International Journalism Master of Science - MSc (UG)

Become a journalist who can report, investigate and research across borders, cultures and media systems. You'll build the verification, data and storytelling skills international newsrooms are looking for.

Course description\
Why study this course?

* Taught by active researchers and working journalists\
Staff combine internationally recognised research with newsroom experience at outlets including the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, the Daily Mirror and the Yorkshire Post, among other news organisations in the UK and further afield.

* Report from abroad\
An optional overseas reporting trip gives you the chance to plan and produce stories in another country, working through the practical and ethical challenges of reporting as an outsider.

* Hands-on from week one\
Our course has you producing journalism from the very beginning, building a portfolio of published work as you go, alongside a sharper critical understanding of how journalism is made.

* In-demand digital skills\
Newsrooms increasingly expect reporters to know how to investigate online. You'll learn to find, verify and interrogate evidence, and turn what you uncover into journalism that stands up to scrutiny.

* State of the art facilities\
Teaching takes place in The Wave, the University's flagship social sciences building. You'll have access to five newsrooms, four radio recording booths, and a fully-stocked media store with the latest cameras, microphones and editing software.

International news has never been more visible. Global networks broadcast around the clock, correspondents report to audiences of millions on social media, and stories move across borders in minutes. But the way that journalism gets made is changing fast, and this course teaches you both how to do it and how to understand it.

You'll learn to report stories that cross borders, from finding and interviewing sources to checking evidence, and producing journalism for different audiences and platforms. Digital investigation runs through the course, and you'll work with the Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques  that are changing how many newsrooms find and check the news, from geolocating footage to working with large datasets. You'll also learn to use data and AI-assisted tools to understand what audiences read, watch and share.

Alongside the practice, you'll study how journalism itself works across countries, cultures and media systems. For example, you’ll get a chance to discuss questions such as why press freedom thrives in some places and struggles in others, how law and ethics shift across borders, and what happens to news when politics, technology and money collide.

You'll be taught by an international team of researchers and working journalists who bring both worlds into the classroom. This means that your learning at the University of Sheffield will be shaped by the School's world-leading research in international journalism, which includes:

* Collaborating with radio stations in West Africa to empower women's voices

* Working with Russian exile media to develop new journalistic codes of practice

* Using AI to study how the news media use Freedom of Information requests

* Studying how AI is used by authoritarian regimes to spread propaganda

Towards the end of your course, you'll choose between a research dissertation and a final journalism project of your own. Either way, you'll graduate with a portfolio of work and a set of skills in demand well beyond the newsroom.

Please see our University website for the most up-to-date course information.