AMST40580 News Media Today

Academic Year 2023/2024

This is an advanced academic-professional module, further developing the skills of students both as analysts and as practitioners in 21st-century media. The module will review the history and technologies of media before in-depth consideration and application of concepts such as framing, priming, and agenda-setting. It will establish and navigate the interaction between media, politics, and culture in both US and international contexts. Students will then establish their professional skills through critique of sources, development of analysis, and the consideration of journalistic v. academic style. This will culminate in the submission of a professional as well as academic assignment for assessment.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module, students will produce original analysis of the 21st-century media system and how it is evolving in content, networks, and negotiations of politics and culture. They will assess and work with media in global and regional as well as national contexts, not being dependent on a “nation-first” approach to international and trans-national issues. Students will be fluent in the critique of multiple sources --- textual, oral, and audio-visual --- to produce original content, as suitable preparation for further development in the related module Narrative and Digital Media.

Indicative Module Content:

History of media up to present day
Technologies of media
Concepts of media, such as framing, priming, and agenda-setting,
Propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation
Media and Politics
Collection and critique of sources

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

176
Total

200
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Weekly, interactive seminars following student engagement with pre-recorded lectures. Development of skills through group and individual presentations and “thinkpieces”. Assessment through the academic (essay) with preparation for the professional (“deconstruction” of a source). 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Source Critique - up to 2,000 words critiquing a source text with attention to the authority, reliability, and significance of source, including attention to provenance, outlet, context, and impact. End of trimester MCQ n/a Graded No

35
Essay: 4000 words on topic from lecturers’ list or student-designed topic approved by lecturer - Unspecified n/a Graded No

65

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on draft work and post-assessment.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Autumn
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Fri 13:00 - 13:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Fri 14:00 - 15:50
Autumn