Sports Journalism - BA (Hons)

Birmingham City University

This course will prepare you for a career in sports journalism by providing the knowledge, values and cutting-edge skills required to be a professional sports journalist. You will become an agile, independent sports reporter working across multiple platforms with the ability to understand the critical role that sports journalism plays in society by telling stories both on- and off-the pitch. You will be able to work across multiple formats with the ability to understand the democratic role of journalism in ensuring a diversity of stories are told. This will enable you to become an adaptable sports journalist capable of working in innovative, engaging and entrepreneurial ways. This course has been designed in close collaboration with leading industry experts and researchers in journalism. Through a range of complementary modules, you will learn a wide range of journalistic skills for all news platforms and understand the wider issues that face the journalism industry. You will learn the skills to report on a broad range of sports in a variety of different ways, whether it be for audio, visual, written or social media platforms. The course will prepare you for everything from live reporting and asking the difficult post-match questions to interviewing key figures and going deep into the issues that make up an ever-changing and increasingly diverse sports industry. You will learn through research- and practice-informed teaching and also have the chance to undertake placement opportunities.

This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.  If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course. Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.