Length of course:	One-year, full-time or two to five years, part-time, day
Location:	Harrow
Course fees:	See westminster.ac.uk/fees

From Al Jazeera to Hollywood, from News Corporation to China Central TV, the media increasingly operate in a global context. This course offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to global media, and is designed for those who work in, or want to work in, the media industries.

You will examine key developments in the media and communications industries associated with the logic of globalisation, and explore the complex nature of the globalisation process in the media. This will deepen your knowledge of the international media, and gain a relevant, well-grounded, high-quality education and skill base, enabling you to develop a wide, clear and comprehensive understanding of communication and the mass media.

Based on continuous assessment, the course is taught in lectures and seminars by the team from Westminster’s top-rated Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI). You will be part of a bustling multicultural academic department which boasts a strong research culture, and you will be able to attend the regular talks by outside speakers (academics and practitioners) on a variety of communication and mass media issues.

Semester One

Core Modules

Dissertation

A taught module and group workshops in the first semester will guide you in conducting a major piece of independent research. This module will be supplemented by individual supervisions beginning from the second semester. The aim is to give you a guided framework within which you can demonstrate your ability to carry out advanced independent study and write it up in the form of a dissertation. The dissertation is a 15,000-word piece of original research on a topic agreed with your supervisor and related to developments, processes and outcomes in transnational media and communications, ranging from the sub-national to the supra-national, and/or their impact on cultures worldwide.

Global Media

This module examines key developments in the media and communications industries associated with the logic of globalisation. You will explore the complex nature of the globalisation process, focusing on the emergence of both supra-national and sub-national developments and explore the relationship between new contexts of production and questions of collective culture and identity.

Political Analysis of Communication Policy

As international regimes and national regulation become increasingly important in the creation and delivery of communications, it becomes necessary to understand how the two levels interact. This module will introduce you to those theories of policy making and international relations which provide tools for the analysis of communications policies, and their dynamic interaction at the national and international level.

Political Economy of Communication

This module introduces students to the political economy approach to analysing the structure and performance of communication industries in capitalist economies.  It identifies distinctive economic features of media and relates these to trends in the organisation of specific media industries, taking account of ways in which the economics of media have been affected by the spread of digital technologies.

Technology and Communications Policy

This module will introduce you to a range of broadcasting and telecommunications technologies, enabling you to assess the economic and political issues surrounding each technology. Topics covered include capital investment in networks, how and why technologies change, strategic interests and communications, and substitutable technologies and the creation of markets.

Theories of Communication

The module is intentionally eclectic. You will cover (in a loosely historical way) the arguments, advantages and problems of the main sociological, cultural and psychological theories about the media. It aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the most important ways of approaching the fundamental issues posed by the relationships between the media of communication and social and economic life. It will also enable you to understand the problems posed by different intellectual traditions, and to place those theories in their proper contexts.

Study Skills (no credits)

If your first language is not English, or you have not experienced of the British education system, you will particularly benefit from this module. You will be taken through the process of producing a piece of written work, from note taking to editing, so as to enable you to produce written work in accordance with current British academic standards and practices.

Semester Two

Core Modules

Approaches to Media and Communication Research

This module is designed to introduce you to the main methods of communication research. We shall look at how to undertake selective quantitative and qualitative methods, understanding and exploring the different stages of the social science research process, from a definition of a research hypothesis, to data collection and analysis. We shall also look at the theoretical reasoning behind different methodological approaches to media and society, in particular the politics of social research.

Option Modules

Chinese Media

This module is for students with little or no knowledge of the Chinese media, who nevertheless realise that for anyone interested in the media in the world today, some understanding of the biggest national media system is a necessity. The objective is to introduce participants to the Chinese media in the context of a world order changing on account of the growth in wealth and power of several countries, in particular China. The Chinese media are seen as a factor in this, and also as an example of a media system distinct from the Anglo-American, which has often been touted as a model of universal applicability.

European Communications Policy

Through this module you will explore the political, economic and industrial context within which communications policy has developed in Europe. You will evaluate the European experience in terms of economic and political integration, and within the wider framework of global (particularly US) developments in media and communications. The topics you will cover include: communications policy in Central and Eastern European countries; EU and US trade flows and the issue of ‘European’ cultural identity; European organisations; European telecommunications, audio-visual and internet policies; high technologies and industrial policy in Europe; and visions of ‘Europe’.

Development and Communications Policy

The aims of this module are to provide you with a theoretical overview of the concept of ‘development’, and the opportunity to consider how it relates to empirical experience in communications in small and developing countries. You will be able to compare the experiences of a range of countries in attempting to retain cultural autonomy, in developing their own communications technologies and policies, in democratisation, and in exporting mass media content.

Electronic Communications Part 1: International and Comparative Regulatory Context

This module examines the international liberalisation of electronic communications and the role of the international financial institutions in that process. You will focus on the relationship between international and national regulation, placing the processes of liberalisation, privatisation and regulation of electronic communications into an international context, and comparing the development of US, EU and UK regulations (pre-requisite for Part II).

International Media Business

You will study media businesses and their challenges worldwide. The module will also provide an introduction at postgraduate level to business and strategic issues confronting international media enterprises (both public and private).

Media Audiences

This module begins with an overview of media audiences, and goes on to analyse audiences and media institutions, passive/active audiences, media influence and effects, and ethnography and media audiences. The second part of the module is devoted to discussions of media and identity, fans, diasporas and new media audiences.

Political Communication

You will review the main historical and theoretical debates on propaganda and public opinion, and analyse contemporary techniques of political communication and the relationship between mass media and democracy. The module will give you an introduction (both historical and contemporary) to the role of the media in politics, and to the major debates surrounding this role.

Sex, Violence and Politics

You will analyse the impact of different forms of censorship and regulation on changing patterns of social, political and cultural expression in the media. You will gain an understanding of regulation and censorship in a variety of different political and cultural circumstances, and of the social forces which shape regulation for politics, taste and decency. You will also consider the effects these have on media audiences, and assess how ideas about the nature of audiences and public opinion change and are used politically.

Note: The University is constantly improving its offer to students. It is intended that some changes, such as practice options under new course titles, may be approved between printing this brochure and enrolment for this course. You are therefore advised to look at the website for updated details.

Entry Requirements

You should possess, or be expecting, a good first degree (equivalent to at least an Upper Second or a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00) from a recognised university in a humanities or social sciences discipline and/or have relevant professional experience. Particular consideration will be given to mature applicants. The testing nature of the degree means that you must be able to write and speak fluent English. If English is your second language you should have an IELTS score of at least 6.5 in listening to, speaking, reading and writing English or 250/600 TOEFL or equivalent (including 4.5 TWE). Applicants may additionally be asked to write 500 words on a topic assigned by the university. As far as possible, telephone interviews are conducted before offers of admission are made. In these, the interviewer looks for evidence of interest in and commitment to the study of communication, as well as analytical skills.

Related Courses

Communications Policy MA • Communication MA • Media and Development MA • Media Management MA • Public Relations MA  • Diversity and the Media MA • International Media Business MA • Journalism International MA • Journalism MA