Overview
Do you want to report on news from the most interesting and important parts of the world? Are you committed to a career in journalism but need the professional skills? If so, this postgraduate course provides excellent preparation for working across all platforms.
From the moment you start Brunel’s International Journalism degree, you will learn to deliver high-quality video, audio, online, and print journalism geared towards global audiences. You will also learn some of the tools and techniques that fact-checkers and open-source investigators use to check claims and verify or debunk images, increasingly essential skills in an age when misinformation and disinformation proliferate.
Brunel’s course content aims to equip you with digital, multi-platform journalism skills and an advanced understanding of the context of journalism in the fast-changing world of news media. You will study a mix of practical and theory modules contextualising different forms of journalistic practice within a world of technological, political, and cultural change.
Brunel offers you a challenging, employment-orientated programme on a leading journalism course at a London university focusing on international reporting.
You will benefit significantly from our research strengths and excellent links with the industry, the opportunity to build your journalistic skills working on the Hillingdon Herald, which is published locally, while doing your studies, and the option of taking a course accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Additionally, alumni and industry guest speakers will bring further insight and inspiration about what it means to work within global media.
You will also get plenty of hands-on training and practice in the University’s well-equipped media suite that mimics the recording and broadcast facilities used within the industry.
The MA International Journalism will appeal to diverse candidates interested in journalism across all sectors, including print journalism, online journalism, radio journalism, TV journalism, and cross-platform reporting.
You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour.
Course content
This strongly vocational programme will allow you to develop your journalistic skills as you learn about the impact of technological, political, and social change on different forms of global journalism.
The modules explore the global and the local, theory and practice, and cover a range of topics from media ownership to law for journalism and the role of journalism in international political processes. Practical modules teach you traditional journalistic skills required on all newsdesks and rapidly evolving ones in cross-platform journalism, fact-checking, and image verification.
When you graduate, you will have a wide range of skills that enable you to work in diverse roles within international and national journalism or undertake a PhD.
Compulsory
- Dissertation
You can choose between a Dissertation or an Extended Practical Project to complete your course. The dissertation module aims to enable you to undertake a substantial independent investigation of a topic, issue, or set of practices in the form of a traditional dissertation. It will help you understand research ethics and develop the ability to conduct research, gather and analyse appropriate information, communicate your ideas, and critically evaluate the success of your project. (Note: If you choose this option, you are required to attend classes in PP5619 Research Social & Political Sciences).
- Extended Practical Project
The Extended Practical Project module allows you to undertake a substantial independent investigation of a topic, issue or design project agreed upon with your assigned supervisor. By the end of the module, you should be able to show ethical awareness and produce a substantial piece of independent journalistic work that draws on the training and skills learned in the course.
- Fake News, Images and Websites
The module is a mix of theory and practice. In the theory classes, you will learn about historical and contemporary approaches to understanding fake news, manipulated images, and conspiracy theories. The practical workshops teach you the techniques and tools for verifying or debunking claims, images, and videos. The assessment is a mix of theory and practice.
- Multi-platform Storytelling
Through this module, you will develop advanced skills in researching, designing, and page layout, video, photography, audio, and scriptwriting for multimedia storytelling. By the end of the module, you will be able to construct visual stories in various contexts and audiences using photographs, audio podcasts, video clips, magazine design and page layout, and webcasting.
- News, Features and Reviews
In this module, you will develop knowledge and skills to report on various challenging news and features for multiple outlets. You will study news writing, structures, and language, as well as the techniques of news interviewing, researching, and data gathering for news, features, and reviews. You will gain valuable insight into reporting crime, emergency services, and technical skills in considering image, text, and design relationships in print and online. You will also learn how to curate and verify online news content and evaluate news values and methods from other countries.
- Journalism and Contemporary Politics
This module sets out to provide students with advanced knowledge and a critical understanding of how journalism shapes and is shaped by contemporary politics worldwide. It aims to cultivate the ability to critically appraise power relations, ethical sensibilities, and crises as they develop around current issues such as internal and external conflict and unrest, migrations, climate change, and poverty.
Optional
- Data Journalism
The module offers an advanced understanding of the theory and practice of data journalism. The module will cover the nature of the data environment and the implications for journalism as you learn the skills of data collection, cleaning, analysis, and visualisation. By the end of this module, you will have a well-developed understanding of the concept of data and the principles of ethical storytelling using data.
- Digital Audiences and Identities
This module gives students a critical overview of key debates about media audiences and identities. The module focuses students’ analytical attention on research concerning a range of case studies within the broad field of audience reception drawn from the cross-cutting fields of Sociology of media, cultural studies, feminist research, and critical race research.
- News and Development in the Global South
The module critically locates journalism in terms of theory and practice in Africa from its origins in the religious press through its maturation during colonialism, the post-independence relationship to military rule, and contemporary dimensions of the role of social media in African journalism.
- Political Satire and Comedy
This module will equip you with sophisticated and critical knowledge of the relationships between politics, satire, and comedy. Classes explore these relationships in their institutional, historical, and social contexts and textual conventions. You will explore political satire and comedy as they exist in various texts (e.g., television, cartoons, live stand-up, and digital comedy). At the end of the module, you will be able to appreciate and understand the continuities and changes in political satire and comedy in national and global political systems and international relations.
- Strategic Communication
Effective communication links messaging to the mission or vision of an organization, often in an attempt to reshape public, political and social awareness, behaviour and cultures. The module offers a theoretical and critical interrogation of the communication strategies of single-issue campaigns. It also teaches students how to apply the theory to practice. The assessment is a mix of theory and practice.
- Media & Social Justice
The media plays a critical role in shaping our opinions, attitudes and behaviour towards people and places, potentially influencing what we think about social justice, identity and equality. The module explores how media represent social justice and identity with a particular attention to race, ethnicity, poverty and social justice, and focusing on both theory and production. We will talk about how media can affect attitude and opinion towards diversity, under-served communities and underrepresented groups by looking at multimedia storytelling, modes of representation and the effects on the audience. Over the course of the module, you will learn to think critically about, diversity, stereotypes and prejudice, and you will produce media content that highlights the importance of social justice, with a practical emphasis to your professional profile (journalism, advertising, public relation, non-fiction film)."
- Political Communication
In the political communication module, you will learn how politicians, journalists, and activists across the world utilise verbal/written rhetoric, visuals, symbols, or symbolic acts to communicate current political developments. You will also explore and discuss recent developments in the political communication field, such as post-truth and propaganda in the digital age. The module also provides you with the opportunity to develop your key teamwork and practical skills in a group presentation, where you will analyse communication strategies of a political actor(s).
This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel
Careers and your future
As a graduate of International Journalism MA your skills will be well suited to a variety of roles within journalism, particularly those with an international context, such as:
- Reporters for international news agencies
- War and foreign correspondents
- Online journalists
- Magazine journalists
- Investigative journalists
- Content producers for mobile platforms
- Communication officer in non-government and private sector organisations
International Journalism MA is also excellent preparation for further postgraduate level research such as an MRES or Doctoral Degree
You’ll have a set of media skills that are easily transferred to fields like public relations, marketing, advertising, as well as non-governmental organisations and the public sector.
Previous graduates of this course are working in a variety of organisations, including the BBC World Service, Norway’s DTK TV News, Italy’s Il Mattino and London’s China Weekly.
UK entry requirements
- A 2:2 UK Honours degree, or equivalent internationally recognised qualification and evidence of commitment to journalism as a career such as student journalism or work experience. Candidates with other qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants will be required to attend an interview.
EU and International entry requirements
If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.
English language requirements
- IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/25 entry
UK
£12,650 full-time
£6,325 part-time
International
£21,260 full-time
£10,630 part-time
More information on any additional course-related costs.
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
See our fees and funding page for full details of postgraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.
Scholarships and bursaries
Teaching and learning
Your programme will consist of various learning and studying activities, including lectures, seminars and discussions. On each taught module students will have in person lectures, seminars or workshops for two-to-three hours per week on average during the teaching terms. There will also be supervision sessions for the dissertation, as well as regular opportunities to seek guidance during module lecturers’ feedback and consultation hours. Additionally, students can seek support in individual meetings with their personal tutors, both on campus and online. There will also be regular cohort meetings and student society events, at both programme and departmental level. Field trips and excursions to support students’ learning will be organised throughout the year.
All lectures, seminars, cohort meetings and other social activities will occur in person on the Brunel campus. It is expected that students will regularly attend these events, as sustained engagement with a learning community is a central dimension of the Brunel experience. Online provision of some activities will be made available when it is appropriate to the learning outcomes of your programme.
Students are strongly advised to purchase core texts from module reading lists, although copies are also available via Brunel Library.
Access to a laptop or desktop PC is required for joining online activities, completing coursework and digital exams, and a minimum specification can be found here.
We have computers available across campus for your use and laptop loan schemes to support you through your studies. You can find out more here.
The programme will be delivered by a combination of academics based at Brunel (who also have considerable journalistic experience) and visiting journalists and legal experts working in key positions within the media industries.
Students join the course from all over the world and the department’s small, intimate class sizes mean Brunel academics are able to provide you with plenty of support that’s individually tailored towards your skills towards your career goals.
Should you need any non-academic support during your time at Brunel, the Student Support and Welfare Team are here to help.
Assessment and feedback
Your progress on the course will be assessed in a variety of ways including practical projects and tasks, essays, exams, case studies, presentations, reflexive reports and dissertations.
In particular, your burgeoning knowledge and understanding of theoretical debates, practical skills and understanding of the historical and institutional context of different international journalism practices will be assessed through your written assignments.
You will research and write a journalism dissertation under the guidance of a dissertation supervisor. Many students value this unique experience and the opportunity to become, for a period of time, authorities on a particular area of journalism.
Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.