MA International Journalisms

Start of programme: September intake only
Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time
FROM 2017-18
Students must take 180 credits comprised of 120 taught credits (including core and option modules) and a 60 credit dissertation
Select the equivalent of FIVE Modules comprising full (1.0) and half (0.5) Modules including the dissertation
Understanding journalism is crucial in today’s mediated world. The spread of the Internet, social media and the advent of comparatively cheap communications technology holds out the promise of enabling a more diverse range of actors to shape journalism. The forms and practices involved in such journalism could also enable greater inclusivity, supporting a range of progressive aims such as advocacy, peace, development and greater intercultural understanding. At the same time, widespread cost-cutting in mainstream journalism and the speeded-up journalistic practices used to service multiple delivery platforms threaten to further entrench the norms and definitional advantages of the wealthy and powerful because of their greater ability to subsidise journalism through public relations material.
This course draws upon the unique positioning of SOAS in higher education in order to examine how such tensions affect contemporary journalistic representations of the Global South and how they relate to different cultural, political, technological and historical contexts. Therefore this course springs from a pluralistic critical perspective: seeking to analyse how others represent Southern countries and events and how Southern actors seek to represent themselves. This contrasts strongly with other Journalism MAs taught in the UK, which are usually constrained by the norms and priorities of British professional accreditation bodies.
THE ON-LINE MODULE SIGN-UP SYSTEM GUIDES STUDENTS THROUGH THE AVAILABLE MODULES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL OPTIONAL MODULES ARE AVAILABLE EVERY YEAR.
Convenors
Somnath Batabyal