News Management, Communication and Social Problems

Module code: MS7027

Module Outline

This module examines the role and dynamics of the media in the social construction and representation of a range of - often controversial - issues, problems, and events. Using theories of power, legitimisation, ideology and hegemony and drawing particularly on a constructionist approach to the analysis of media and communication, the module explores how news sources influence, manipulate, and frame media coverage, examines how journalistic practices and organisational constraints influence the selection, definition and representation of social problems, and discusses the social implications of the media coverage of controversial issues. Key areas of problem definition explored in the option include: international conflict and war reporting, terrorism, the environment, race and ethnicity, and crime.