Bachelor of Media (Communication and Journalism)

3 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of New South Wales

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Media with a Communication and Journalism specialisation equips you with the practical skills and critical thinking needed to thrive in modern journalism, public communication, and digital media. Over three years of full-time study, you'll combine hands-on industry experience with rigorous theoretical grounding, building a professional portfolio that launches your career in journalism and communications.

Curriculum Structure

First Year: Building Your Foundations

Your journey begins with essential coursework that establishes your media literacy and technical foundation. You'll complete foundation courses including News Fundamentals, which grounds you in journalism principles, alongside Media, Culture and Everyday Life and Media, Society, Politics, helping you understand media's role in shaping society. These courses develop both your critical perspective and your ability to analyze media landscapes across different contexts.

Second Year: Developing Specialist Skills

As you progress, your Communication and Journalism specialisation courses deepen your professional capabilities. You'll dive into practical journalism techniques, digital storytelling, and public communication strategies tailored to contemporary media industries. This year emphasizes the balance between understanding journalism's ethical foundations and mastering the technical skills required to produce content across multiple platforms—from traditional print to digital and emerging media formats.

Third Year: Portfolio and Professional Practice

Your final year focuses on consolidating your expertise through advanced specialisation courses while building a compelling professional portfolio. You'll have opportunities to contribute to Newsworthy, UNSW's digital student publication, gaining real-world experience in news production and content creation. Internships and industry placements connect you directly with employers, ensuring you graduate with both a strong portfolio and established professional networks.

Focus Areas: Digital journalism fundamentals, public communication strategies, news production across multiple media formats, ethical storytelling, and contemporary communications practice.

Learning Outcomes: You'll develop flexible journalistic content creation skills, critical analytical abilities, practical production expertise, and the cultural reflexivity needed to tell stories effectively and ethically in evolving media landscapes.

Professional Alignment: The program emphasizes industry-standard practices and technologies, with learning from experienced practitioners who continue to work in leading publications and media organizations.

Reputation & Employability: UNSW is recognized globally for media education excellence, and the Communication and Journalism specialisation prepares you specifically for careers where practical skills and portfolio quality directly influence employment outcomes across journalism, public relations, digital media, and corporate communications.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

In the Bachelor of Media with a Communication & Journalism specialisation at UNSW, you'll dive straight into hands-on learning that builds real-world skills from day one. You'll use the latest technology in our advanced multimedia facilities to create and publish work across digital platforms, including through our student-led publication, Newsworthy, where you can build a professional portfolio while gaining practical experience in journalism and communication.

This sets you up perfectly for a career where you're not just learning theory, but actively producing content and questioning the world around you: here are some standout experiential opportunities specific to the program:

- Advanced multimedia facilities: Work with cutting-edge technology for multimedia production, publishing stories across various mediums to develop technical skills and a standout portfolio.

- Student publication Newsworthy: Contribute to our digital student publication, gaining real-world publishing experience in journalism and communication.

- Professional experience integration: Build essential professional skills through courses and opportunities designed for industry readiness, including work across journalism, news fundamentals, and digital entrepreneurship.

- Flexible specialisation courses: Take 48 UOC of courses in Communication & Journalism, progressing from introductory levels like News Fundamentals to advanced technical and theoretical projects that emphasize practical application.

Progression & Future Opportunities

At UNSW, the Bachelor of Media with a Communication & Journalism specialisation dives straight into hands-on learning, where you'll use the latest technology in advanced multimedia facilities to publish real work through our student-led digital publication, Newsworthy. This builds your portfolio with practical experience in journalism and communication from day one, sharpening your skills in storytelling across digital platforms while gaining the professional edge employers crave.

You'll develop technical skills through courses like News Fundamentals and Screen Production I, progressing to advanced real-world projects that prepare you to lead in media. Here's how our program stands out with specific experiential opportunities tailored to Communication & Journalism:

- Access advanced multimedia facilities equipped with cutting-edge technology for producing and publishing across print, screen, and digital mediums, including work for Newsworthy, UNSW's digital student publication.

- Engage in group projects and collaborative tutorials, such as those in MDIA3000, where you analyze real communication cases and practice interacting as professionals in media environments.

- Build a professional portfolio through practical courses emphasizing industry-relevant skills in digital journalism, public communication, and ethical storytelling in evolving news media.

- Gain real-world experience via flexible electives and expansion courses from other specialisations, like screen production, to explore interdisciplinary media production hands-on.