Opportunities for Media and Journalism students
You will have plenty of opportunities to develop your practical skills, as part of your degree, across the University, and in the local and international community.
Our award-winning Student Media team is always hot on the heels for the latest coverage.
Newcastle University Students’ Union has its own newspaper, radio station, and TV channel. They are all produced by students, for students.
We also have journalism initiatives run in collaboration with staff, students, and the community in the region and across the world.
The Courier is an award-winning weekly student newspaper both written and edited by student volunteers at Newcastle University Students’ Union. The Courier was founded as King’s Courier in 1948 and has seen many major transformations on its way to becoming the much-loved student newspaper it is today.
The 40-page newspaper is published every week of term-time, plus special editions for graduation and freshers’ week, making 20 issues per year in total.
The Courier has 14 different sections split into Current Affairs (News, Comment), Life & Style (Lifestyle, Beauty, Fashion, Travel, Food), Culture (Music, Film, TV, Arts, Science, Gaming), and Sport. Each print edition also features a page of fantastic puzzles for taking a break between seminars.
Over 200 student volunteers write for the digital and print versions of the newspaper. The sections are managed by sub-editors, who liaise with writers, edit articles and lay up the pieces using specialist software. These sub-editors are in turn overseen by a team of senior editors. The Courier is ultimately led by the Editor, who is an elected sabbatical officer at the Students’ Union.
Newcastle Student Radio (NSR) an award-winning radio station run by students, for students. First on-air all the way back in 1997, NSR runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Manned entirely by students, shows range from specialist music to comedy to sport and news.
With an eclectic mix of music, entertainment, sport, and news programmes, it is students that determine what NSR looks and sounds like when providing the essential service to the university.
The opportunities and coverage provided at the station go far beyond the regular timetable. NSR provides University sports coverage, live student election debates, concerts, interviews, gigs performed live in the studio, investigative journalism, specialist DJ sets, and more,
With flagship breakfast, lunchtime, and drivetime show providing continuity throughout your hectic weeks, the station is dedicated to providing the best content, and opportunities, to students.
NUTV is the Students' Union's high-action and fast-paced television branch. Founded in 2010, the youngest of the three branches has certainly taken leaps and bounds in progress, committing itself to produce both on-demand and live broadcasts throughout the academic year. NUTV aims to be a platform to allow as many students as possible, regardless of their academic or personal background, the chance to experience the world of TV production.
They produce content covering current affairs, entertainment, music, student talent and lifestyle, sports, and more! Have an idea for a brand new show? Come and make that show a reality! NUTV also aims to help bridge connections into the industry for anyone looking to pursue a media career. The station is affiliated with the National Student Television Association (NaSTA), allowing access to the workshops and industry trips the Association runs throughout the year, including the annual conference at Easter.
NUTV also has local connections with the Royal Television Society and individuals who have worked with local and national TV broadcasting studios. Whether you want to present in front of the camera, direct and produce from behind the scenes, flex your editing muscles, or write and develop ideas, NUTV could be the perfect opportunity for you.
JesmondLocal
JesmondLocal, is a volunteer-run 'hyperlocal' news service for the people who live and work in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne (a popular residential area close to the city centre, popular with students).
What is 'hyperlocal'?
Hyperlocal news is the very local news, events, and goings-on in the street where you live or work. Hyperlocal news services such as JesmondLocal recognise that most people care deeply about what is happening in their specific part of town. At the same time, JesmondLocal recognises that local businesses are looking for innovative and more effective ways of reaching these local readers.
How can I get involved?
While most hyperlocal services are run by enthusiastic amateurs, JesmondLocal is edited by two professional journalists, including our Associate Lecturer Ian Wylie, with more than 20 years’ experience in national newspapers and magazines. Students of Newcastle University act as local “citizen reporters”, researching, creating and sharing news content.
Pop-up Newsroom
You'll have the opportunity to take part in international Pop-up Newsroom events, where – along with students from across the world – you'll take part in a 24-hour rolling global reporting project, focused on current issues.
Pop-up Newsroom was founded in 2013 by Newcastle University, California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) in India. It is a collaboration between journalism degrees at universities in Germany, India, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the US, and the UK. It challenges the idea that all news outlets need permanent physical newsrooms, and creates virtual temporary news spaces. Students from each university report, post and redistribute each other’s content across a 72-hour period, generating multiple cultural, political, and social perspectives and bringing to the global conversation voices which often go unheard.
The November 2020 Pop-Up Newsroom included the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) in India; California State University, Northridge (CSUN), California State University, Fresno, and Marquette University in the U.S.; Coventry University and Newcastle University in England; Notre Dame University and Rafik Hariri University in Lebanon, along with students in Germany. Their focus was on Diversity and Discrimination.
Pop-up Newsroom is now the longest-running international collaborative project in journalism education.