MA International Journalism at Falmouth

Congratulations on gaining a place on MA International Journalism at Falmouth.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the course. The team is looking forward to spending the year with what promises to be a lively and stimulating group of students, which of course includes you!

Our first meeting will be on Monday 30 September at 9.30 am. Please come to the MA Newsroom in the Media Centre, Penryn Campus. On arrival, you will be given a student handbook, which includes details of all aspects of the course and what to expect of Falmouth.

In the meantime, we are setting up a Facebook group for the combined MA International Journalism and Multimedia Broadcast Journalism student cohort for this year. You’ll be contacted about this shortly via email. Use it to get to know each other and to have any questions answered by tutors and our student mentor team before term begins.

You can also engage with us and our alumni on our Facebook page Falmouth MA Journalism and on Twitter @Falmouth Journo.

It is also important that you begin to plan your work experience placements before you arrive in Falmouth. These placements, which should add up to at least three weeks in total, usually take place during the Easter holidays and/or between June and October when they can be fitted around your MA project.

Work placements range from the very formal BBC scheme to informal agreements with commercial radio stations, independent production companies, non-governmental organisations and news websites. In the past our students have secured placements in a huge variety of organisations including BBC Network TV news, BBC Network Radio news, BBC Online, BBC regional TV, BBC local radio, ITV News, ITV regional news, Reuters, Heart FM, British Forces News, Pirate FM, Radio Plymouth, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, C4 Dispatches, Sky Sports News, Sky News Radio, LBC, Radio Jackie, Plymouth Evening Herald, Radio Times, TwoFour Productions, Tiger Aspect, Televisionary, ShelterBox, Scout Association and Silverstream TV as well as a variety of websites and online channels.

It is vital you begin contacting news and current affairs organisations and production companies where you are interested in securing a work experience placement as early as possible. On a practical note, it should be stressed that one of the most important elements in any work placement is location. They are almost always unpaid so you need to apply to somewhere where you have family or friends nearby who you can stay with.

During the summer you will be emailed important information for new students. If you will be away, please ask someone else to check your emails regularly and reply on your behalf.

If you have any queries prior to enrolment, please contact Polly Radford or Bryony Lane in the Admissions Office on 01326 213730, email [email protected] or contact me directly.

Have a wonderful summer. We look forward to meeting you in September.

Yours sincerely

George Matheson Programme Leader, MA International Journalism [email protected]