International Public and Political Communication MA

Core modules:

Visual political communication

This module will introduce students to key conceptual/methodological debates concerning the role, function and impact of images and visual representations within contemporary forms of political communication. Focusing on a variety of communication, media and journalism-based media and contexts (i.e. photojournalistic coverage of war/conflict/terrorism, the role of images within political campaigns, political cartoons, visual representations of minority groups, etc.), and actors (e.g. politicians, NGOs, marketing and PR professionals, terrorist organisations, protest movements, etc), the module will to equip students with the critical and analytical skills for interrogating and creating dominant modes and methods of visual political communication.

15 credits

Media, Society and International Crises

This module examines the relationship between media, political bodies, NGOs, and wider societal actors at the outbreak of international crises. It looks into particular cases of recent international crises and early reportage, questions the emerging media and political representations, and evaluates them in light of theories of perception, identity, and reactions to uncertainty. In this module students will conduct a research project into the early media coverage of a crises, interview journalists, participate in a modelling exercise of political, public and media reactions to an international crisis and relate early coverage to later narratives found in media and film.

15 credits

Research Methods

This module is designed as an introduction to social scientific research methods as applied in the communications, media and journalism fields. The module provides an overview of key research methods, and the different ways in which research can be conducted. Topics covered include surveys, questionnaire design, focus groups, interviewing, ethnography, content analysis, discourse analysis and different aspects of information search, reserach design, project management and research presentation. The module is designed to make students aware of basic skills in these social science research methods and to equip them to conduct small scale projects on their own, or in groups.

15 credits

Introduction to Political Communication

The module seeks to explore a range of ideas and issues within the very broad area of political communication. It starts with a basic introduction to the field and then moves on to look at key issues that feature in the discussion of politics, journalism and communication, and the intersection of these three fields of study. The module will also seek to explore how we should look at the field of political communication at a time when traditional media (newspapers) are in relative decline and different forms of communication (Twitter, Facebook, WeChat) exist in abundance. The discussion will take in comparative, global and historical contexts.

15 credits

Communicating with the Media

This module will provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to communicate messages through the media. Case studies and practical workshops will allow students to learn about the practice of media communication. They will learn how the media operates and how to communicate messages through interviews, press conferences and news releases. Topics covered in the module will include the development of communication strategies, the understanding of news values and news cycles and strategies for successful and ethical communication.

15 credits

Dissertation (International Public and Political Communication)

This module will require you to conduct your own research project utilising methods and approaches taught as part of the compulsory autumn semester module IJC474/JNL6210 Research Methods.

You will have a choice of two formats:  

(1)  Traditional social sciences dissertation: For the first option, you will be allocated a supervisor and will identify a research topic and formulate a clear set of research aims, objectives and questions, produce a critical literature review drawing on academic literature, design an appropriate theoretical and methodological framework, and carry out empirical analysis of an identifiable collection of primary data.

(2)  Work-based dissertation: The second option follows a similar structure (i.e. aims, objectives and research questions, literature review, theoretical and methodological framework), but will involve a short-term placement within an employer (e.g. social enterprise organisation, a charity or campaigning organisation, political party, local or national news media). Within the placement, you will be expected to work for no more than 16 hours for a 3-4 week period and will also take part in regular supervision meetings with a member of staff. The 'empirical' dimension of the dissertation will involve a critical, scholarly discussion and reflection on the work undertaken during placement.

60 credits

Optional modules

You will choose three of the following:

Transnational Feminist Approaches to the Media

Drawing on examples from across the globe, this module will critically evaluate how transnational feminist issues are constructed and communicated in a variety of media including social media, podcasts, magazines, and newspapers. This includes the examination of both images and texts that represent political issues that impact women, feminist activism, and gender norms. With a focus on the political nature of mediated communication, students will analyse sources from a feminist, intersectional, and decolonial perspective. This analysis will be informed by transnational feminist scholarship, postcolonial studies, and queer theories. Students will consider the role of the media in both perpetuating, but also challenging, normative ideas about gender and feminism. They will also learn how to communicate effectively about diverse feminist issues using strategies such as agenda setting, framing, field analysis, and audience targeting. Topics include intersectionality, neocolonialism, social movements, NGOs, LGBTQ+ identity, and the body.

15 credits

The Use (and Abuse) of Radio and Digital Technologies in Conflict-Affected Areas

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other such organisations are valuable information sources, mediators and actors in conflict-affected zones and use local media, particularly radio, to amplify their messages, programmes and advocacy. This module focuses on, and engages with, the public and political communication used, and sometimes misused, and even abused, by radio and digital technologies, internationally and historically, during times of conflict and the challenges they encounter culturally, politically, economically, legally and institutionally. In this case, 'internationally' means from the perspective of the Global South.

15 credits

Critical Incidents in International Journalism

In this module students will explore and analyse international critical incidents (for example, in the UK, US, Asia and Africa) and the efforts to ensure high-quality journalism that follow them. Students will engage in the critical analysis of media reform history, theories and perspectives related to critical incidents in journalism. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to develop their own media reform project and/or participate in an existing one.

15 credits

Weaponisation of the media: abuses of the principle of publicity

The ideal civil power of the news rests on its ability to influence and be influenced by public sentiment via the news cycle. Traditionally, the news cycle has seen the news mediated by professional editors and journalists operating according to widely held values of truthfulness and accuracy (but not always followed). Recently, news on the Internet and social media have respectively seen the rise of echo chambers and fake news. Both represent fundamental changes to traditional news values and have been likened to the weaponisation of the media. The response to this has been an attempt to return to traditional values in military parlance this represents the de-commissioning of the media.

15 credits