The University of Sheffield is keen to declare itself as top university for journalism.
The University of Sheffield has helped journalists see their route map through what is by any accounts the most extraordinary revolution in communication, and… we’ve had a lot to thank Sheffield for in terms of the people you’ve sent us.
Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief, the Guardian 1995-2015
With a network across the media including BBC, Press Association, Bloomberg and The Guardian, the University of Sheffield Journalism Department teaches for the best journalists. Rated number 1 in the UK by the Complete University Guide and the Guardian University League Tables 2019, it promises Sheffield students to see “journalism’s bigger picture”.
The undergraduate degree, Journalism Studies BA offers the option of a one-year placement in industry. Although this opportunity is not guaranteed for every student, according to the university’s official website, the university will do everything they can to make workplace experience placements possible for students who take “responsibility to secure”.
The modules contained in the three-year degree offer both traditional skills like note-take in shorthand and digital skills like editing audio and video. As a Russell Group university, the Journalism Studies BA from the University of Sheffield requires initiative, persistence and imagination in order to deal with tough legal and moral issues around students’ work.
Saya Uotani, who was in the final year of the Journalism Studies BA 2019-20, described her experience, “I had about 10 minutes left when the MP rang me back, and I rushed to the radio booth to record my phone interview. I dashed back to the newsroom, edited it, double-checked for errors and sent it through just in time to be read on air. It was nerve-wracking, but incredibly thrilling at the same time!”
One of the things that the university stresses the most is that journalism is about right and wrong, war and peace, liberty and democracy, about the life stories of people, societies, and entire continents – the reasons why journalism matters.
Grain's Journalism 