJTC’s accreditation is highly regarded within the industry because it represents a benchmark of best practice against which potential students can judge prospective courses.

Students at accredited courses are able to take advantage of placement opportunities and enter the BJTC awards, at which Salford students have achieved success in recent years. All students who graduate from our courses receive a certificate from the BJTC. 

Examples of journalism by our students can be seen on the Salford Now website - http://www.salfordnow.co.uk - and on our YouTube channel.

Our journalism courses combine practical work and theory, but most of the assessments are practical assignments. For example, students may be asked to record a radio interview, write a newspaper article or shoot and edit a TV package. In second and third year modules, students are often asked to write reflective essay alongside their practical assignments, analysing the work that they have done and drawing lessons from their experiences that can be applied to their future journalism work. 
 

We offer a wide range of placement opportunities with industry partners including BBC North West Tonight, ITN, ITV Granada Reports, ITV ‘Tonight', Sky News, Channel 5 News, Global Radio, Hits Radio Manchester Evening News, Bolton News, Lancashire Telegraph, Manchester United, Accrington Stanley, Fleetwood Town and Salford Red Devils. 

Many of our graduates go on to work as journalists in TV, radio, print and online newsrooms. Many also secure jobs in communications and PR departments of companies, public sector organisations and sports clubs. 

Others have found that the skills they have acquired as journalism students are transferrable to professions such as teaching and the police.

Our students action their own ideas for workshop tasks and assignments. There is plenty of scope for pursuing your own interests and passions on the course, to write and broadcast about stories that interest you. Journalists need to be full of ideas, and we help you to find and research your own stories. 

We constantly refresh our course content to keep it fresh and relevant. Many of the lecturers are still active journalists, publishing stories and working shifts in newsrooms alongside their teaching. So we can be working on a story at the weekend which becomes the basis for a classroom exercise the following week. 

So you know exactly what to expect as a journalist, as part of your studies you'll take place in regular newsdays. These allow you to cover a developing story, working together in teams (TV, radio, social media) to provide coverage across a range of channels so you can experience all the skills needed to work on real stories in real newsrooms.

Our teaching staff are supported by an experienced and talented team of technical demonstrators. They can help you to operate broadcasting studios and galleries and teach technical skills such as camera operations and audio and video editing. 

You don’t have to be an extrovert to be a journalist. While there are opportunities to present programmes and lead editorial teams on the course, nobody is asked to take on any role that they would be uncomfortable with. We want our course to be accessible to everyone and support is provided at a course and university level.