Sports Journalism BA(Hons)

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Top reasons to choose this course

• NCTJ accreditation means your degree will be recognised by the industry as meeting high professional standards.

• Learn core journalism skills such as newswriting, reporting, media law, shorthand, public administration, digital journalism, portfolio development. and multimedia.

• Work placement opportunities give you the chance to make industry connections and gain valuable experience.

• Showcase and hone your journalism skills in our student magazine, Overtime.

• Newsroom with live news and sports feeds gives you authentic real-life journalistic experience.

• Sound, filming and editing equipment familiarise you with the latest technology and ensure that you graduate with the technical skills essential for your media career.

• Real-world reporting opportunities – our students interview sportspeople and report from live events. We have contacts with many local sport organisations and venues where you can hone your skills. This could be anything from reporting on horse racing to non-league football.

• Trips to top sports and media venues with exclusive interview opportunities. We’ve taken our students to venues including The Times HQ, the Copper Box at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and The Amex Community Stadium, home to Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

• Guest lecture programme with insight from the experts and opportunities to ask questions. Past guests have included Sky Sports’ Jim White, Martin Tyler, Kelly Cates, Clare Balding, Nick Davies, Paul Hayward and former England cricket captain Mike Atherton.

• Close links with the media industry mean we organise trips to places such as the Sky News newsroom.

• Editors, journalists and campaigners from organisations such as Sky News, the BBC, Time Out, the Daily Telegraph, Johnston Press, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Full Fact and Reporters Without Borders have given lectures and masterclasses.

• Option modules and applied subject modules allow you to specialise in an area of particular interest.

Above: see some of the students exploring the industry-standard facilities on offer and hear them talking about what they love about their degrees.

Central Media Services are based in the same building as our journalism studios and are also used by journalism students.

Year 1 

In your first year you’ll gain a thorough introduction to sports journalism, covering areas such as multimedia journalism, news, ethics, shorthand, public administration and the social history of sport.

Modules

• Introduction to Journalism Studies

  This module will introduce you to key debates in journalism studies. You will develop and apply your understanding of the central concepts and theories in journalism research, and examine journalism practice from a variety of perspectives. You will also develop graduate skills and a capacity for critical thinking and writing.

• Production Journalism

  This module introduces how to create journalism involving digital production techniques. You will learn how to produce newspaper and magazine pages involving desktop publishing software, and explore the principles of production and the ways in which words and pictures work together in the story-telling process. You will also discover how journalism is adapting its styles, forms and working practices for different platforms.

• News and Ethics

  This module develops fundamental skills for news reporting: newswriting, ethical practice and shorthand. You will learn to recognise, select and present news for specific audiences and platforms, and learn the techniques required to write publication-standard articles and apply them in defined scenarios. You’ll learn the theory of Teeline shorthand, develop speed to 60wpm and use it in the production of a news story. You'll also learn to locate news reporting practices in the context of specific regulatory and ethical codes.

• Digital Sport Journalism

  This module will introduce you to social media as part of the professional sports reporter’s toolkit. You will work on practical skills such as live blogging, social media planning and digital audience development, alongside exploring the analytical skills that enable you to measure performance and distribution of content.

• Sport in Context

  This module explores the contextual knowledge needed to practice sport journalism. What makes sports journalism ‘professional’ is often the ability to place stories in their wider social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. You will explore the nature and dimensions of these contexts, enabling you to provide greater depth and insight to your storytelling experiences. These contexts include knowledge of how professional sport is structured and organised but can also be taken to mean reporting responsibly and sensitively on social issues.

• The Sport Journalist’s Toolkit

  This module will introduce you to the different and varied forms of sports journalism and will enable you to become familiar with the work environment. You will learn about the sports story cycle across newspaper, web and television at local, national and international levels and discover the stylistic and audience dynamics associated with these platforms. You’ll develop your writing ability and will be introduced to longer forms of journalism. You will have the opportunity to cover live sporting events through field trips.

Year 2

Your second year builds on your knowledge of practical journalism and you will explore areas such as media law, sports reporting and analysing sport media.

Modules

• Sport Reporting

  This module focuses on the professional and practical context of sports journalism, both in print and online. You will expand your fundamental skills as a sports reporter in the field while enhancing your working knowledge of the sports press box and surrounding environment. You will also broaden your reporting and research skills and learn to adapt your work for different markets.

• Sports Media Studies

  This module will develop your understanding of the relationships between sports, media and society. It explores key theoretical considerations in media and cultural studies alongside current issues shaping mediated sports. You will examine different approaches to media analysis, exploring how sports are produced and represented through the media. Focus is on the cultural and ideological issues that operate through these representations.

• News Portfolio and Shorthand

  This module enables you to develop your news reporting ability to an advanced level where you can find and produce your own stories for a specific audience. You’ll also develop shorthand as a professional recording technique, building to a standard of 100 words per minute. 

• Media Law

  You will develop a detailed understanding of criminal and civil law and regulation impacting journalism practice during this module. You will explore the legal requirements affecting journalists and apply them to a range of unpredictable practical scenarios. Topics include reporting restrictions, prejudice and contempt of court, defamation, copyright and practical court reporting.

• Team Media

  This module is an introduction to the complex relationship between sports journalism and public relations and how the shifting power dynamic is shaping the sports agenda. You will analyse and practise club media strategies for audience development and content creation and will be introduced to critical discussion around the blurred lines between independent sports desks and corporate media.

Placements

Spend a year on placement

Gain valuable experience and earn money during an optional placement year following year 2. You’ll return to the final year of your degree with added confidence, additional real-world experience and valuable contacts. 

A placement year gives you the chance to work with established professionals in design studios, galleries, film sets, music labels, creative agencies, newsrooms and many other environments. You’ll be able to get an insight into creative workflows and come away with a portfolio filled with real-world projects that will stand out in a competitive job market.  

It can also help you discover your creative direction and passion for a particular area of work, helping you grow artistically as well as professionally.   

Our dedicated Placements and Employability team will support you in getting a placement that suits your interests and career goals by helping you with your CV and cover letter writing, applications, online testing and more. Plus, they’ll provide support and guidance when you’re on placement and make sure that everything is going well. 

Other placement opportunities

In your final year, the Professional Practice module will take you out of the classroom and into a media or related environment. You’ll spend at least two weeks with the organisation and as part of your placement you will keep a critically reflective learning log.

Work you complete during your placement, such as articles for print or web, videos, podcasts and radio or tv broadcasts, will go towards your assessment.

We have links with many organisations in the media industry, including:

• The Sun
• Sky Sports News
• The Independent
• the Daily Mail
• The Times
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• Hayters Sports Agency
• Eastbourne Herald
• TalkSport
• FourFourTwo
• Brighton & Hove Albion FC
• Ricochet TV.

Final year

In your final year, you’ll go on an industry placement and complete your final project.

There is also an opportunity to take part in our pioneering and award-winning Premier League Apprenticeship and be employed as a match-day media assistant with Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

Modules

• Advanced Sport Journalism

  This module aims to prepare you for working in sports journalism by consolidating the skills and knowledge you have already learnt on the course. You will develop confidence in your professional journalistic voice, while also confronting challenging reporting scenarios. You’ll also develop an understanding of different forms and styles of sport journalism, with a particular focus on the work of sport news correspondents for national newspapers.

• Power, Politics and the Sport Media

  This module explores the power relations that frame and drive the sport media and cultural industries, with an emphasis on print journalism. It will enhance your understanding of the complex relationships between the power of dominant media interests and the wider public sphere within political and civil societies in relation to sport. It will also develop your awareness and appreciation of the role of film and documentary in framing sporting narratives.

• Live Sport Coverage

  Reporting live from major events is a key pillar of sport journalism and industry practice such as matchday commentary and presenting directly to social media channels is diversifying the ways in which major sports are covered. This module will show you how to broadcast multimedia content across a range of audiovisual platforms, how to prepare and execute live coverage, and how to critically reflect on the process.

• Critical Investigation

  In this module, you will produce a comprehensive piece or package of investigative feature journalism for a specified publisher. Supported by tutorial supervision, you will initiate an original inquiry, selecting and employing a range of professional techniques. You will critically reflect on your approach, including its theoretical, ethical and legal context, evaluate its effectiveness and account for your decision-making.

• Professional Practice

  Giving you the opportunity to develop as a reflective practitioner, this module will enhance your professional practice. It will involve you preparing for and undertaking a work placement within journalism or a related profession. You will demonstrate the critical and reflective attributes required for self-evaluation and personal improvement with an analysis of your placement experience.

Meet the team

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

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