
Opleiding: MA Media and Communications Management
Learning purpose
This innovative and dynamic MA Media and Communications Managament focuses on communication strategies, promotion and journalism in the media and cultural industries and the knowledge economy. Combining theoretical and practical components, it is designed to give you a sound critical understanding of key aspects of the contemporary media, and to experience different areas of media production and work. This masters is particularly aimed at people interested in, or working in, journalism and news production, public and media relations.
The MA covers key subjects related to the structure and role of the media and publicity industries and the relationships and inter-connections between publicity, journalism and promotion. The course will encourage you to develop a critical understanding of contemporary social, cultural and economic processes and to relate these to the rapid and ongoing transformation in the media and publicity sectors. The work based learning-placement and the practical components of the course will enable you to apply the theoretical aspects of the course in specific projects and in the workplace.
Programme
Full-time students attend classes for two semesters beginning in September and complete their dissertation requirement by the end of the following September. Part-time students attend classes for four semesters and complete their dissertation requirement by the end of September in their second year.
The taught modules typically require essays, reports or projects of between 2,500 - 5,000 words. The documentary component is assessed separately. The final module is assessed by a 15,000-word dissertation.
- Analysing and Using the Media (45 Credits) - Compulsory
- MCS 4310 is designed to enable students to analyse critically the political, economic and social context in which media communications strategies and image management are practised across the public, corporate and voluntary spheres. You will analyse media practices and images in a range of institutional contexts, and will acquire the theoretical knowledge and critical skills to understand the interventions of communications strategists seeking to shape the profiles of their organisations and campaigns.
- Dissertation (60 Credits) - Compulsory
- The dissertation offers students the opportunity to apply the understanding gained in the taught modules, together with experience gained either in the workplace, or on placement, to acquire and develop skills of original research and presentation in the context of a substantial project. This module aims to provide students with an opportunity for intensive and detailed, research-based study of their chosen topic within the areas of media and communications management, under the guidance of a supervisor from the programme team.
- Practices of Promotional Culture (30 Credits) - Compulsory
- This module has the following key aims: -To develop students- understanding of the emergence of a promotional culture , in which a wide range of social, political and commercial organisations and practices have become increasingly oriented toward the production and dissemination of promotional messages; -To introduce students to various examples of this culture, drawn from political, charitable and voluntary contexts as well as from the commercial world. Students are expected to think about the implications of these developments, and to mobilise a range of conceptual approaches in examining specific instances of promotional culture; -To extend students knowledge and understanding of promotional culture through a critical consideration of its relations with promotional processes and practices in the context of the construction of specific promotional messages: devising, planning and constructing a communications strategy and accompanying PR campaign
- Working in the Media and Cultural Industries (45 Credits) - Compulsory
- This module provides students with the theoretical contexts - political, economic and social - from which to understand contemporary cultures of work in the area of media and communications management and enables them to research and undertake a work placement. Changes in the media and cultural industries over the last thirty years have been variously interpreted through theories of the information society, post-Fordism, the cultural turn, the knowledge economy and ideas about precarious and affective labour. We will use these theories to investigate the media and cultural industries, the changing meaning of work and of the working contexts they involve, and to consider ethical issues related to these shifts. Through both theory and practice, then, the module aims to both extend students abilities to integrate their experiential and theoretical understanding of what work means, and to position themselves reflexively within the context of contemporary working cultures.
Entry Requirements
We welcome applications from graduates with a good honours degree, or equivalent qualification, in an appropriate subject. We also consider candidates with other relevant qualifications and individuals with a minimum of three years' work experience. Those without formal qualifications need to demonstrate relevant work experience and the ability to study at postgraduate level.
English language requirements
You must have competence in English language and we normally require Grade C GCSE or an equivalent qualification. The most common English Language requirements for international students are IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL (paper based) 575 or TOEFL (internet based) 90 with specified minimum scores for each component.
Professional perspective and employment market
Work placements are proven to increase your success in the job market - as well as being a fantastic experience. Media is a highly competitive field so we encourage as many students as possible to grasp this opportunity. As part of your postgraduate year you will have the opportunity to carry out a short placement of a minimum of 15 days. This will provide you with first-hand experience of a media organisation. We have a Placement Office which will support you through the placement process.

