Core Modules
Introduction to Journalism Studies
This module will introduce students to the academic study of journalism in a global context. The first half of the course will introduce key debates and issues in journalism studies, including the sociology of journalism, the history of journalism cultures, the nature of news production, journalism ethics, and the diversity of journalism cultures in national and international settings. The second half will focus on changes and trends in journalism practice brought about by technological change, as well as broader transformations in the economic, financial and social landscape.
Politics of Global Communication
This module introduces key theoretical approaches to understanding the politics of global communication ranging from claims of ‘cultural imperialism’ to claims of a ‘global public sphere’ to claims that ‘globalization is a myth’. The course discusses contrasting ideas of the transformative potential of global communication such as ‘communication power’ and ‘global civil society’, and ‘communicative capitalism’. It analyzes central developments and issues in contemporary global communication from the perspective of ownership and regulation, political practice, as well as changing conditions within media production, distribution and consumption, and explores global news players, ‘global journalism’, and alternative forms such as ‘citizen journalism’.
Putting Research into Practice 1 and 2
The aim of this module is to provide a grounding in the research skills required to complete a dissertation in journalism, media and political communication. Students will learn about the various skills and tasks needed to conduct and complete a research project, and they will be introduced to a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies used in the study of journalism and media.
Mediatised Conflicts: The Politics of Conflict Reporting
This module engages with a wide range of scholarly studies of different mediated conflicts, and their changing theoretical frameworks and methodologies. Case studies of media reporting will include, for example, demonstrations and protests, riots and civil unrest; war (from the Crimea to the Gulf War and the 2003 US led invasion of Iraq); international terrorism and the events of September 11 2001; ‘race’, racism and ethnicity; political scandals; the environment and ‘risk society’; and the politics of difference and identity. Students will develop a sophisticated theoretical understanding of production processes, professional practices, political contingencies and media performance and how these impact on the representation of major public issues and concerns.
Optional Modules
In addition to the above core modules, there is a wide range of optional modules available, on topics such as Media Law; New Media and Politics; Media, Activism and Participation; Communication Governance; Propaganda and the Reporting of Conflict; Reporting Business, Finance and Economics; and others.
Dissertation
The dissertation gives students the opportunity to conduct their own original research, as it requires completion of an academic dissertation of between 15 ‑ 20,000 words. Students will plan their dissertation and develop a research proposal during a first-semester research retreat in rural Wales.
Individual dissertation supervisors will be allocated after this retreat. Students will also develop their research skills through the core module, Putting Research into Practice, and through regular meetings with their dissertation supervisor.