Bachelor of Arts (Journalism)

Course Overview

If you are a budding reporter or are curious about the world around you and like to write, or have a passion for radio, television or social media, then this is an ideal programme for you. The BA Journalism is an exciting programme for University of Galway (reformed for 2019 which offers you an opportunity to gain highly coveted communication and media production skills while undertaking an Arts degree.

This four-year degree programme combines academic study with practically-focused modules that give you real world experience of what it is like to work as a journalist. You’ll be introduced to news and feature writing, reporting a ‘beat’ reading the news on radio and video editing to tight deadlines. You’ll have the opportunity to study abroad and undertake a work placement in a media company. You’ll also get an opportunity to expand your understanding of the media through challenging modules in critical media studies and communication.

The joint honours degree lets you choose a second Arts subject that interests you from a range of options, giving you a breath of knowledge and experience.

Minimum Grade H5 in two subjects and passes in four other subjects at O6/H7 Grades in the Leaving Certificate, including Irish, English, another language, and three other subjects recognised for entry purposes.

We welcome applications from mature students and QQI applicants. A number of places are reserved annually for mature and QQI applicants. Further information about QQI can be found here.

Exciting career opportunities: The new BA Journalism programme is an exciting, four-year programme with a built-in internship in third year. We have excellent relationships with a range of media companies including RTE, national and local newspapers and radio, and all of our students get the opportunity to undertake a work placement as part of their studies. This, alongside the excellent range of modules on offer, gives our graduates a distinct advantage when it comes to securing employment after graduation. Students may also decide to specialise with one of our exciting Professional Masters programmes.

Great Facilities: We have a world-class digital broadcast centre that you will get to use as a student. Our student-friendly radio studio is equipped with a ‘Studer’ digital radio console, where our students learn to edit audio and put together news packages and programmes using Adobe Audition and the ‘Burli’ playout system. NUI Galway has its own FM radio station on campus - Flirt FM - where you can sign up to broadcast your own show.
Our brand-new television studio is the first of its kind in Ireland. The 4k, fully-robotic digital studio is built on a ‘Newtek’ mainframe, and includes state-of-the-art cameras and editing facilities, a news studio equipped with ‘Autoscript’ news reading software and ‘chromakey (greenscreen). It can take up to 16 simultaneous inputs and 8 outputs, allowing our students to broadcast live news and current affairs and other topics programmes to our website, as well as Facebook Live and YouTube. Our students learn to shoot and edit television and ‘mojo’ from the field; are trained in Adobe Premiere Pro, live studio production; and get the chance to create their own television shows in small teams.

Challenging and engaging learning environment: Students on the BA Journalism programme are challenged across four years with a range of modules that help them develop their understanding of the media, as well as training in cutting-edge professional practice including writing for print and online, social media, radio and television. Students can choose specialisms in their second year such as sports journalism or features and magazines; and can further specialise in fourth year in an area of interest.