Public Relations and Journalism

Public Relations and Journalism professionals are in demand in today’s business world and the skills required to be successful in both industries are closely aligned.  

There are more than 50,000 journalists working in the UK today, and 100,000 PR professionals practise the same skills to thrive in agencies, businesses and community organisations.  

They need excellent communication skills – written, broadcast and visual – and a high level of expertise and business acumen in the worlds of traditional and digital media as well as sound marketing knowledge.  

This new programme will give you a competitive advantage in both environments and enable you to choose multiple communications career pathways in media, PR or marketing. It combines cutting-edge multimedia skills with high-level PR and marketing expertise that employers value and need. 

The highlights

• This course equips you with the skills to pursue a wide range of media-based career options - building strategic PR and marketing expertise alongside an excellent journalistic skillset. 
• Many communications professionals have long careers which span both journalism and PR, and people with skills in both spheres can make this transition seamlessly; it also makes them highly desirable employees.  
• This programme offers access to the best of all worlds with dedicated journalism, public relations and marketing modules across all three years of the degree.   
• Build an impressive set of practical journalistic skills – digital and written – which are in huge demand within the communications departments of major organisations, while the strategic knowledge of PR and marketing enhances employability prospects within many creative industries. 
• You will be trained by industry-respected professionals in skills ranging from podcasting and brand management to live PR campaigning and specialist video news content creation.  
• You will also enhance your employability prospects by working within our unique in-house PR and communications agency, UniComms Derby. This will ensure you are industry-ready and have a portfolio of work to prove your value. 
• In addition, students can publish their work on our online platforms: the StoryHub (insert link) website and X feed. You will also get the opportunity to gain work experience with media outlets which have previously included Reach plc and the BBC.

Year one

In the first year, all modules are core to your studies. You will have two dedicated Public Relations modules then join BA (Hons) Marketing students and BA (Hons) Journalism students for other modules to give you a broad knowledge of each specialism. The aim of the first year is to provide learning and practice opportunities for core essential PR, marketing and journalism skills along with academic research skills.   

• PR skills 
• Newswriting 
• Discovering Audio and Video 
• Introduction to PR and Communication Theory 
• Managing the Brand 
• Media Law 

Year two

In the second year, you are required to take four core 20-credit modules which again build up vital knowledge and understanding of PR, marketing and journalism skills. In the Spring semester, you will have your first experience of working within our in-house PR and communications agency, UniComms Derby working on live PR campaigns for clients across Derbyshire and beyond.  

You will also select one 20-credit module in each of the autumn and spring semesters to reflect your future interests and preferred specialisms.  

There is also an option for you to study abroad in the spring semester. 

• PR Content Creation
• Convergent Media
• Celebrity Media and Culture 
• Fashion Journalism
• PR and Media Management 
• Future Trends in Journalism
• Consumer Behaviour 
• Multi-Platform Journalism News Days
• International Study

Year three

In the third year, you will choose one core 40-credit module spanning the autumn and spring semesters. The PR Campaigning module provides the opportunity to develop and implement a full-scale campaign through our in-house agency UniComms - delivering launch activity, media materials and coverage, managing social media output and a final awards event. The Journalism Project module offers a flexible assessment allowing you to produce an academic dissertation or practice-based journalism on a topic of your choice (the genres allowed include podcasts, long-form features or documentaries). 

You will then select two 20-credit modules in each of the autumn and spring semesters, to reflect your chosen specialism. This could be a choice of audio or video journalism skills or social media content creation and specialist brand marketing modules. In addition, the Start-Up Journalism module will take you through self-employment and freelancing options to ensure you are fully prepared for diverse career pathways upon graduation. 

• PR Campaigning
• Journalism Project 
• PR and Social Media 
• Video Newsdays 
• Online Community Management 
• Marketing Across Cultures 
• Podcasting and Live Radio 
• Start-up Journalism 
• Content, Copywriting and Creativity 
• Brand Impact and Popular Culture 

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

In the first year, you will build a vital core knowledge of each discipline with news writing, audio and video, PR skills and marketing brand management sitting alongside media law. 

In the second year, a series of core modules ensure the media-based skills continue to develop with PR and Media Management, Content Creation and Future Trends in Journalism complemented by optional modules which will enable you to begin to specialise in areas such as digital and social media or fashion journalism, or even spend a semester studying abroad to gain an international perspective and knowledge.  

The third year will provide opportunities to refine your PR and Journalism skills to a high level. You can choose between two core modules: PR Campaigning or Journalism Project to structure your degree to suit your career pathways. 

You can also choose from a wide range of optional modules that include social media management and content copywriting, podcasting, video news days and online community management.  

For entrepreneurial students, there is also the option to explore self-employment in a Start-Up business module. Here you can plan and launch your own media-based business idea, combining all your journalistic, PR and marketing skills.  

The largely practical nature of the degree means that you will graduate with a portfolio of work to showcase to employers. 

You will learn in a variety of ways, including through: 

• workshops 
• news days 
• work experience/real projects for employers 
• lectures and seminars, including guest lectures from key industry figures 
• field trips 
• technical visits 
• conferences. 

Studying abroad

In your second year, there is the option to study abroad for the Spring semester. The university has links with a number of respected universities in Europe and The United States. 

How you are assessed

You will be assessed by coursework assignments, which may include: 

• PR and marketing plans  
• features and news articles 
• videography and podcasting 
• live broadcasting 
• social media campaigns 
• smartphone and smart speaker journalism 
• academic essays. 

These assignments will enable you to build up a wide-ranging portfolio of work to show employers when you graduate. 

Who you'll meet

• Joanne Hine is a Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Journalism. An award-winning PR professional, her career spans 35 years of print and magazine journalism and PR working with national and international brands.
• Alex Canner is Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Journalism and specialises in broadcast media, teaching all aspects of writing and podcasting, as well as recording and editing techniques across TV, radio and Multimedia. 

This course equips graduates to find employment in both Public Relations and Journalism. In the PR field, our former students work as content creators, social media managers and copywriters for international agencies, major sport, fashion and high-street brands. Many also go into PR agencies as account executives. In journalism recent graduates have become researchers on national BBC political programmes, reporters for Derbyshire Live and Nottinghamshire Live, station sound producers and broadcast journalists on regional BBC Radio. 

The degree also enables graduates to enter other careers, having obtained sufficient transferable skills, particularly in communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and teamwork to gain employment in the wider creative industries, for example in marketing, research analysis, advertising, arts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, publishing, research and development.  

You can also continue your higher education journey and pursue MA education in related areas including Media, Journalism (Broadcast, Magazine or Sport) or Creative Writing and Publishing. Our current MA and research students are encouraged to share their research findings and at times they may be invited as guest speakers to your lessons where relevant. 

If you would like to continue your studies at masters level, our MA Journalism or MA Creative and Cultural Industries are the ideal next step.

2025 entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2025 entry.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

Additional entry requirements

• Portfolio: Recommended - view portfolio details

2025/26

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.