15 ECTS credits
375 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4021052FNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
1st and 2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Languages & Humanities
Department
Linguistics and Literary Studies
Educational team
Jan Jagers
Promotor . (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
375 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The master's thesis (investigative journalism) is the (academic) tailpiece of the master's in journalism programme. The format consists of a (journalistic) research file about a socially relevant and topical problem and a reflection on it from the viewpoint of journalistic ethics and journalism studies. In a scholarly paper, the student reports on an investigative journalistic project, thereby formulating socially relevant research questions concerning a topical subject, devising the research plan and carrying out the analysis, and evaluating the own research process critically. By developing the research process and the final product, students show they are able to devise their own research  and to apply research methods and techniques, and they show a critical- reflexive attitude and autonomous problem-solving, analyzing and synthesizing capacities.

The master's thesis investigative journalism consists of the following elements:

- research file (master file), journalistic final product, and (academic) reflection.

Supplemented by:

- a press release about the research, written in an accessible way for a large audience and appealing to journalists

- a short summary of the thesis (scientific abstract) and key words

 

 

 

 

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Document Guidelines Master Thesis Investigative
Additional info
Please refer to the website of the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for more information on MaThIS, important deadlines, and other relevant items.
 
Learning Outcomes

General competencies

  • Students have the knowledge to look at journalists and their working environment from an academic perspective: they are familiar with the (international) developments in journalism studies and the study of journalistic deontology and they can situate journalistic practices in an academic context.
  • Students are able to set up their own research: they can relate insights from different scholarly approaches (also those acquired in their previous studies) with each other in a critical way and think of new research questions.
  • Students are able to formulate their own theoretical- academic reflections and research findings and report them in a clear and correct way, for specialist as well as for a lay audience.
  • Students are able to search and process information quickly (also from sources in foreign languages) and know the methods to carry out journalistic research as junior journalists.
  • Students are eager to find news, are energetic and emphatic, show initiative and are able to convince others.
 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Master Thesis determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Master Thesis category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Masterproef with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The jury consists of the academic supervisor, and an (external) assessor.

The final grade is composed of individual grades for the master file (50%), reflection (30%), and journalistic product (20%). Examination for all course components is required in order to pass. 

 

 

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Journalism: Radio- and TV-Journalism (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Journalism: Printed and Online Media (only offered in Dutch)