Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC)

About Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture

Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC) is one of the world's leading academic centres for journalism education and media research. Founded in 1970 as the Cardiff Journalism School by Sir Tom Hopkinson, it is the longest established postgraduate centre for journalism education in Europe, and is part of Cardiff University, a member of the prestigious Russell Group. The school is frequently described as the 'Oxbridge of journalism' and is ranked among the top institutions globally for communication and media studies.

History and Founding

JOMEC was established in 1970 when Sir Tom Hopkinson, the pioneering editor of Picture Post magazine, founded the Centre for Journalism Studies at University College Cardiff. The school grew to encompass undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes, and has produced many prominent journalists and media professionals. In September 2018 it relocated to a state-of-the-art building in Cardiff's Central Square development, adjacent to the BBC Wales headquarters. The Tom Hopkinson Centre for Media History, a research centre named in Hopkinson's honour, focuses on scholarly work in media history.

Research and Media Heritage

JOMEC's research is ranked second in the UK for quality and impact (REF 2021) and is organized around three clusters: Journalism and Democracy; Media, Culture and Creativity; and Digital Media and Society. The school is home to the Centre for Community Journalism (C4CJ), which developed the world's first MOOC on community journalism and oversees the Independent Community News Network (ICNN), the UK's representative body for independent community news publishers. The Tom Hopkinson Collection in Cardiff University's Special Collections and Archives documents Hopkinson's career and provides primary source material on 20th-century photojournalism and media history.

Programmes and Access

The school offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes in areas including broadcast journalism, magazine journalism, news journalism, computational journalism, international journalism, public relations, and media and culture studies. The Centre for Community Journalism offers training, networking, and guidance for community and hyperlocal journalists in Wales and worldwide. Researchers have access to the school's extensive media resources, digital labs, and library collections.