MC422 Half Unit
Critical Studies in Media and Journalism
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Charlie Beckett
Cesar Jimenez Martinez
Availability
This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Media and Communications, MSc in Gender, Peace and Security, MSc in Media and Communications (Data and Society), MSc in Media and Communications (Research) and MSc in Politics and Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: Priority will normally be given to students enrolled on Media and Communications degree programmes; however, course specific availability is indicated via the 'Availability' section of each individual course guide webpage. The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated at the Department's discretion. Students are advised to have an alternative course in mind in case they are unable to secure their first-choice course selection.
A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on the Department's Course Selection and Videos webpage.
Students who have this course listed as compulsory are guaranteed a place and no written statement is required.
For all other students, places on these controlled access courses will be allocated via a random ballot process with priority given to students with the course listed on their programme regulations, followed by other Department of Media and Communications students, then students from elsewhere in the School. By submitting an application, students are confirming that they meet any pre-requisites specified. Providing an additional written statement will not aid a student's chances of being accepted onto a course that does not require a written statement.
Deadline for application: Students required to take this compulsory course will be automatically enrolled on LSE for You.
All other students must apply by 10am UK time on Friday 26 September 2025. No offers will be made before this deadline. Offers will be made after 10am and will continue until all places are filled.
For queries contact: Contact Media.MSc@lse.ac.uk with queries.
Please do not email the teacher with personal expressions of interest as these are not required and do not influence who is offered a place.
This course is 'controlled access', meaning that there is a limit to the number of students who can be accepted. If the course is oversubscribed, priority will be given to students with the course listed on their Programme Regulations.
Requisites
Additional requisites:
There are no pre-requisites for this course. Students should apply via LSE for You without submitting a statement.
Please do not email the teacher with personal expressions of interest as these are not required and do not influence who is offered a place.
Course content
The news media is vital not just for the dissemination information but as a forum for debate. Journalism shapes our individual and community lives. It frames ideological disputes and is a site of contestation. But journalism and the news itself is changing because of technological, social, economic and political forces. This course, led by a media academic with a decade of experience as a journalist, takes an ethical perspective on media change. It asks what impact journalism has, what kind of journalism do we want, and how will journalism reconstruct itself according to competing national, cultural, or political contexts. On completion of this course, students should be able to: understand the role of journalism in society today; critically discuss different theoretical conceptions of journalism as practiced in a wide variety of social and political contexts; compare and contrast the role of journalism in contexts ranging from mainstream to alternative media outlets; evaluate the normative and empirical connections between media journalism, the production of news and ethical considerations; critically assess contemporary debates about the changing nature of journalism and its implications for cultural understanding and democracy.
Teaching
10 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
Formative assessment
All students are expected to complete advance reading, prepare seminar presentations, and submit one essay of 1500 words.
Indicative reading
- Beckett, C. (2008). Supermedia. London: Blackwell.
- Bell, E., & Owen, T. (2017). The Platform Press: How Silicon Valley Re-engineered Journalism. Tow Center, Columbia University.
- Boczkowski, P., & Anderson, C. W. (Eds.). (2017). Remaking The News. MIT Press.
- Bruns, A. (2019). Are Filter Bubbles Real? Polity.
- Chouliaraki, L. (2006). Spectatorship of Suffering. London: Sage.
- Diakopoulos, N. (2019). Automating the News. Harvard University Press.
- Muhlmann, G. (2008). A Political History of Journalism. Cambridge: Polity.
- Robertson, A. (2018). Screening Protest: Visual Narratives of Dissent Across Time, Space and Genre. London: Routledge.
- Schudson, M. (2008). Why Democracies Need An Unlovable Press. Polity.
- Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the rise of the Mediapolis. Cambridge: Polity.
- Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2019). Emotions, Media and Politics. Polity.
Assessment
Presentation (25%)
Essay (75%, 3000 words)
Key facts
Department: Media and Communications
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 44
Average class size 2024/25: 15
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Commercial awareness
- Specialist skills