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Home > Prospectus > Postgraduate > Programmes > Computing > MA/MSc in Digital Journalism

MA/MSc in Digital Journalism

The MA/MSc in Digital Journalism is a collaborative programme across the Departments of Media & Communications and Computing at Goldsmiths, and is based in the Centre for Creative and Social Technology (CAST). The course is on the cutting edge of emerging media and journalistic practice.

Applying

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About the departments
Computing, Media & Communications

Length
1-year full time

Funding
If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline. Find out more about funding opportunities for home/EU applicants, or funding for international applicants.

Fees
See our tuition fees.

Contact the departments
Contact Prof Robert Zimmer

Visit us
Find out about how you can visit Goldsmiths at one of our open days or come on a campus tour.

We are the only programme in the UK that combines teaching from both Computing and Media in developing professional journalism skills and experience.

The course is extremely hands-on and practical. Our academic staff combines Goldsmiths lecturers and lab tutors working at the frontiers of digital journalism practice and research and a terrific range of industry guests ranging from the biggest media organisations in London to start-ups and charities.

Applicants should be determined to explore critical and entrepreneurial approaches and be enthusiastic about in-depth and hands-on experimentation with innovations in journalism.  

We educate aspiring or mid-career professionals seeking to retain the fundamentals of quality, credibility, and transparency that define journalism whilst pushing boundaries and transforming its craft and practice.

With its unique inclusion of real software, design, and code training in Computing, complemented by fundamentals of news writing, media law, and multimedia production, the MA/MSc in Digital Journalism seeks to redefine journalistic practice for digital media.  

Our students will become proficient in the intersections of:

Journalism fundamentals (writing, reporting, law, and ethics)
Computing skills (coding, hardware/software, data, digital methods)
Multimedia skills (photography, video, audio)

What you study

Students without a technical background will be encouraged to take our pre-session Digital Bootcamp in September to gain a basic literacy in digital fundamentals.

The degree consists of courses taught by both Departments in a truly interdisciplinary and collaborative style.

Core Courses in Media introduce you to:

Digital News Writing
Multimedia Production
Media Law

Core Computing modules include:

Digital Case Studies featuring industry guests
extensive training and experimentation time in the Digital Sandbox (lab) developing a capability and literacy in Computer Science and Design
Digital Research Methods for scraping social networks, conducting investigative reports, and project management

In the final practical project you will undertake a significant written and digital research project in consultation with a supervisor.

Register your interest

If you register your interest in this programme we will keep you informed about open days and send you relevant further information. If you subsequently decide to apply for this programme you will be able to use the same login details to apply.

Applying and entrance requirements

You can apply directly to Goldsmiths via the website by clicking the ‘apply now’ button on the main programme page.

Before submitting your application you’ll need to have:

Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments.
The email address details of your referee who we can request a reference from (Please make sure to select the option for your referees to be automatically notified of the need for them to submit a reference on your behalf).
A personal statement. This can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online.
If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory).

You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.

When to apply

We accept applications from October for students wanting to start the following September.

We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place that is conditional on you achieving a particular qualification.

If you're applying for funding you may be subject to an application deadline. Find out more about funding opportunities for UK/EU students and international students.

Late applications will only be considered if there are spaces available.

Selection Process

Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK. Occasionally, we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.

Entrance Requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject. Applicants with significant work experience and/or a professional qualification in a computing, digital technology or social science-related subject are encouraged.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

We also accept a wide range of international equivalent qualifications, which can be found on our country-specific pages. If you'd like more information, please contact the Admissions Office.

Deposit

Due to the popularity of this programme, successful applicants will be required to pay a deposit of £500 to secure any offer of a place on the programme. The deposit will be credited against your tuition fees when you enrol. Please note: you'll only be required to provide a deposit if you are offered a place, you don't need to pay a deposit in order to apply.

English Language

If your first language isn't English, you need to demonstrate a minimum score of 7.0 in IELTS (including 7.0 in the written element) or equivalent to enroll and study on this programme.

Please check our English Language requirements for more information.

Find out more about applying

Contact us

Get in touch via our online form

UK/EU

+44 (0)20 7919 7766
course-info@gold.ac.uk

International (non-EU)

+44 (0)20 7919 7702
international-office@gold.ac.uk

Academic staff

Dr Jennifer Barth (Computing)

Dr Chris Brauer (convener)

Tim Crook (Media & Communications)

Dr Dan McQuillan (Computing)

Angela Phillips (Media & Communications)

Terry Kirby (Media & Communications)

Dr Daniel Stamate (Computing)

Professor Robert Zimmer (Computing)

Industry guests

In addition to our core academic staff, a range of world-class speakers, tutors, and guest lecturers from the media and creative industries complements the teaching on the MA/MSc Digital Journalism programme at Goldsmiths.

Many of these guests represent our CAST Innovation Partners where students conduct 4-6 week placements in the Spring term. Unlike most Universities, industry guests at Goldsmiths also regularly conduct hands-on workshops for students in our Digital Sandbox, transferring knowledge and experience on the latest developments and experiments in industry.

Here is a sampling of some of our guests in the 2011/12 academic year:

Edward Roussel, Digital Editor, Telegraph Media Group

Richard Stallman, founder, Free Software Foundation

Matteo Berlucchi, CEO, Anobii

Neil McIntosh, Editor, WSJ Europe

Conrad Quilty-Harper, Data Mapping Reporter, Telegraph

Courses

Code	Course title	Credits
MC71132A	Digital News Writing	tbc CATS
The course covers the cognitive and mechanical skills required to produce fast and quality news messages that are ethical, clear, concise, complete, compelling, and accurate. Reporting methods are introduced and students practice gathering information from online and traditional sources. You will work individually, and as a team, developing skills in basic journalism techniques and applying them to a jointly produced website. You will concentrate on text and stills in the first term.. We will expect you to make use of what you are learning elsewhere on the course to enhance the site and to create additional functions in collaboration with your tutors. Term Schedule: Full Time - Autumn Term Part Time - Year 1 Autumn Term

MC71132A	Multimedia Production	tbc CATS
Introduces the types of equipment and technical considerations used in multimedia capture and production. A series of 10 half day sessions: understanding the camera, framing, interviewing, being interviewed, basic editing. You will organise shoots in-between production days. The object of these sessions is to learn basic story-telling techniques for use in an on-line context. You will be working online producing video and jointly editing the site established in term one. Term Schedule: Full Time - Spring Term Part Time - Year 1 Spring Term

MC71130A	Media Law and Ethics	tbc CATS
This course entails a series of lectures on the history and contemporary developments of media law and ethics. Some topics include the legal ‘problematising’ of journalism, issues specific to online media, defamation law and contempt issues, debates in media ethics, state security and secrecy, professional codes and practices, privacy, human rights and international law, and international comparisons. Term Schedule: Full Time - Autumn Term Part Time - Year 2 Autumn Term

IS71045A	Innovation Case Studies	30 CATS
The Case Studies lectures set the stage for each week of teaching in the first term and encourage student exposure to and interaction with the theory, culture, economics, technology, and economics of emerging digital media technologies in journalism. The case study format encourages active learning and allows the application of theoretical concepts to be demonstrated, thus bridging the gap between theory and practice. Each week features a different topic so students gain in-depth knowledge of 10 digital topics through weekly case study demonstration and critical analysis. Topics ranging from data visualisation, community curation, augmented reality, entrepreneurial business models, geo-located mobility, social media and networks, and design provide the foundation for practice-based research in the programme. Term Schedule: Full Time - Autumn Term Part Time - Year 1 Autumn Term

15IS71044A	Digital Sandbox	tbc CATS
The Digital Sandbox is the core computing course in the Digital Journalism programme. Students work on micro-technical projects across Terms 1 & 2 related to the production and research of Digital Journalism. Sample topics would include learning about and practicing software and code for mining data and creating informative visualisations, capturing media in augmented reality and dropping into virtual space as a practice of journalism, and understanding and practicing techniques for disseminating large amounts of real- time data to aggregate and draw conclusions as inputs to journalism practice. The Digital Sandbox is both a course and a physical location in the CAST labs in computing at Goldsmiths. Students will be encouraged to work in the sandbox outside of course hours to practice the techniques introduced and taught in the sandbox labs. Term Schedule: Full Time - Autumn Term & Spring Term Part Time - Year 2 Autumn Term & Spring Term

IS71046A	Digital Research Methods	tbc CATS
The course introduces software for conducting research. It examines current search engine and database technologies, the process of conducting research and evaluating results, and techniques and commands for conducting advanced investigation into on-line conversations and social media. The first half of the course covers quantitative research methods including statistics and data mining. Qualitative methods such as social network and database investigation techniques and ethnographic methods are the subjects of the second half of the course. Term Schedule: Full Time - Spring Term Part Time - Year 1 Spring Term

n/a	Innovation Internship	n/a
Students will spend 2-6 weeks working in a content-based institution, building on the skills they developed in the first and second term. These will be placements with media, public sector, industry, NGO and community partners. Many of these projects will provide the foundation for the programme major practical project and dissertation. Full Time Between Spring and Summer Term Convened by CAST Part Time Year 2 - Between Spring and Summer Term Convened by CAST

tbc	Major Project/Dissertation	60 CATS
In the summer term students complete a Major Project/Dissertation which engages with a large-scale multimedia website and/or mobile application and addresses a specific journalistic challenge. Students will also produce a 2,000 - 3,000 word critical analysis essay reflecting on the production process and effectiveness of their project. Summer Term Major Project/Dissertation

Assessment

You are required to undertake and pass every element of the programme. Each course is individually assessed using a variety of provisions including digital projects, written work, and exam.

Student and Graduate profiles

Cesare

MA in Digital Journalism

"Today, success is determined by how much we explore, how much we play and how much we innovate in digital media."

In the press

CAST researchers recently completed an intensive two-week investigation into the social life of cloud computing in July. The consulting was commissioned by Rackspace, the largest cloud service provider in the UK. Our promotional efforts were supported by 3 Monkeys PR that represents Rackspace. Over four days in late 2011 we appeared on Channel 4 News on Sunday and the story was picked up by over 450 newspapers and magazines around the world.

The research team is Chris Brauer (Project Manager), Jennifer Barth (Senior Field Researcher), Robert Zimmer, Richard Lewis, Marcus Gilroy-Ware, Yael Gerson in Sociology, and a ton of support from Goldsmiths Communications & PR staff.

Some links to coverage of this particular CAST research story:

Reuters
Sky News
The Telegraph
Business Cloud news
Business Computing World
BBC News
The Times
The Register
High50.com

Digital Bootcamp

Students on the CAST MA/MSc Digital Journalism, MA/MSc Digital Sociology and MA/MSc Creating Social Media programmes, as well as those on the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) Digital Entrepreneurship courses get the unique opportunity to get a range of creative computing skills in the focused, hands-on and supported environment of the Digital Bootcamp.

It runs as a pre-sessional course in September and prepares students for the computing courses offered throughout the year. Plus students will get to know each other and the CAST community.

>> Find out more about Digital Bootcamp

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Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7919 7171

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