On this page, you will find some recommendations on what to watch, read, listen and do to engage with your subject. As well as feeding your intellectual curiosity, these links may provide useful material for your UCAS statement. Once you have engaged with the links, make sure that you practise putting your thoughts into words with the writing activity at the end.
Watch
Become a News Journalist at the BBC
Lessons in Investigative Journalism
Working in the Media Industry – Tips from Professionals
Inside Random House: Bringing Our Authors’ Books to Life
Read
This New Noise Review – an excellent and insightful history of the BBC
Students: stop dreaming of a job in journalism – and get to work
Pop Culture Intersections: The Impact of Social Media on Society
Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Story of Anonymous
Listen
The Kicker podcast by Columbia Journalism Review
Do
- Attend a screening of a non-Hollywood Blockbuster film or documentary at a local Picturehouses cinema. Find listings and locations at picturehouses.com – look at the ‘Picturehouse DOCS’ or ‘Culture Shock’ section.
- Visit a Film or Media museum, like the London Film Museum, The Cinema Museum or the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.
- If your school, college or sixth form has a paper or newsletter, you should be writing for them already. If not, find out if your local paper needs an intern for the summer, or if they will publish freelance articles. Get creative and find a feature to write about – something that will engage the local community and pitch the story.
Write
- To apply to university, you need to demonstrate that you are well informed about the subject and have a strong interest in studying it at greater depth. To get started, practice writing about your subject interests by composing short responses to the following questions:
- What have you watched, read or listened to that has inspired you?
- Why was it interesting?
- What new issues did you learn about?
- What do you want to find out next?
- What excites you about the subject?
- Why do you think studying the subject is important?