Are you passionate about sport? Do you want to develop the journalistic skills to bring sport to life for audiences, help people understand what makes the industry tick and what happens off the sports field, as well as on it?
Sports Journalism is about much more than match reports and events coverage. It’s about unearthing the stories behind the headlines and understanding the broader context that the sports industry operates in.
Our vocational approach blends theory, practical skills development and professional work experience. You’ll learn key journalistic skills, such as how to source, research and compile news stories, how to film stories and put together audio packages, and how to write shorthand.
These practical skills are only part of the picture. We’ll also develop your knowledge of journalism theory to help you understand the context in which news is produced, along with law and the social, ethical and political impact of journalism on society.
You’ll learn about the place sport has in today’s culture, as well as the business of sport including sports advertising, sponsorship and staging multisport events.
During your studies, you’ll be able to develop a professional portfolio of work and gain journalism experience through the professional work placements included in your degree. Your learning environment will simulate the professional news environment, with newsrooms and industry-standard TV and broadcast studios on campus.
Specialist facilities
You’ll have access to industry-standard spaces and equipment including production rooms, Mac and PC editing suites and TV, radio and photography studios. These specialist facilities will enable you to develop your practical and technical skills, produce a portfolio of professional work across different media platforms and prepare you for your graduate career in the industry.
Our partnership with NewsUK gives us exclusive placement opportunities with TalkSport and SunSport as well as the chance to visit NewsUK head office in London.
Specialise in sports. You'll develop core journalism skills, alongside a detailed understanding of sport and its social and cultural context.
Learn from the experts. Our lecturers are award-winning with extensive industry experience and links.
Be inspired. You'll meet some of the UK's most highly respected sports journalists at our acclaimed annual Journalism and Media Week.
Our graduates get great jobs. You’ll develop a portfolio of work and gain experience in the industry to help you secure a professional-level job and start your chosen career.
Our achievements
Top University in the UK for Journalism, The Guardian University Guide 2026
100% of our Journalism graduates are in employment or further study 15 months after graduating
Graduate Outcomes, HESA, published 2024
Journalism Undergraduate Open Days
Journalism course trips to Manchester and London
Journalism Students produce an international show!
Top University in the UK for Journalism, The Guardian University Guide 2026
Course modules
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Year 1
During your first year, you'll study two core modules.
Essential Sports Journalism 1 - Core
Learn the essential skills you need to be a sports journalist.
You'll produce sports content for online, social media, TV and radio, developing your skills in photography, interviewing and online presentation.
You'll learn about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), visual communication, sourcing sports stories and story development.
You'll also get an introduction to media law and industry regulation.
Essential Sports Journalism 2 - Core
You'll develop your practical sports journalism skills, build your theoretical knowledge and complete five weeks of professional placement.
We'll increasingly focus on multimedia production in this module.
You'll write sports content for online, social media and radio.
You'll develop your skills in online presentation, SEO, visual communication, television mobile journalism, photography, interviewing, sourcing sports stories, story development and audience analytics.
You'll also take part in live newsroom production.
In the theoretical journalism strand, you'll learn academic skills such as literature searching, citation and referencing and academic writing.
We'll introduce theoretical concepts and the role of journalism and sports journalism in society, aligning these perspectives with practical work, current media practice and journalistic role.
You'll also work on your professional development, including interview and presentation skills, and we'll cover the standards needed in the workplace.
You'll complete five weeks of professional placement, which can be organised over the year or as a block.
Year 2
During your second year, you'll study three core modules and will be required to choose one option module.
Sports Reporting - Core
You'll develop your skills in key areas of sports writing through practical exercises.
We'll cover previews, live coverage, the aftermath and specialist reporting.
The practical work is in the context of sports reporting issues, including sources in the sports industry and the role of digital skills in research and publication.
You'll build your professional development skills to prepare for your six weeks of placements.
These could be completed across the year, one day a week, or in a block at the end.
Off the Field: The Business of Sports - Core
Develop your academic skills, focussing on critical analysis of the off-the-field aspects of sports reporting.
We'll demonstrate how academic understanding can enhance and sharpen journalistic practice.
You'll investigate the influence of social, economic and political power on the media presentation of global sports, exploring how different theories can throw light on a range of stories.
Pitchside - Core
As a sports journalist, you will cover a West Yorkshire team or sport as a patch reporter for ten weeks.
You'll go to press conferences, games and events and file content to an outward-facing sports news online platform.
Documentary: Concept to Practice - Option
Develop your production and story-telling skills, working as a team to produce a seven-minute short film.
You'll learn the process of development, research, production, post-production, and the crucial role of narrative structure.
We'll explore the ethics behind the creative treatment of actuality, and provide a theoretical understanding of the role of non-fiction media products and their historical development.
Features and Magazines - Option
You'll create a varied portfolio of magazine and feature writing through practical exercises.
These will involve using authoritative sources, research and interview skills, writing styles and the role of the internet for research and publication.
We'll explore the magazine market and develop your craft production skills, allowing you to create your own magazine.
Radio and Podcasting - Option
You'll learn interview skills, how to write for radio and podcasts, how to edit audio, and the skills needed to compile, write and deliver a news bulletin and podcast.
You'll get an understanding of radio and podcasting and the context in which they operate, including OFCOM regulation, marketplaces and audiences.
Year 3
During your final year, you'll study two core modules and will be required to choose one option module.
Professional Learning Through Work - Core
You'll have the opportunity to undertake a practical work-based project, intervention or professional development project in a workplace setting. You'll be expected to negotiate a project with your work partner or prior placement provider that meets the needs of yourself and Leeds Trinity University.
This will enable you to develop and negotiate learning outcomes and assessment modes that provide you with the flexibility to apply both theoretical understanding and practical work-based development to a chosen context.
Running the Newsroom - Core
You'll be put into teams running competing newsrooms covering sports stories.
You'll have rolling responsibilities, such as editor, video, social media or syndication.
You'll produce content for a website, aiming to build a significant online audience.
There will also be two media law refresher sessions at the start of the year.
PR and Promotions - Option
Working on real-life case studies, you'll examine the context of public relations and promotions in the media and explore the methods used by industry professionals.
Techniques include news releases, media relations, events, social media and digital promotions.
You'll produce a portfolio and presentation as part of a team.
You'll get to work on real-life case studies and attend talks by business partners and guest speakers from the industry.
Advanced Documentary Production - Option
You'll devise, research and produce a ten-minute documentary film.
In sessions, you'll get a theoretical understanding of the nature, impact and role of contemporary documentaries as well as practical aspects of production.
This includes devising and researching programme ideas, finding key contributors, preparing and executing single-camera location filming and story-telling in the editing process.
In an intensive period of self-directed team-based production, you'll create a professional-quality documentary and a legal binder of industry-standard production documents.
You'll also supply an individual critical analysis of the finished film, your role, what you learned and how you would do better in the future.
Public Interest Reporting - Option
Hone your professional public interest reporting skills and enhance your employability by working towards the NCTJ shorthand diploma.
You'll explore the role of journalism in a democracy and civic communities.
You'll learn shorthand note-taking to reach speeds of 60-100wpm.
You'll work independently outside the taught shorthand sessions to put your shorthand to practical use by attending council meetings and court and other public meetings, creating a reporting portfolio.
TV and Social Media - Option
Learn practical TV and social media skills.
You'll produce television and social media artefacts, and develop your skills in production and presentation.
Advanced Audio Production - Option
During the module, you'll contribute to a live radio show broadcast on BCB Radio and produce a three-minute radio news package.
You'll edit audio using Adobe Audition's multi-track editor, and learn about radio programme production and advanced storytelling using audio.
You'll get a deeper understanding of radio and podcast production.
Final Project
Consolidate your skills from your degree course by producing a dissertation, a work-based learning project with a portfolio, or an artefact (which could be a portfolio).
All routes involve detailed research, working with university supervision and relevant sources, experts, industry professionals and work partners.
Professional work placements
Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within the majority of our standard undergraduate degrees.
How does it work?
Careers and Placements will work with you to find a placement or help you to arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.
During your placement, you could have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
Our students complete placements at a wide range of organisations, from the BBC and Sky Sports, to Wakefield Wildcats and the Yorkshire Evening Post. Many students have gone on to gain employment with their placement provider, so it’s a great opportunity to not only enhance your skills – but to get a job!
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.
For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Programme delivery
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
Learning and teaching
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
high quality teaching
an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
Student Involvement and Engagement
Inclusion
Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
Digital Literacy and Skills
Employability and Enterprise
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
Personalised support
Expert lecturers
Strong connections with employers
An international outlook
Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development
Entry requirements
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
Entry requirements for this course:
Qualification
Grade
UCAS tariff
112
GCSE requirements
GCSE English Language or English Literature at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required
Tuition fees cost £9,535 a year for this course in 2025/2026. Students who enrolled in 2024/2025 will also be charged £9,535 for academic year 2025/2026.
Tuition fees for part-time study are charged a pro-rata amount of the full-time equivalent.
Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.
Tuition fees for 2026/2027 entry will be set in summer 2025.
Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.
Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa.
Additional costs
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:
Recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
On some courses there may be additional costs, such as field trips, equipment, accreditations, that may be part-funded by the University. More details will be provided at the start of the course.
You'll need to include placement/s travel and associated costs too, however the University will contribute a standard amount towards your total expenditure.
The University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.
For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.
On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.
Undergraduate applications for September 2026 entry are now open.
There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our Admissions team who will be happy to help:
call 0113 283 7123 (Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, or Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm)
Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.
Our graduates work in regional and national organisations covering broadcast (TV and radio), online and print. You’ll also develop transferable skills such as writing, communication and interviewing, which has prepared many of our students for roles in PR and marketing.
After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
Beth has worked in various roles as a journalist, from print magazines at Hearst in London, to TV and radio news reading. Before joining Leeds Trinity University, she was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield. She teaches the Foundation Year and Level 4 students on the Journalism courses and became Programme Leader for the Foundation Year at the end of her first year at the university.
Qualifications
First Class Honours Degree inBSc Hons Photographic Journalism
Andrew has been in journalism for over 40 years and can remember a simpler professional life before social media and smartphones when all that mattered was a packed contact book, a portable typewriter and a curious nature. Digital technology and connectivity may have transformed the industry but a compelling story remains fundamental to any content whatever the platform. The Scot has worked with Sky News, BBC, ITV, commercial radio and the UK’s leading regional publishers. His Higher Education interests include gamification in learning and an ongoing fascination with transnational education and all the possibilities it brings.
What’s the most interesting broadcast you’ve worked on?
I was in Berlin reporting for Sky News in November 1989 when the wall came down. That was quite something. I still have a piece of the wall somewhere, hacked off using cutlery ‘borrowed’ from the British Airways flight.
I was live on air through the night for a Scottish radio station in 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie. A quite dreadful event. Ten years later I returned to speak to the key figures as they looked back on events of that night. Some of the best radio I’ve ever done. No-frills first-person testimony. Hard to top.
Within your field, who do you most admire and why?
From a journalistic perspective I have a lot of time for those who are impartial, explain the facts and let readers, viewers, listeners and users decide. Journalists who listen, ask the right questions and use that content in a compelling way always works for me. In an age where everyone seemingly has an opinion about everything, not having one can be particularly refreshing. From a broadcasting perspective I admire two in particular. Terry Wogan and Chris Moyles did the same job on different stations at the same time– presenting the breakfast show on Radio 2 and Radio 1. Both were aiming for different audiences and their personal style was very different. But what connected them was a peerless mastery of the art of radio: the seriously under-rated use of silences, being captain of the ship in a zoo format, engaging natural communicators and being technically able. Both were a joy to listen to. Often less is more and they always delivered on that.
Can you give an example of a career highlight that informs your teaching?
Curiosity and confidence can be a formidable partnership and within days of getting my first job as a ‘cub’ reporter I knew journalism was for me. Being paid to cover everything from intriguing court cases and writing a music column to shivering in rugby club stands reporting on local teams seemed the perfect job.
Over time I switched from print to broadcasting and a career highlight must be joining Border Television in Carlisle. Every night I presented the evening news programme to a transmission area which included the Borders where I was brought up. Everyone watched! Family, friends…. it was a very proud moment.
Throughout my career, I always recognised that everyone needed to train. I was frequently given the new starters to develop. I really enjoyed that responsibility so when given the opportunity to do it full-time in an HE environment I said yes.
Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Sports Journalism and Media
Overview
Having first written and directed, as her undergraduate final project, an entire TV News bulletin, using BBC’s journalist, Nicholas Witchell, and ITN’s News at Ten anchor Carol Barnes, she understood that you could write fake news and present it as truth far too convincingly. So, her interest in the construction of meaning was born then, and developed over 23 years of putting together packages for broadcast TV, adapting from beta to digital, working on location and at base, editing films for Newsnight, and even when she was involved in setting up BBC Millbank, for their televising of Parliament.
Carolyn then became an accredited Avid Media Composer Trainer for Panorama, Sky News and ITV regional news crews and journalists, helping people with all different learning styles and aptitudes, to master something complicated. Luckily, we have smartphones and Mojo now.
Her first foray into HE was as an industry practitioner, being the executive producer for more than 40 student films at York St. John University before she went back to university herself. Two degrees later (an MA and a PhD from the University of Leeds) Carolyn now stretches students academically, teaching critical analysis skills within Communication and Journalism Studies, whilst conducting peer-reviewed media research to help inform policymakers in journalism, media, and sport.
She also supervises postgraduate students within her field.
Qualifications
PhD Media and Communication
MA Social Research
BA(Hons) Photography, Film and Television
Speciality Areas
How should journalists tell stories?
Cultural Production of Meaning,
incl. Media Representation within the workforce and onscreen (of ‘others’)
Identity, Production, Consumption & Regulation
Political Economy of Sport
Lexical, thematic an discourse analyses
Critical Analysis of journalistic practices and media content more generally
Current Research
UKRI Cross Council Research Pilot Scheme: Developing an assistive AI tool to improve social attitudes toward disability through mainstream media representations (outline stage for funding bid)
Media representations of Farmers, Farming and Climate Change (pilot)
Breaking Barriers 2025 Gender in Sport (upcoming conference)
Other co-lab projects are both underway and accepted.
Publications
Peer-reviewed journals
Jackson-Brown, C. (2021) ‘Mega events, media, and the politics of sport: Media coverage and representation’ in Olympic and Paralympic Analysis 2020. Centre for Comparative Politics & Media Research (2021) [online]
Jackson-Brown, C. (2020). Borrowing Brands to Create a Brand: The Commercial Mediation of Paralympic Athletes. Communication & Sport. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519896542
Jackson-Brown, C. (2024) ‘To trust or ignore? How are Gen Zs finding their political information and what might they do with it?’ in General Election 2024: The Media and the Messengers Eds. Mair, J., Beck, A. & Riley, J. MGM, Oxford
Jackson-Brown, C. (2022) ‘You’ve been framed Mr.Putin’ in The Reporting of Ukraine. A First Rough Draft of History Eds.Mair, J. & Beck, A. Abramis Academic Publications, Oxford
ISBN: 9781845498023
Jackson-Brown, C. (2022) ‘Whose line is it anyway?’ in Boris Johnson Media Creation, Media Clown, Media Casualty Eds.Mair, Beck, A. & Connew, P, MGM, Oxford
From plane crashes to potty-mouthed parrots, Lindsay has reported on thousands of stories for local, regional and national newspapers as well as for ITV Yorkshire, where she was an on-screen journalist, producer and documentary maker. For more than 10 years she has had the privilege of passing on her skills and knowledge to the next generation. Her expertise includes ideas generation, newswriting, researching, filming and editing for multiple platforms including social media, documentary-making, shorthand and TV studio production.
Qualifications
University of Leeds Teaching Award II
Speciality Areas
Journalism, Video Journalism, Documentary, Teeline Shorthand, Televison Studio production.
Podcast Credits
Leeds Digital Festival “Digital Dynamics: Navigating a Journalism Career”
Can you give an example of a professional career highlight and/or experience that informs your teaching of your subject area?
I have reported on a variety of stories that made national and international headlines, including the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Selby train crash, the Bradford Riots, the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews and the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky. I also reported from Iraq during the second Gulf War.
What do/did you enjoy the most about working in Journalism/Media?
I love being able to give ordinary people, and often the marginalised, a voice, and in some cases to help enable change. No two days are the same and working to tight deadlines is a great adrenaline rush.
During your career, who are some of the most interesting people you’ve interviewed?
I have interviewed a variety of high-profile people including former US president Bill Clinton and his lover Monica Lewinsky (although not at the same time!), King Charles (when he was Prince), Jimmy Savile, Cheryl Cole and Leigh Francis (aka Keith Lemon). They were all interesting in different ways, but some of my favourite interviewees include a swearing parrot, a singing lollipop man and a cockroach collector!
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