Journalism BA(Hons): Links with business and industry

How we work with industry partners

Lecturers

A diverse team of journalists and academics teach this degree, bringing a wealth of experience with them. This means that teaching is informed by the latest industry expertise and you have access to practical help and career advice from people with insider knowledge.

Two examples of the calibre of course lecturers are Brian Cathcart and Dan Townend:

In addition to teaching at Kingston, Brian Cathcart is a contributing editor and media columnist at New Statesman magazine. A former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, he has written six books, the latest being Rain and The Fly in the Cathedral: How a Small Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the Race to Split the Atom. His earlier book The Case of Stephen Lawrence won the Crime Writers' Association Non-Fiction Award and the Orwell Prize.
Dan Townend juggles his work as a lecturer at Kingston with weekend and evening news editing shifts on the Daily Express. He also freelances for a range of publications, specialising in subject areas ranging from health to gambling. Before joining the journalism department at Kingston, Dan worked full-time for a succession of news agencies and newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Express.

Haymarket Publishing

Our ongoing partnership with Haymarket gives the chance to win a cash award. The publisher awards up to £8,000 to Kingston University journalism students each year under the Haymarket Fellowship, which in 2008 is being run in association with Sky Magazines.

Each year Haymarket selects a number of students to work on a specific project, such as producing a new magazine aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds. Teams of students pitch their ideas - in true Apprentice fashion - to a panel headed by the company's chairman, former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine. Those who produce the best work receive a cash prize. Receiving this award from Britain's biggest privately owned publisher will give a great boost to your CV. For further information visit the Haymarket website.

Practical Journalism - work placement

During the Level 3 module in Practical Journalism, you will spend a short period working for a local or national media organisation. This is designed to add work experience to your CV and help you make a more informed career choice on graduation. It should also add to your portfolio of published work, develop your professional skills and give you valuable contacts.

Practical Journalism - campus newspaper

Another important part of the Practical Journalism module is producing a campus newspaper. Part of the brief is to ensure the paper is profitable. You'll be involved in:

sourcing, writing and editing stories;
designing and producing finished pages; and
contacting advertisers to make sure the paper makes money.

This will provide you with hands-on experience of every process involved in producing a publication, enabling you to demonstrate all-round ability to potential employers.

The Degree Show

The Degree Show is designed to demonstrate the diversity and richness of student work from the two schools of Humanities and Performance and Screen Studies. It is a celebration of students' achievements during their time at Kingston University.

Local press are invited to the event and the show also aims to ensure that the calibre of Kingston graduates is recognised. It potentially offers the chance to enhance your CV and further increase your attractiveness to prospective employers.

Extra-curricular programme

We offer a lively extra-curricular programme of activities, designed to cater to all students' interests. Activities have ranged from demonstrations and readings to workshops and talks. Visitors have included prominent journalists, as well as film-makers, authors and academics. As well as being stimulating and enjoyable, the programme gives you the opportunity to meet and benefit from the advice of renowned professionals. Recent speakers have included:

John Pilger, campaigning journalist, film-maker and author of numerous books of reportage, including Hidden Agendas, Heroes and his latest, Freedom Next Time;
Simon Hattenstone, acclaimed Guardian feature writer and sports journalist;
Decca Aitkenhead, columnist for the Guardian and the Evening Standard and author of controversial travelogue The Promised Land: Travels in Search of the Perfect E;
Lindsey Hilsum, international editor and China correspondent for Channel 4 News;
Rupert Nichol, the lieutenant commander and former Royal Navy liaison officer who escorted BBC reporter Brian Hanrahan and ITV's Mike Nichols during the Falklands War and now works with embedded journalists in UK and NATO military operations;
David Randall, assistant editor of The Independent on Sunday;
Dominic Ponsford, editor of Press Gazette, the national trade journal for the UK newspaper industry;
Alison Cahn, a distinguished BBC documentary director, producer and researcher, whose films include News from Number Ten, When Michael Portillo Became a Single Mum, and the BAFTA-winning Death on the Rock;
Hugh Barnes, former Kingston journalism lecturer and foreign correspondent, who covered the conflict in Kosovo for the Financial Times, New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday, and the war in Afghanistan for the Sunday Times;
David James Smith, an accomplished Sunday Times Magazine who spoke of his in-depth coverage of the disappearance of Madeline McCann;
Ben Arogundade, journalist and author of Black Beauty and Loveless, a novel he also adapted into a Hollywood movie starring Laurence Fishburne;
Mike Gayle, freelance journalist and best-selling author of My Legendary Girlfriend, His 'n' Hers and Dinner for Two
Paul Bailey, broadcaster and award-winning novelist and TV and radio playwright;
Becky Hogge, director of the Open Rights Group and technology columnist for the New Statesman and openDemocracy.net; and
Sean Duggan, group editor of regional newspaper group Newsquest (South London).