Global Journalism and Public Relations MA

Study level: Postgraduate
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In our increasingly digital world, journalists are frequently called upon to report on diverse global issues and this course prepares you for global journalism and public relations practice and analysis, covering all areas of journalism, from legal and ethical issues to interviewing, writing, broadcast and web skills.

Year of entry

2023-24

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time
Part-time

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time
16-24 months (with professional experience)

Course code

AHT016

Start date

September 2023
January 2024

How to apply
Book an Open Day
Download a prospectus
Ask a question

The information on this page is for 2022-23 entry and should be used as guidance for 2023-24 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.

Course overview

  • Benefit from our current links with the media industry, that have included the BBC, Al Jazeera, Sky, Africa-based media and online outlets here in the UK and elsewhere including USA2.
  • The course is taught by experienced tutors with decades of practical journalism and public relations experience, and in addition, you will have opportunities2 to attend guest lectures by top as well as upcoming journalists and public relations practitioners, including alumni (subject to availability).
  • Gaining hands-on experience2, you will be expected to work as part of a team on group projects, such as a magazine (see our Magcloud site) and a global collaborative newscast themed around pressing contemporary issues.
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Joint Top Modern University for Career Prospects

Guardian University Guide 2021 and 2022
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5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings
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Top 5 UK Student City (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2023

Why you should study this course

  • You will be taught and mentored very well by a highly experienced teaching team, whose former roles have included contributing to Al Jazeera’s global media analysis show ‘The Listening Post’, managing communications and PR in Oxford, editing commercial magazines. Staff practice and research cover new approaches to digital distribution, the web, photography and videography as well as issues in global media and communication plus digital and social media trends. Example engagements include staff secondment to the University of Cambridge on Politics and Interactive Media in Africa project – researching how radio and TV presenters and journalists give the public a voice via interactive broadcasting (teaching staff are subject to change).
  • We have links with the journalism-media industry, including the BBC, in the UK and elsewhere including the USA, so we host high-profile guest speakers (subject to availability), who in the past have included a BBC Director-General, Channel 4 founder, a highly respected Channel 4 News anchor and a famous BBC Newsnight presenter.
  • We help you to acquire the essential knowledge and practical skills needed for a successful career in global journalism or public relations as we get you used to working with multiple forms of media – generating traditional print, audio and video content, all the while embracing new technologies and creating parallel digital content, including social media, blogs and web-based content.
  • You get opportunities to work individually and as part of a team on live projects such as a magazine, a global collaborative newscast and student union publications-broadcasts, among others2.
  • Facilities4 include newsrooms equipped with industry-standard hardware and software, a modern TV studio, radio studios and Media Loan Shop for professional equipment.

What you'll study

If you’re interested in a career in media industry worldwide, our course is a comprehensive interdisciplinary introduction as well as an advancement of global journalism and public relations knowledge, which is underpinned by a hands-on approach to professional practice from the outset.

In the final stage of your course, there is an opportunity2 to explore issues in global journalism that interest you further through an extensive individual research project, with support and guidance from specialist tutors. Past students have considered anything from the use of diasporic media by British Bangladeshis in Birmingham to the coverage of Africa in Chinese media or fake news images in Digital Age.

Modules

  • This module examines global communication(s) and media structures and practices related to them, especially in journalism and public relations. We analyse the changing political, economic, socio-cultural and technological systems, including media-communication systems, and their impacts on content and audiences in a globalised world.

    Compulsory

  • This module covers the principles and practices of public relations (PR). It will provide you with the skills to construct, execute and apply public relations strategies to meet the objectives of an organisation. Acting as consultants on a real-world brief, you will learn how to help clients or employers build and maintain their profiles and reputations. You will be introduced to the code of ethics for public relations and critically engage with debates around ethics and law as it is applied to PR.

    Compulsory

  • This module focuses on the fundamentals of journalistic practice. It concentrates on the practical, creative and technical skills associated with these professional practices. Topics addressed include ideas, markets and sources, interviewing, notetaking and record keeping, news and feature writing, industry history and structure, conventions and techniques of specialist forms and genres. You acquire practical skills through the production of journalistic pieces, with the support of the module team.

    Compulsory

  • This module focuses on advancing key skills that are employed by journalists on all platforms for various target audiences. The module takes you through the research process, working to a deadline and finally delivering the required product to a professional standard. You work as a team to produce and resource a group project to deadline, under the direction of module staff. This prepares you for the impact that convergence has had on newsrooms. You will be specifically trained on how to produce a single story/topic for two or more key platforms for specific target audiences. The key themes include the importance of a more advanced understanding of the need to tailor the product to a specific target audience, including specialist outlets: developing the story, analysing source material, applying conventions and understanding techniques of production. You will be asked to engage with the ethical debates about journalistic practice in digital contexts and apply their understanding of ethics to their practice. There is a strong emphasis on practical and technical skills required.

    Compulsory

  • This module provides you with the opportunity to acquire and develop specialist knowledge and skills necessary in a chosen area. It builds on practical journalism skills and techniques modules and other modules and it will allow you to expand the depth of your content creation and also devise ways of routinely doing so in your future practice. You will work under the supervision of a mentoring team on live specialist journalism projects either with a host organisation2 or at the university.

    Compulsory

  • This module introduces a range of research tools and associated methods needed to undertake independent research on identified themes and issues in specialist journalism and public relations – relating to texts, audiences and industry. It provides grounding in a range of analytical techniques and ways of interpreting materials and examines how these can be used to explore contemporary themes and issues which concern journalists, and journalism, as well as public relations in the UK and around the world. Concentrating mainly on textual analysis, the module helps to prepare you for research-led inquiry relating to journalism and public relations, including your major research project and investigative journalism.

    Compulsory

  • The major project provides you with an opportunity to create an original and intellectually critical extended piece of writing and/or practical project portfolio. With an allocated specialist tutor you will aim to create a major piece of work on a theme or topic or issue which is relevant to your specialist journalism and/or public relations interest and worthy of a sustained in-depth inquiry.

    Compulsory

  • Covers a series of topics related to intercultural and transnational communication, professional development and management/leadership.

    Compulsory

With professional experience option

The professional experience opportunity2 enables you the opportunity to apply for optional professional experience in semester 1, which, upon successfully securing an opportunity, will extend the duration of your master’s to either 16, 20 or 24 months. The professional experience provides an opportunity for you to develop expertise and experience in your chosen field with the aim of enhancing your employability.

Please note that the optional professional experience modules incur an additional tuition fee, which for 1 semester of professional experience is £1,333.33, for 2 semesters of professional experience is £2,666.67, and for 3 semesters of professional experience is £4,000.

Professional experience may also be subject to additional costs, visa requirements being met, subject to availability and/or competitive application. Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed but you will benefit from the support of our Talent Team in trying to find and secure an opportunity. Find out more about the professional experience option.

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

The course covers journalism theory and practice, and specialist knowledge and techniques specific to global journalism and public relations.

Each module is taught over approximately 11 weeks with formal teaching typically taking place over two full working days per week. The specialist staff include a former news and features writer with wide experience of global news reporting and academic research. Other tutors include specialists in magazine, digital media and emerging platforms, as well as public relations.

Teaching methods include:

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Presentations
  • Group projects
  • Workshops
  • Practical laboratory sessions4

This course can be offered on a part-time basis. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Request further information about part-time study.

Teaching contact hours

The number of full-time contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around 12 contact hours per week.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 25 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are prepared for courses due to start in or after the 2023/24 academic year to be delivered in a variety of forms. The form of delivery will be determined in accordance with Government and Public Health guidance. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods include:

  • Group work
  • Presentations
  • Projects
  • Coursework
  • Individual Assignments

The Coventry University assessment strategy aims to ensure that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

International experience opportunities

Our course is designed to reflect the increasingly international context of journalism; this is reflected strongly in the course curriculum. Content includes conflict/war situations, governments and inter-governmental organisations, markets and business, civil society and non-governmental actors. You may have opportunities to undertake preparatory research before visiting a foreign country or covering an international event, finding and relating with fixer/s, timelines/zones and deadlines, cultural contexts, technological and environmental factors, security considerations, ethical and legal dilemmas.

You will be given opportunities to engage with international students at home and abroad, for example, through Global e-News Immersive Initiative or GENII, Pop-up Newsroom and Global News Relay2. We also offer a range of short visits and field trips abroad, which are reviewed annually. Recent fieldtrips have included Kenya and Tanzania to cover the urban environment and tourism, as well as Bangladesh, Malaysia, Gibraltar and Italy to write about landscape, culture and food.

Please note that all international experience opportunities may be subject to additional costs, competitive application, availability and meeting applicable visa and travel requirements are therefore not guaranteed2.

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2023/24 entry.

Applicants should hold an honours degree of 2:2 or above in any subject. Applications from candidates with relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications; speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Europe

Americas

Middle East

South Asia

South East Asia

East Asia

Africa

Russia and Central Asia


You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Typical entry requirements

Applicants should hold an honours degree of 2:2 or above in any subject. Applications from candidates with relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.

Each application will be considered on its merits and the final decision will be made by the course director.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 7.0 overall, with no component lower than 5.5

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. 

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2023/24 tuition fees.

Student Full-time Part-time
UK £11,200 | £15,200 (with prof. experience)   Request fee information
International £18,600 | £22,600 (with prof. experience)   Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees3 and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

  • Any optional overseas field trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
  • Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

  • We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the government's Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

    If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

Our facilities4 help develop your practical skills so you feel prepared to enter the workplace and inspire your passion for journalism.

You will have access to professional equipment via our dedicated Media Loan Shop and our newsrooms, TV studio, video editing suite and radio studios.

Two male students presenting in a TV studio to a camera in the foreground.

Television Studio

You’ll have access to our on-site television studio The Tank, offering specialist equipment such as large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.
 

Male student setting up a photography light in a studio.

Photography Suite

This specialist facility is available to media students to take and process photos in a professional environment. There is also support for printing, high-end scanning and film processing.

 

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Media Loan Shop

Our media loan shop provides you with access to the equipment and support you need to excel in your studies – from basic audio recorders to professional cameras and expert advice from our technicians.

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion of this course, you should know how to:

  • Create globally-aware content that exhibit global awareness, to professional standards, for digital, broadcast, print or social media.
  • Understand how global journalism and PR work and how they relate to politics, international relations and business.
  • Apply a wide range of journalism, communication skills and knowledge to the production of globally-aware content that exhibits global awareness, to professional standards.
  • Work creatively, sustainably and independently within professional situations, employing a range of journalism and public relations strategies and techniques
  • Critically evaluate and analyse the broad range of factors that impinge upon professional and creative activities within global journalism and the broader communications industry.
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify and successfully engage with a range of audiences, genres and media platforms within global journalism and public relations.
  • Feel prepared when applying for job roles within media, communication and PR.

This course prepares you for a broad range of positions in regional, national or international journalism, media, communications and PR – as a researcher, reporter, writer, editor or presenter, for example.

Career prospects are vast and varied, from established national and international media outlets, broadcasting organisations, newspapers and magazines, to emerging broadcast contexts, such as web-based text journalism, web-TV and web-radio.

Our Faculty of Arts and Humanities Talent Team is on hand to offer tailored career and enterprise support if you wish to gain employment or take advantage of professional practice opportunities within course-specific industries2. The course equips students for work in a wider range of careers that require transferable knowledge and skills such as global awareness, research, writing and communication with specific or general audiences including via various media. Our dedicated enterprise officers also can offer valuable assistance on how to begin as a freelancer/entrepreneur.

Where our graduates work

Recent graduates have secured jobs as regional director of a government radio station in Pakistan and social media director for an online music platform. Other roles have included writing for online news sites like Huffington Post or mainstream media outlets, such as The Guardian UK.

Others have gone into public relations, communication for social change, cultural entrepreneurship and various forms of media research. The programme is also an excellent preparation for doctoral research in Journalism, Media and Communication Studies as well as Politics and International Relations or Information Systems.

How to apply

  • Coventry University together with Coventry University London Campus, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the “University”) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University. 

    1Accreditations

    The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.

    2UK and international opportunities

    Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or International opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel COVID and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

    3Tuition fees

    The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

    For International Students, we may increase fees each year but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

    4Facilities

    Due to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.

    Student Contract

    By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. The 2023/24 Contract is currently being updated so please revisit this page before submitting your application. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

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