Masters of Arts in Journalism & Digital Communications

journalism
Duration
1 Year Full-Time / 2 Years Part-Time
Validated by
QQI
Mode
Full-Time / Part-Time
Campus
Dublin
NFQ Level
9
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Course Overview

Take on the challenge of entering the ever-growing digital communications sector in Ireland or internationally.

The comprehensive syllabus of digital media production skills and digital communications theory which is delivered on this masters programme is designed to equip you with the skills needed for success across the multiplatform news, social, and commercial communications content production sectors.

Why Study Journalism & Digital Communications at Griffith College?

The MA in Journalism & Digital Communications runs full-time over one year, and part-time over two years. This programme is for people who wish to be communications professionals who conceive of, produce, upload, and manage multiplatform quality journalism and a broad range of digital communications content. Learners are empowered to tailor the programme to their own interests, skills and career plans by choosing two from a range of six diverse elective modules.                                                                                                                                        

Designed and delivered by journalism and digital communications professionals and full-time academics, the course immerses learners in a professional media production environment. The programme team cultivates among learners a commitment to the production of high-quality and ethical journalism, as well as leadership and media product innovation skills.

  • You will take modules in data journalism, data analytics, and investigative journalism, acquiring skills that open up employment opportunities in the quality journalism and news industry. 
  • You will learn a comprehensive range of digital communications production modules including: radio and podcasting production, video storytelling, mobile video and media product design.    
  • For the programme duration, participants are entitled to apply for an NUJ Press Card.
  • At the employment selection process, you will be equipped with a portfolio demonstrating the high quality of your media product, consisting of industry-standard journalistic and investigative skills, digital communications production skills, as well as data journalism and data analysis skills. 
  • You will also acquire the skills to produce both high-quality traditional and enhanced digital journalism, as well as commercial and social content for targeted publics across appropriate channels. 
  • Upon completion of the course, you will have a transferable, postgraduate research and writing skills learned that are applicable across the digital communications sectors.

Course Highlights

  • NUJ Press Pass for the duration of your study
  • Access state-of-the-art radio, TV studios and editing facilities
  • Build your own online, professional portfolio
  • Study full-time, part-time or through blended learning
  • Attend press conferences and work on real-life journalistic situations
  • Connect with industry leaders through guest lectures 
     

Testimonials

Eidhne Gallagher
It was a really amazing time, there was a struggle at first, due to the impact of Covid. Apart from all that, I really enjoyed being a Griffith student. I didn’t anticipate how much I enjoyed all the modules and classes I took part in. I really thoroughly enjoyed every aspect and loved meeting the friends I would make along the way.
Eidhne Gallagher
MA in Journalism and Media Communications

Intake Dates

  • Dublin - Full-Time - September 2024
  • Dublin - Part-Time - September 2024

Course Details

Learners on the MA programme complete 10 taught modules plus a dissertation.

Core Subjects

This module aims to provide learners with a critical understanding of the major theoretical paradigms of audience and communicative practice. It provides a theoretical underpinning to the range of media skills developed in the programme, providing critical context for the notion of audience in the production and reception of media products. As a complimentary module to Research Methods, it introduces learners to a range of theoretical frameworks and areas of media research to prepare learners for the completion of the MA Dissertation module.

This module equips learners with advanced skills in data journalism and analytics, enabling them to produce data-driven stories for digital media platforms. It fosters the ability to interpret and present complex data effectively to diverse media consumers, enhancing the impact of data-driven narratives. It prepares learners for employment in journalism and also in more diverse career paths, including commercial content creation, public relations, and marketing, and other communications roles across the digital communications industries.

This module aims to teach learners how to produce investigative journalism and to do so in an ethical manner. The module also aims to impart knowledge and practical awareness of how and why media institutions, practices, and culture developed in the way that they have in Western society, and to contextualise these developments within a sociological perspective in the contemporary digital communications era. 

This module enables learners to identify and fully utilise available and emerging research resources in the conduct of their dissertation investigation to support and direct their research methodology or techniques. The module aims for learners to be able to rigorously apply appropriate research, design and implementation methodologies to the development of media content, practices, processes and/or techniques. The module also affords learners the opportunity to complete significant research into specialist topics and present findings, insights and hypotheses reflecting a mastery of the concepts and techniques involved. Learners' dissertations can be academic works of 18,000 to 20,000 words, or can be practical dissertations of media artefact production (such as for example, a video or radio documentary, a series of investigative articles, a book of photography, an online magazine, etc) with appropriate supporting documentation.

This module aims for learners to gain the necessary skills required to initiate, research, and produce a design product such as a new online/offline magazine, from concept to completion. Learners will develop an understanding of design theory and the technical software skills needed in layout and design. Learners also develop their skills in sub-editing, housestyle adoption, and writing and designing media products for specific audiences. The module also aims to impart professional development skills and awareness for learners in areas such as how to register a company and register as self-employed, hiring an accountant, the basics of a SWOT for business plans, etc.

This module aims to develop learners’ overall creative and technical production abilities by equipping them with the practical skills to approach the production of factual visual programming on mobile devices for multiplatform distribution. Learners critically evaluate professional video standards and conceive, shoot, edit, and upload their own short video programming using mobile phones. They also learn to transfer footage from mobile to desktop computers to develop more advanced editing skills. The module develops learners’ concept development skills and digital video production skills for mobile journalism.

This module aims to enable learners to attain the practical skills required to identify, plan, research, write and edit publishable news reports, feature articles, and commercial content for identified audiences on multiple platforms and for different formats. Through practice, and through the use of AI to generate story ideas and conduct initial story research, learners develop the ability to use social media platforms to promote their writings, and to develop their online profile on their own WordPress website. The module also cultivates critical thinking among learners in relation to the role of and the future of, journalism in democratic societies.

This module aims to instil in learners the knowledge of how to create broadcast quality radio and podcast content including news and current affairs coverage. It equips learners with the ability to develop the skills, techniques, research ability, and the editorial standards which are necessary to work in a professional radio or podcasting environment.

This module aims to deepen learners’ research skills in relation to their module-related assignments and later in the completion of their dissertation or dissertation by practice. The module extends their abilities as self-directed learners by equipping them with the appropriate vocabulary for reflecting on, critiquing and evaluating their own work and that of others. Throughout the module, learners are required to engage with a number of research methodologies and current research issues and trends. The module also advances good project management skills and techniques so that learners can successfully deliver a research project including scoping media research projects and completing a literature review.

Electives

This module aims to enable learners to work as journalists and/or researchers covering issues that deal with the relationship between politics and economics, both at a national and international level. Learners are shown how to evaluate reports from economic and social research organisations on current topics related to global, regional, and national political economy. Learners develop the skills needed to assess how the interactions of governments impact on the broader context within which economic processes occur. Learners are equipped to research and write about the key organisations of global, regional, and national economic governance, and the main trends in the global economy with specific reference to the European and Irish economies.

This module aims to provide learners with a solid foundation in the practical, aesthetic, and ethical aspects of photojournalism and documentary photography. Covering a broad range of topics, from the beginnings of photojournalism and documentary photography through to its contemporary iterations, this module equips learners with an in-depth understanding of the technical and aesthetic approaches involved in the production of impactful narrative imagery.

This module enables learners to be able to play a lead role in production teams which produce and repurpose content for new and different online audiences, and to learn the key technical skills which allow them to plan, construct and develop their own and others’, online media artefacts. Learners develop the ability to use the current tools necessary for digital journalism and content creation, and the ability to apply these tools when creating journalistic material and media content online and across platforms. The module also develops learners’ ability to identify and evaluate trends and opportunities in online media, and also cultivates a critical comprehension in the design and construction of integrated web-based media content.

This module aims to give learners the necessary tools to become a sports journalist, including sports writing, broadcast experience and interview skills. The module affords a taste of practical, in-the-field work, and requires submitting pieces to tight deadlines. It also aims to give students instructions on how to report on live events, how to find the real story and how to stand out above all the noise. It introduces critical thinking to the processes of the industry, to the various platforms and to how different business models monetise sports journalism. It also seeks to hone learners’ critical faculties with regard to the broader aspects of sport and its effect on society.

This module aims to provide learners with an overview of the contemporary media business environment and the most significant trends that have emerged in the media sector over the last three decades. Through addressing a broad range of media business concerns, market structures, regulation, marketing, advertising, funding, audience measurement and intellectual property, the module is designed to equip learners with an understanding of the theoretical and practical issues that have shaped the contemporary media business ecosphere in which they will pursue careers.

This module aims to equip learners with foundational skills in video in the key areas of: research, concept and story development; visual storytelling technique (image and sound), approach, and visual sequencing; and editing (technical skill and basic craft). Learners build practical skills in camera, sound recording, and editing week by week while exploring video ideas through concept and story development using examples, guided practicals, in-class exercises and critical viewings of current video storytelling practice. Each learner makes a short non-fiction video on a topic of their choosing (3- 5 minutes in duration) with a strong focus on visual storytelling, and engaging narratives for their intended target audience for cross-platform distribution.

Barry Finnegan

Barry Finnegan

Journalism & Media Communications Programme Director
  • Dublin

Timetables

Full-Time/Part-Time & Blended Delivery

The programme runs full-time for over one year with two semesters and an August dissertation submission. It is also run part-time over four semesters in two years with 13 of the modules delivered through ‘blended learning’ where learners view lectures and related reading online at their convenience. Candidates are encouraged to contact the faculty to discuss our flexible, student-oriented timetabling. September and February commencements are facilitated.

There are two intakes for this course, September and February.
Learners starting in February will join the second semester of those starting in September.
For this reason, courses beginning in February run for 1.5 years full-time and 2.5 years part-time.

 

 

How to Apply

Entry Requirements

Applicants for this course should have a 2.2 degree in any discipline

Griffith College is accepting the online Duolingo English Test (DET) as valid proof of English proficiency. Please see here for further details.

How to Apply

Applicants wishing to apply for this course can do so directly.

Please note: Our MA in Journalism and PR has two intakes:September and February.
Courses beginning in September run for 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time.
Courses beginning in February run for 1.5 years full-time and 2.5 years part-time.

Fees

For purposes of fee calculation, residence is counted from the time of application.

Please note that not all study modes may be offered at all times; for confirmation, refer to the Intake dates on the Overview tab.

Tuition Fees

Study Mode: Full-Time

Dublin: EUR 8,000.00
 

Study Mode: Part-Time

Dublin: EUR 8,000.00

Study Mode: Full-Time

Fee: EUR 9,000.

Study Mode: Full-Time

Dublin 

Non-EU living in Ireland or abroad: Please refer to our Non-EU Tuition Fees section.

Non-EU students: a Student Services and Administration fee of EUR200 is payable each academic year in addition to the fees quoted below.

Flexible payment options

Students wishing to pay their fees monthly may avail of our direct debit scheme. Please view our Fees information page for more information and assistance.

General Fee Information 

An Academic Administration Fee of €250 is payable each September at the start of term. For students starting in the January/February term, €125 is payable in February, and then €250 will be payable each September from then onwards. 

A 2% Learner Protection Charge is applicable each academic year in addition to the fees quoted. The fees below relate to Year 1 fees only.

Sponsorship

Is your company paying for your course?

They will need to complete a Griffith College Sponsorship Form and send this to the Student Fees Office:

  • Post: Student Fees, Griffith College Dublin, South Circular Road, Dublin 8
  • Email: [email protected]

2% Learner Protection Charge

All QQI accredited programmes of education and training of 3 months or longer duration are covered by arrangements under section 65 (4) of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012 whereby, in the event of the provider ceasing to provide the programme for any reason, enrolled learners may transfer to a similar programme at another provider, or, in the event that this is not practicable, the fees most recently paid will be refunded.

QQI Award Fee

Please note that a QQI Award Fee applies in the final year of all QQI courses. To find the relevant fee for your course level, please see the Fees page.

Progression

Academic Progression

On completion of the Level 9 MA in Journalism and Digital Communications, students may progress onto a range of Level 10 Doctoral programmes on the National Qualifications Framework. The Postgraduate QQI validation means that your qualification is recognised not only in Ireland and Europe but throughout the world.

Career Progression 

"Through the MA in Journalism and Digital Communications, you will have gained valuable professional experience, built a strong portfolio and covered a diverse range of media production and theory. Graduates from this programme are employed in a wide variety of fields across the digital communications and journalism industries. A sample of recent graduates’ job titles include: 

  • Journalist
  • Head of news reporter
  • Senior news reporter
  • Researcher
  • Mobile journalist
  • Editor
  • Producer and presenter across websites
  • Creative officer
  • Media analyst
  • Multiplatform content coordinator
  • Communications associate/executive
  • Multimedia journalist
  • Documentary director
  • Film director
  • Freelance writer
  • Copywriter
  • Digital communications executive
  • Video Editor 
  • NGO communications executive
  • Data scout
  • Freelance copywriter

Ready to take the next step?