MA Journalism (Specialist Features)

Introduction

Work with experienced journalists to build your skills and experience, and channel your passion for long-form writing into a successful portfolio journalism career.

Why study journalism (specialist features)?

In today's fast-paced digital age, journalists need the versatility and skillset to create high-quality features across diverse platforms.

As a features writer, you could be working on long-form pieces for websites, newspapers, magazines or podcasts, focusing on a specialist subject or type of feature writing, or taking on more diverse business-to-business work.

Why UWE Bristol?

If you have a passion for journalism and long-form writing, our MA Journalism (Specialist Features) gives you the writing and audio skills to be confident in producing a variety of content across both print and online channels.

Through a mix of practical and analytical learning, you'll develop high-quality writing, research and storytelling capabilities, alongside technical skills such as page layout, podcasting and website building.

Unlike other MAs focusing on either news or specialisms such as sport or fashion, this course centres on feature and long-form writing for a range of media markets.

You'll also have the chance to build up a specialism of your choice (such as sport, music, the environment, travel or fashion), ensuring you develop as a versatile, knowledgeable and employable journalist.

You'll work with our experienced journalists, and be based at our arts-focused Bower Ashton studios, where you'll be immersed in the writing and multimedia journalism skills needed for today's media industry.

You will build experience on placements and work shadowing, work on your own projects, and go away with a high-quality portfolio of your print, online and audio work to show to prospective employers.

Where can it take me?

You'll be in a position to take on work on a freelance or staff basis with magazines (both specialist and business-to-business), or to write for online channels such as websites or podcasts.

It's up to you if you want to specialise in a particular subject or type of feature writing, or use your skills to secure writing work across different fields.

Careers / Further study

By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to put yourself forward for freelance or staff writing work with magazines (both specialist and business-to-business), or to write for online channels such as websites and podcasts.

You'll develop skills across a range of features, such as topical news features, profiles, colour pieces, investigative stories, issues-based features, or gossip or celebrity features. Or you can focus on writing about a specific subject area, such as sport, music, fashion, the environment or travel.

You will be in a strong position to build up a career in a fast-moving and fast-changing industry, where good writing and research skills, along with expertise in a specialist area, will always be needed.