Module Directory

This module is intended to provide students with a broad understanding of the main theoretical frameworks of media and journalism to develop their critical appraisal of the interconnected communication world of today.

It is aimed primarily at students looking to develop a research career in journalism or media studies as well as those students looking to acquire a critical approach to journalistic practice. It will also be interesting to students of Government and Sociology who are interested in understanding the big debates around the media and the relationships with politics and society. Each week a current event will be discussed in the seminar.

The module will equip students with the knowledge, theoretical frameworks, and critical tools to unpack the complexities of contemporary networked newsrooms. It will provide the conceptual framework required to analyze and comprehend our interconnected communication sphere. The module will be open to students from LIFTS who want to critically reflect on the professional practice and to students from Government and Sociology who would be eager to acquire analytical tools that would support their interdisciplinary research.

The aims of this module are:

• To develop students’ critical skills to acquire an in-depth understanding on the worlds of journalism and differences in roles and perceptions of professional journalism.


• To prepare students to conduct academic research in journalism, media and communication fields.


• To provide students with analytical tools that will enable them to continually critique and re-assess their journalistic – and other professional – practice.


• To develop students’ ability to engage with interdisciplinary analyses.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Have a sophisticated understanding of the rapidly changing fields of journalism and media studies.


2. Have a critical insight in the complexities of the hybrid communication sphere of today, blending digital and non-digital practices.


3. Use analytical tools that will prepare students to engage a research-intensive environment in their own field and will complement their practical professional training.


4. Have a deep understanding of key leading intellectual debates, discussions, and scholarly literature in the field of media/journalism theory.

Module Information (including indicative syllabus - this may be subject to change)

• The Political Economy of Communication


• Media and the Public Sphere in the Digital Age


• Media, Mediation, and Mediatization


• Journalism models: Watchdog versus Lapdog


• In journalism we trust?


• Globalization, localism & cosmopolitanism


• Media systems &Democracy


• Communication, Politics & Power


• Freedom of expression, Censorship and Self-censorship:


• Students' presentations

This module will be delivered via:

• a weekly two-hour interactive seminar.

Each session will consist of a blend of lecturing, Q&A, group and whole-class discussions, audio-visual screening – the precise blend to depend in part on student numbers.