UDPHOTOJ - BA (Hons) Photojournalism

Students will be taught in practical interactive studios, lectures, seminars, both in groups and in individual sessions. The course has a strong focus on professional practice and placements: all teachers are practitioners in either journalism or photojournalism or photography.

Students will be encouraged to make full use of social media, with some use of moving image as well as analogue and digital photography on the course website, and to seek publication on established media outlets alongside emerging and converging platforms.

Facilities will include use of photography studios, darkrooms, TV and radio studios and the journalism newsroom, but work will be industry focused and multi-media oriented.

There is a consistent and growing demand for high-quality images in the commercial and journalistic fields, including small independent magazines and websites in commercial and journalistic arenas.

The school’s expertise in media studies and access to excellent professionals in the vibrant metropolis means that students can immerse themselves in opportunities to develop their portfolios for a variety of outlets.

Guest speakers will be a regular feature. News weeks will offer them the chance to experience professional pressures and rewards, as well as making contacts in the industry.

A degree show will enable students to display their achievements to the public and employers

The course aims:

- to equip students with the skills required in the photojournalism and journalism industries. Students will develop practical and research expertise which will enable them to position and understand their practice in the context of contemporary industries.

-to equip students with the analytical and critical skills essential to higher education, as well as the practical and technical skills of those who work within the photojournalism and journalism industries.

-to help students develop the ability to research and evaluate data from all sources, including scholarly research. It further aims to help students develop interviewing skills for primary research.

-to foster the skills of working autonomously and in groups, as well as the social skills needed to pitch and sell ideas, to present concepts convincingly to different audiences and to respond flexibly to critical input.

-to foster individual learning and problem solving. The course further aims to develop resilient learners, who can evaluate and learn from their learning deficits.

-to help students harness their creativity to produce, ultimately, work worthy of professional publication across any or all media platforms.

- to fit students for further advanced study, should they so wish, in related fields.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

ULO: University Learning Objective: Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and
creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible
practitioners/professionals in their discipline.

1. deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within photojournalism;

2. devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of photojournalism;

3. describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in photojournalism, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;

4. manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Photojournalism;

5. apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;

6. critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;

7. communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;

8. exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;

9. undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature

Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies [Dec-2019]
Guidance at:
https://bit.ly/3ggG0ob

The above latest subject benchmark statement and general guidance available are used in the design, delivery and review of the course and in facilitating the knowledge and skills normally expected of a typical course graduate.

The course uses a wide range of assessments, from online journals and contributions to the course website to academic essays, from video footage and sound recordings to magazine and website layouts, class presentations and pop quizzes, in-class examination and longform writing.

Assessment develops with on a coaching model, with formative assessment being offered at drafting and intermediate submission, both face to face and electronically. News and enhancement weeks offer the chance to receive formative assessment whilst engaged on simulations, newsdays and practical activities.

Since much teaching is run on an interactive coaching model, tutorials are built into class sessions as well as offered privately. Feedback on summative assessment is given within one week of submission for the first instance and thereafter two weeks.

Most modules include a reflective assessment, where students evaluate their own contribution to class via an online journal moderated by tutors.

A compulsory work experience placement in the second year is credited within the course. News days and news weeks are simulations which offer work-based learning. The London Met Journalism Diversity Network is instrumental in helping students find suitable placements.

The course includes information, training and advice on employability, job applications, CVs and finances. Simulation of the work environment also includes job applications and interviews.

Year One
Practical Journalism - SJ4035
An Introduction to Photojournalism Practice - SJ4009
Photojournalism: Theory and History - SJ4010

Year Two
Journalism, History and Ideas - SJ4034
Media Law and Ethics, Public Administration - SJ5033
Photojournalism Genres - SJ5005

Year Three
Newsroom Production - SJ5034
Creating Packages - SJ6034
Journalism Work Placement - SJW78
Documentary Photography OR
Styling and Journalism - SJ5079
Year Four
Broadcast Journalism - SJ6035
Journalism Project -SJ6P35
Research in Visual Culture - SM6070
Campaigning Journalism - SJ6080 OR
Arts Journalism - SJ6074

Cert Ed: All modules specified at L4.
Dip Higher Ed: Credits specified at L4 and L5
BA without hons: Credits specified at L4, L5 and 60 credit core modules at L6
BA hons: all credits specified in Course Spec.

All modules, apart from the final project, include an online journal, to be completed at the end of each class. Tutors give formative comments before the next class. This ensures a virtuous circle of feedback, allows students to let their tutors what parts of their learning they feel competent about and which areas may need more attention.

It helps include students as partners, as it can contribute to the next week’s learning session. It also forms part of assessment, so contributes to students’ ownership of their progress.

Students’ personal blogs and the course website are repositories for successful work, creating portfolios. Students are also asked to design portfolio websites in their second year, where they can showcase published work as well as their CVs. This provides a helpful tool that is useful in gaining work placements as well as jobs after graduation.

Photographic images saturate our everyday life. But who produces them, how and why? It could be you.

Join our new course and learn the array of photographic and journalistic skills which could make you an insightful producer of still and moving images for the developing marketplaces of photojournalism. Be it news, fashion, sports, music, the arts or the rich variety of life in 21st-century Britain, your work will aim to tell stories to hold and enrich an audience’s understanding. Photojournalists work in advertising, communications, fashion, sport, music, food and the motor industry as well as news and features.

Photojournalists are increasingly in demand in the growing media sector. Completing this degree could gain you a career in several areas, including press photography and promotional work. You could work for a huge variety of employers, from well known brands to startups, art exhibitions and charity campaigns. If you can create and promote striking images, then you can sell into a growing market.

Graduates from the Journalism BA course have gone into roles such as Multimedia Journalists and Production Assistants. Companies they now work at include the BBC, the Turkish Radio Television Corporation and Hug Nivea Digital.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• a minimum of grades BBC in three A levels (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification)
• English Language GCSE at grade C/grade 4 or above (or equivalent)

If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing our Photojournalism (including foundation year) BA (Hons) degree.

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.