Program Overview

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Is crime rate in the UK on the rise? How are gangs represented in the media? How much information should the general public have access to on a trial? Our BA Journalism and Criminology will enable you to study contemporary society and crime, alongside building your journalistic skills, to analyse and share information and understand it through a social perspective. You explore a wide spectrum of topics ranging from the impact of computer games on crime to terrorism. This will be intertwined with the practical journalism component of this course; where you develop your skills in using multi-media channels such as radio, television and online media and deepen your knowledge of journalism on an international scale. Our course gives you flexibility to choose the areas of the subject that interest you. Topics which you can choose to study include:

• Law and Society
• Production skills
• How does globalisation affect crime?
• International Journalism

During your final year, you will have the opportunity to bring all aspects of the course together in a final multimedia project on a subject linked to the criminology element of your studies. As a student at one of the UK’s leading social science institutions, you are uniquely placed to acquire a deep understanding of the world you report on. You will join our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies and our Department of Sociology which is ranked among the top 50 departments in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2020) Why we're great.

• Our journalism teaching staff have a broad range of up-to-date hands-on industry experience.
• You create and broadcast your own online content, radio and TV programmes.
• You can merge your knowledge of multimedia journalism and criminology.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Our expert staff

At Essex you learn from the best. Our course director Tim Fenton , is a former managing editor of the BBC News Online website and a journalist with more than 35 years' industry experience ranging from sports reporting for local radio to presenting and producing national current affairs programmes on TV and radio. Other core journalism staff include:

• Penny Wrout, a former BBC correspondent and producer who is currently a freelance documentary film-maker and multimedia arts producer.
• Paul Anderson , former editor of Tribune and deputy editor of the New Statesman , who now works as a print/online subeditor on the Guardian .
• Dr Fatima el Issawi , an international correspondent with more than 15 years’ experience covering conflict zones for a wide range of broadcast and online outlets including Agence France Press and the BBC.
• Dr Alexandros Antoniou , lecturer in media law and a specialist in communications regulation, intellectual property and cybercrime.

Throughout the course you also have the opportunity to meet visiting lecturers and teachers who are leading figures in different branches of journalism, and who provide an important link to an extended network of industry practitioners. Our criminology team includes Professor Nigel South, Professor Eamonn Carrabine, Professor Pamela Cox, Professor Pete Fussey, Dr Darren Thiel, Dr Jackie Turton and Dr Isabel Crowhurst. Each of our staff members is actively conducting research at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines and, wherever possible, we bring the very latest research findings into the classroom. Our team are prominent writers and collectively authored the best-selling criminology textbook, ‘Criminology: A Sociological Introduction’, which is used on undergraduate courses across the country. Our staff have worked at local, national and international level with bodies like local councils, the Home Office, Amnesty International and the United Nations.

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Specialist facilities

As a journalism student at Essex, your material is published on a dedicated website , and you will also spend time gaining on-the-job experience with a range of professional news operations, creating and publishing stories and building up a portfolio of published and broadcast work. You will work in a purpose-built newsroom with access to television, radio studios, and computer software that allows journalists to create and edit content across all media and platforms quickly and professionally. The University’s Media Centre is equipped with state-of-the-art studios, cameras, audio and lighting equipment, and an industry-standard editing suite. You can also gain experience with our Students’ Union media platform Rebel , and benefit from access to our criminology facilities:

• Our Centre for Criminology hosts expert speakers and practitioners
• A unique Student Resource Centre where you can get help with your studies, access examples of previous students’ work, and attend workshops on research skills
• The Sociology Common Room is open all day Monday-Friday, is stocked with daily newspapers, magazines and journals
• Links with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, which conducts large-scale survey projects and has its own library, and the UK Data Archive, which stores national research data like the British Crime Survey
• Our students’ Sociology Society , a forum for the exchange of ideas, arranging talks by visiting speakers, introducing you to various career pathways, and organising debates

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Your future

Our BA Journalism and Criminology equips you with the skills needed to pursue a number of different careers. You will gain the ability to understand the wider social context and the nature of crime, and effectively share information. You will compile an impressive portfolio of published work and complete a detailed multimedia project liked to criminology in your final year, allowing you to offer real evidence of your range and capabilities to future employers. You will become a multi-skilled story-teller, familiar with production techniques in television, radio, online and newspaper journalism, and have the option to gain advanced skills in specific areas in your final year.