Digital Political Communications (Taught)

Engage with real-world issues on this dynamic Master’s programme. You will develop not just an understanding of the forms and impacts of political communications. You will also contextualise that knowledge in relation to the structures, institutions and actors that are at the heart of politics and media today.

• This programme, first and foremost, offers critical engagement. It asks difficult questions about politics, economic policy, society and the media.

• Your teaching will be critical, innovative and diverse. Your studies will combine theory with practical, applied elements and draw on a range of research and contemporary examples. These come from current work in politics, political science and media studies, as well as from political sociology, cultural theory and journalism.

• The programme is theory-driven but grounded in practice. You will engage with cultural, alternative and digital interactive communication, as well as traditional mass media.

• This programme aims to equip you with the conceptual tools, and the cognitive and practical skills, to:

  assess the significance of, and consider the role of, digital media in the context of prevailing economic, political and cultural trends.
  explore the relationship between political-economic power, the architecture and ownership of digital media, and the political cultures and strategies of electoral and non-electoral political forces.
  discuss the implications of this for questions of democracy, collective agency, and the capacity of humanity — and the different groups within it — to address the multiple crises afflicting our world today.

• The curriculum covers political communication, from the national and international to the local and personal, and from governments and parties to NGOs and local activist groups.

• You will have the opportunity to engage with actors in political and media spheres today. There are several speaker series running each year with guests from the worlds of politics, journalism, business and campaigning.

• You will be based in the School of Media and Communications and Cultural Studies, which has been ranked second in the UK for “world-leading or internationally excellent” research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 16th in the world (third in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings.