Studying sports journalism at UEL means you will learn about a range of sports and how to report on them as journalists. The degree will equip you with the skills to write and produce sports reports for sports newspapers and sports magazines. You will be able to analytically evaluate the significance of sports in social, cultural and political contexts. Level 1 modules will give you the skills to theoretically understand the importance of journalism and sports journalism; and the skills to write as a journalist. In levels 2 and 3 you will gain valuable industry experience, and use that knowledge to produce and publish sports articles, and, with fellow students, produce specialised sports articles and magazines. Level 3 also gives you the chance to apply your academic knowledge with a sport-related dissertation.

Students are expected to look critically at the practice of sports journalism and its relationship to society, while acquiring key skills required by professional journalists.

On completing their programme in sports journalism, students will have gained:

• A critical knowledge of sports journalism and its relationship to society, with a focus on London as the host city of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• The skills relevant to sports journalism and other professional activities including the ability to report on local and global sporting events.
• Analytical skills in the workings of editorial processes, including the production of a sports magazine.

Although part-time study is available, Sports Journalism is typically a three-year programme. Level 1 may be preceded by a foundation year (Level 0). Procedures exist for students from other programmes and universities. Throughout all levels, Sports Journalism students are encouraged to submit work for publication, in-house publication, student union newspaper or external publications

Under the guidance of the Journalism team you will be advised and encouraged to go out and get stories. All of the journalism staff are formerly or currently working journalists. You will be taught using a variety of teaching and learning methods. These match the programme’s priorities: first, critical approaches to journalism are developed in a traditional academic setting: lectures and seminars with tutorial support; secondly, the acquisition of practical and professional skills occurs in workshops or ‘copy clinics’ where students try out journalistic writing and other techniques in a demanding but supportive environment. The learning environment will encourage you to be great sports journalists as you practise your writing and re-writing skills whilst contextualizing sports and journalism in contemporary cultural life. Alongside journalistic practices you will be taught how to produce radio programmes, podcasts, news websites and magazines. Under expert guidance you can also develop web sites and be given the skills of on-line sports journalism. You may also get the opportunity to study overseas.

Each module is assessed separately. At level 1 there are copy clinic tests, presentations and essays to complete. As you progress through your degree you will be assessed on your skills in writing and editing. You will quickly be producing your own articles and as a team, produce magazines, radio programmes and newspapers. Your reporter’s diary/contact book and portfolio of published work is a recurring assessment component, because it shows that you have been out reporting on sporting events.

At the end of your first semester you are examined in writing techniques. Subsequent learning is assessed largely through coursework. On practical modules, you are sometimes required to talk about assignments in a meeting with academic staff and media professionals.

To gain a place on the course you need 280 UCAS points (or equivalent). The course is assessed through academic essays, timed copy clinic tests, multimedia production, match-day reporting and a final dissertation project. In addition you are expected to attend, and report for, the University Sports clubs, cover matches and games outside lectures and attend sports news events and press conferences. You will be expected to gain work experience after the first semester. In return the lecturers will help build your contacts, meet sports journalists, press officers and sports personalities and gain valuable experience

We have strong links with the United States Olympic Committee, Essex and Middlesex cricket clubs, Team GB Basketball, Badminton England and West Ham United, Watford, Millwall, Colchester United, AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient Football Clubs. We offer six media internships. Several of our students worked for the Olympic Broadcasting Service and the London Olympic Games Organising Committee (LOCOG) during the Games. Our recent graduates have secured jobs or freelance work at Metro, BBC World Service and Eurosport. Current students are working for Watford, Leyton Orient, Aldershot and Accrington Stanley football clubs and local newspapers in London and nationwide.

In the UK, our students have reported from Lords, Wembley, Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane and Craven Cottage, interviewed the likes of Andre Villas Boas, Ray Wilkins, Kanu, Bob Wilson and Dwain Chambers and visited Sky’s new studios.

Through our Go Global scheme students have reported from the UEFA Europa final-Dublin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 5^TH Women in Sport conference from Los Angeles; the German Snooker Masters (Berlin), and Camp Nou , Barcelona.   

Project work

Practical modules are often based around production projects. At level two you may take a module involving the production of a journalism portfolio. For this module you write and publish your own articles under the guidance of the lecturering team. You will produce news websites, podcasts or video. You are expected to contribute to an in-house publication. As a Level 3 student you will continue building up a portfolio of published work, and produce a sports magazine with a focus on sport and East London. Working as part of an editorial team, you will successfully create one newspaper and a sports magazine before the completion of the degree, and have evidence of further publications for future employees.

At level 3 you also develop your academic skills through a double dissertation module. This continues throughout semester A and B, and carries twice as many credits as a single module. You have the opportunity to devise a research project/dissertation and bring it to completion with the support and supervision of journalists/academic staff.

• Sports Journalism in print, broadcast or multimedia platforms
• The London 2012 Olympics
• The development of various sports and sports journalism, both past and present.
• The social contexts in which sports journalism is produced and consumed

• Thinking critically about the way Sports Journalism packages and presents sports news
• Working out how and why such journalistic techniques have come to be the norm
• Thinking creatively about improving and adapting new formats and their feasibility for the profession

• To understand how sports journalism can influence both social and cultural discourses
• To critically evaluate the impact of an Olympics games on a host city
• To learn the skills to write as a sports journalist, and understand the significance of your words.
• To learn the fundamental skills of journalism and sports journalism
• To get published
• To understand the difference between a pundit and a sports journalist

National and local newspapers have specialised pages dedicated to sports reporting. In the UK we have two national sports radio stations, and numerous local radio stations reporting on sports as a routine component of news production. With 28 TV stations dedicated to sports reporting and several Premiership clubs with their own TV stations, there are plenty of media companies employing specialist sports journalists. Other careers paths may include PR and marketing, Press officer posts, and Sports Agency promoters. Such roles require an understanding of sports, journalism and the contexts in which these develop.

We pass on our expert knowledge and study skills via journalistic writing workshops. We have talks and master classes from visiting journalists and media professionals. Personal tutors, all academics with a background in journalism, have extensive contacts in the professional field.

We have strong links with national newspapers, and with speech and music radio stations. We also have a good working relationship with ITV production companies and contacts across a variety of media platforms. This provides networking opportunities as well as traditional academic guidance.

As you report on London's Olympic legacy, you will gain first-hand experience of how the Games can impact on a city. You will be able to train in our new £7 million multi-sport centre opened in 2012 and used by US Olympic athletes including basketball stars such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Our Docklands campus is just four miles (six kilometers) from the Olympic site at Stratford, and even closer to the Olympic venues at the 02, Excel, and Greenwich, meaning you will be able to cover future events at the velodrome and bmx track, the aquatic centre and other facilites used during the Games.

We have a Premiership and Championship football club as neighbours. You will be part of an already established relationship with both West Ham and Charlton Football clubs. UEL are the proud sponsors of the Leyton Orient Advanced Soccer School FC.

UEL’s Sports Journalism team has almost a hundred years of national and international experience of the industry. We have a wide range of industry contacts, including connections to the entertainment and production departments at ITV, and strong working relationships with national and regional newspapers, as well as national radio stations and international media houses.