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Core modules MEDIA BUSINESS DISSERTATION A taught module and group workshops in the first semester guides you in conducting a major piece of independent research which could be either practical or academic in focus. In the second semester you will receive individual tuition in how to develop your research questions, collect and analyse data. The dissertation is a 15,000-word piece of original research on a topic agreed with your supervisor and related to the business, economic, political or cultural factors shaping the performance and practices of media businesses. MEDIA BUSINESS STRATEGY This module integrates Business Strategy and Planning. You will conduct case study analysis of a media company facing major environmental changes, you will learn how to produce a competitive analysis of a media organisation and present strategy recommendations to faculty. In teams, you will learn how to develop a new media business idea, write a business and financial plan and present this to a panel of industry experts and media investors. MEDIA MARKETS This module introduces the economics of the media and content industries, including broadcasting, print, film, recorded music and interactive media. You will learn how to research and produce a market report examining the revenue and cost structures of these industries, and the economics of key processes of production, distribution and consumption. You will also learn to use tools enabling decision-making based on quantitative market data. MEDIA PRODUCTION SKILLS This module enables you to develop your practical and critical understanding of how media content is created and distributed. You will develop and improve your their newswriting techniques for different media platforms; learn how to develop research and write your own professional blog; design a website in teams using individual and team working skills; acquire a knowledge of ethical considerations faced by journalists. MEDIA WORK EXPERIENCE As London is the media capital of Europe, there is a great opportunity for you to take work experience as a part of the course. This could be in long established companies or start-ups. While the course team and work experience unit will advise you on placements it is you responsibility to actively pursue work placement opportunities. Our students have secured work placements at media companies including: the BBC, Universal Music, Blue Rubicon PR, Kameleon Brand Engagement and Paul Smith Fashion. Option modules You will take one optional module in the first and one in the second semester. The recommended option is indicated, but students are free to choose any of the options listed. Option modules, semester one MEDIA OPERATIONS (RECOMMENDED OPTION SEMESTER 1) This module addresses the operational challenges involved in the management of media companies. You will analyse the structures and managerial practices of media organisations and the design and management of digital supply chains. You will develop transferable skills in content development and multiplatform media project planning. Other topics covered include analysing audiences; content creation and creativity; performance management; digital media supply chains; planning digital media workflows. STUDY SKILLS This module can be taken in addition to the optional module. It is designed for students whose first language is not English, or who have no experience for the UK education system. It is intended to help you to produce written work in accordance with current British academic standards and practices. You will be taken through the process of producing a piece of written work, from note taking to editing and referencing. ALTERNATIVE OPTION MODULES SEMESTER 1 GLOBAL MEDIA This module examine key development in the media and communication 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. And their impact on cultures worldwide. It focuses on transformations in existing media, with a particular emphasis on broadcasting and the audio-visual media and looks at innovations of new information and communications technologies, especially the Internet. POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIONS 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. TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY This module will introduce 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. Option modules, semester two POLICIES FOR DIGITAL CONVERGENCE (RECOMMENDED OPTION: SEMESTER 2) The module focuses on the role of national and international media and communications regulators in facilitating and controlling the global convergence of digital communication. You will learn about the relationship between international and national regulation and special emphasis is given to developments in the USA, European Union and the UK, as well as developing and small countries. ALTERNATIVE OPTION MODULES SEMESTER 2 CHINESE MEDIA This module is for you if you have little or no knowledge of the Chinese media, but 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. 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 development countries. You will be able to compare the experience of a range of countries in attempting to retain cultural autonomy in developing their own communications technologies and polices, in democratisation, and in exporting mass media context. 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. 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 as well as the social forces which shape regulation for politics, the effects these have on media audiences, and assess how ideas about the nature of audience and public opinion change and are used politically. SOCIOLOGY OF NEWS A critical study of the news media in the context of current society; it examines different aspects of how news is created, disseminated and consumed.