Data Journalism MA

This course is in clearing with spaces available

Overview

Course options

Select year

MA

  1. MA Data Journalism

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 1 year
    • 10800 Per year
  2. MA Data Journalism

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time, 2 years
    • 1800 Per 30 credit module
  3. MA Data Journalism

    • International Applicant
    • Full time, 1 year
    • 15420 Per year

Course modules

Select year

Data in Context: Strategies for Effective Communication

Data Visualisation Tools and Technologies 

Visual Analytics and Multimedia: Creating Insights

Professional Practice and Research Methods (Mental Wealth)

Final Major Project

Broadcast Journalism

Investigating Media and Communication Industries

Global Media, Communication and Development

Employment and Industry Engagement

Big Data Analytics

Quantitative Data Analysis

Download course specification

Your future career

Your future career

Data journalism, which was once considered a fringe experiment, is now an essential part of the news process. In the first 18 months of the BBC Shared Data Unit, for example, it assisted in the generation of over 600 stories across more than 250 titles in the regional press.

Data journalism is an essential component of the newsroom. But it goes beyond that as well. Data handling has become an essential part of any job, from banking to business and charity. As organisations, governments, and businesses recognise the power of giving the public access to insights into public data, the role of the data journalist grows.

According to David Ottewell, the head of Trinity Mirror's data unit, "a journalist without data skills is handicapping themselves."

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

This programme began with a simple premise: data is all around us. Today, the use of data is a driving force in the development of content, especially as technology, methodology, and resources continue to advance. Data journalism is the future of the newsroom, as such journalists must be data savvy."

Dekan Apajee and Adam Powley

MA Data Journalism

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

Our dedicated and award-winning team provide you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Online jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work.
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme which issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you’ve mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

See more details

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top

  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship support 
  • We are ranked 6th for graduate start-ups 
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations 
  • Support in starting a new business, freelancing and self-employment 
  • London on our doorstep

What you'll learn

This course will teach you the skills you need to use data to tell stories. You will learn how to research, analyse, and evaluate data from multiple sources. You will also learn about the political, economic, social, cultural, and technological forces that influence the media and communication industries.

In addition to these knowledge-based skills, you will also develop several thinking and practical skills. You will learn to critically analyse data, its context, and potential applications. You will also learn how to use data journalism tools to analyse, interpret, and communicate data to produce journalistic content.

Finally, you will develop many skills for life and work. You will learn how to work to an advanced level as an individual or within a group. You will also learn how to organise and manage your workload effectively to industry-aligned standards, and how to create and present advanced data-related content.

How you'll learn

You will investigate how data journalism operates within news organisations and news cycles. You will be taught by a diverse group of faculty members, including data journalists, data scientists, and researchers. Our teaching is career-focused, as a result, you will be taught by lecturers who are active professionals in their respective fields, ensuring that everything you learn is current and industry-relevant.

Data journalism presents new approaches to storytelling, newsgathering, and news dissemination. Our new MA Data Journalism programme aims to train students to develop a detailed, critically oriented and career-oriented knowledge of data as a meaningful record accessible to journalists.  To that end, each module includes a variety of experiences that involve finding, collecting, and analysing data for storytelling, presentation, and investigative reporting, to introduce and develop knowledge and skills related to professional practice. 

Guided independent study

When not attending timetabled lectures, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and Moodle.

Academic support

Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including Health and Wellbeing, and Dyslexia and Disability support. 

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we will introduce you to your Academic Advisor. Your Academic Advisor can be invaluable in guiding you through your studies. They will show you how to get the most out of all of the assistance and resources that we provide. 

Your timetable

Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.

The approximate percentages for this course are:

  • scheduled teaching - 300 hours
  • guided independent study - 900 hours

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 10.00am and 5.00pm. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

This is the first time this course is being taught; however, to provide you with a more personalised experience, classes will be limited to no more than 30 students.

How you will be assessed

  • 60% coursework
  • 40% practical

We strive to provide feedback on all summative and formative assessments within 15 working days of the submission deadline. We offered in a variety of formats appropriate to the module and student in order to be inclusive.

Campus and facilities

Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD

Who teaches this course

This course is delivered by the School of Arts and Creative Industries

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.