MSc Media and Communications (Governance)

Overview

This programme offers an intensive, year-long exploration of the governance and regulation of media and communication, including internet and digital platforms, press freedom, telecommunications, broadcasting and the converging media. When urgent questions are being asked, after controversies such as the Edward Snowden revelations, about government’s influence on the internet and the power of media corporations, the content of this programme has never been more relevant.

The MSc Media and Communications (Media and Communication Governance) has a strong focus on international comparison, including at the European level, with opportunities to take courses in departments of Media and Communications, Government and Law. The programme aims to provide:

• a broad-based understanding of the institutions and regulations that structure the development of media and communication systems. The programme covers policy, regulatory, legal and economic aspects of media and communication services
• an up-to-date engagement with the latest developments in research on media and communications, specifically relating to communications governance at regional, national and international levels
• a mix of core and optional courses, culminating in an independent research project that provides an ideal preparation for research or employment in the media and communications industries and specifically in related fields of policy, regulation, information systems analysis and government itself
• the flexibility to tailor the programme to pursue particular topics of interest by selecting from a wide range of courses taught by world-leading experts in the Department of Media and Communications and other departments at LSE
• opportunities to participate with the Department’s Media Policy Project, led by Dr Damian Tambini, which is very active in intervening in national and international policy debates and provides internship opportunities for students

We attract students from a diverse range of backgrounds, often including professional experience working in media and communications related fields. Indeed, the opportunity for cross-cultural meetings and exchange of ideas among the student body is a valuable feature of studying at LSE. Many of our students take up the opportunity to participate actively in policy and governance through engaging with policymakers at the EU and UK level, and writing for the LSE Media Policy Blog.

For more details and entry requirements, please check on the School's graduate prospectus page.  

Programme director

Dr Damian Tambini

Damian Tambini is Research Director of the Media and Communications Department, Chair of the Research Committee, Director of the Media Policy Project and convenor of the MSc in Media and Communications (Governance). He is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and at the Oxford Internet Institute. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and serves on the Advisory Groups of: The Oxford Media Convention, Reporters Without Frontiers POLIS and the Open Rights Group. He served on the Communications Consumer Panel from 2009 - 2011.

His recent work addresses a range of current issues in media law and policy. Much of this research has been applied, on projects funded by government and by international organizations, and he has been actively involved in policy debates on new media in recent years. Behind the individual projects listed below have been long-standing normative and methodological concerns of media studies in the social and political sciences: in particular the social integrative role of media in complex societies, and the public sphere.

LSE Experts
Publications

 

Set out below, you will find some suggested readings that will prove helpful to you in preparing for your arrival at LSE, and for finding out about courses you may be interested in taking.

It is not essential that you read everything on the list - the intention is simply to give you an idea of the level and range of material covered. 

• Freedman, D. (2008) The Politics of Media Policy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Harcourt, A. (2005) The European Union And The Regulation Of Media Markets.Manchester: Manchester University Press. 
• Lessig, L. (2006) Code: Version 2.0. New York: Basic Books. 
• Lessig, L. (2008) Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, London: Bloomsbury Academic. 
• Lunt, P., and Livingstone, S. (2012) Media Regulation: Governance and the interests of citizens and consumers. London: Sage.
• Mansell, R. and Collins, B. S. (eds) (2005) Trust and Crime in Information Societies, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishers.
• Mansell, R. (2012). Imagining the Internet: Communication, Innovation, and Governance. Oxford: OUP. 
• Mansell, R., Avgerou, C., Quah, D. and Silverstone, R. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Picard, V. Reopening the Postwar Settlement for U.S. Media: The Origins and Implications of the Social Contract Between Media, the State, and the Polity.Communication Culture and Critique 3 (2010) 170-189.
• Puppis, Manuel. Media Governance: A New Concept for the Analysis of Media Policy and Regulation Communication, Culture & Critique 3 (2010) 134-149. 
• Richards, E., Foster, R. and Kiedrowski, T. (eds) (2006) Communications: The Next Decade. London, Ofcom. 
• Tambini, D; Leonardi, D and Marsden, C. (2008) Codifying Cyberspace. Self regulation in Convergent Media. London: Routledge

• LSE Media Policy Project: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/

 You may also find relevant the reading list of the MSc Media and Communications:

• Allen, Stuart (ed). The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism. Routledge 2010
• Beckett, Ch. (2008) SuperMedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save The World.  Malden, MA: Blackwell/Wiley.
• Briggs, A. and Burke, P. (2002) A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet. Cambridge: Polity.
• Calabrese, A. and Sparks, C. (eds) (2004) Toward a Political Economy of Culture, Capitalism and Communication in the 21st Century, Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Castells, Manuel. (2009). Communication Power. Oxford University Press.
• Couldry, N. (2012). Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media. Cambridge: Polity.
• Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (eds) (2005) Mass Media and Society. 4th ed. London: Arnold.
• Curran, J. and Seaton, J. (2003) Power Without Responsibility. London: Routledge.
• Mansell, R. (2012) Imagining the Internet: Communication, Innovation and Governance. Oxford University Press.
• Mattelart, A. (2003) The Information Society: An introduction. London: Sage.
• McChesney, R (2000) Rich Media Poor Democracy. New York: New Press.
• Papacharissi, Z. A. (2010). A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age. Cambridge: Polity. 
• Silverstone, R. (2007) Media and Morality. Cambridge: Polity.
• Silverstone, R. (1999) Why Study the Media? London: Sage.
• Thompson, J.B. (1995) The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media.Cambridge: Polity.
• Wasko, J. (ed.). (2005) A Companion to Television. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
• Wu, Tim. (2010) The Master Switch. The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Borzio Books.