University of Lincoln

MA Media and Communications

Independent Study - Dissertation (PG PR) (Core)

The Final Project module is where students write a dissertation. Students are expected to spend the final term during the summer on self-directed learning. Students are allocated their own tutor for support and guidance. This final project provides an opportunity to research and make an in-depth study of their chosen study area.

Issues in PR (Core)

PR activities are conducted within the context of social issues. In this relationship, the media plays a vital part. This module aims to consider the possible genesis of some of the important issues and the conduct of PR as a social activity within which PR may be considered in terms of the ethical values it embodies, how it regards truth, and its attitude towards corporate social responsibility.

These dimensions of PR practice may be considered by examining how PR practitioners managed particular issues such as a crisis, government relations, or corporate change. The module consists of two interrelated parts. In the first the broader social issues are examined and a number of conceptual analytical tools developed. In the second part a number of cases, UK and international, are analyzed using those conceptual tools.

An important underlying theme of this module is the relationship between PR and the media, particularly in the post-Leveson environment of regulation and oversight.

Media Law (Core)

This module introduces students to the areas of the law most likely to be encountered in the practice of journalism and the practice of PR and related communications activities. Students will investigate the interaction between journalism, PR, communications, and the law, and gain a clear insight into the relationships between journalists and officials, PR/communications practitioners, and their clients/employers, and how information is communicated to an increasingly diverse public.

Media Relations (Core)

The fundamental purpose of this module is to provide the opportunity to develop the analytical and practical tools required for media placement of PR material to the best effect and within the context of a designed campaign.

It aims to familiarise students with the variety of media available and seeks to enable students to make the best selection for their efforts as a PR practitioner and then to establish the appropriate relationships leading to successful publication in line with the organization's defined PR objectives. Constraints on the process will be explored and metrics for evaluating success examined.

Media Skills (Core)

This module aims to develop multiplatform media skills for the PR practitioner. Students will have the opportunity to write news releases and news stories and articles for corporate and consumer newsletters. Students have the chance to be introduced to the editorial and production skills required for multi-platform production in the increasingly converged media environment. The focus will be on organizational storytelling and output production for broadcast (radio, TV, and online) and print media. During the module, students will have the chance to work in a production workshop environment with all tasks performed under appropriate time constraints.

PR Principles (Core)

The module will equip the student with the knowledge to understand the history of PR and with skills to analyze PR activities either in-house or for a consultancy. Other topics include Companies/Corporate Considerations; NGOs/Charities; PR/Media Releases; Ethics/Codes of Practice; CSR/Corporate Citizenship; PR/Challenges of Activism; Financial PR; PR Measuring/Evaluation.

Research Methods and Professional Placement (Core)

In this module, students are expected to take up a work placement in one or several different media organizations of their choice. The module provides prior guidance, together with career advice. Tutors will help with research of the employment market, help to arrange international, national, or local work placements, and support students as they build an individual career profile, CV, and work experience.

This module also provides the opportunity to develop a methodological understanding and to receive support and advice on the final project. Students will then be expected to prepare a written proposal for their dissertation.

Gender, Media, and Culture in a Global Context (Option)†

This module examines the multi-directional and variable relationship between gender, media, and culture. We will interrogate the category of gender as a tool of cultural analysis and its relation to media and popular culture. Gender will be presented as central to media and cultural formations, while media, mediation, and culture will be presented as central to gender formations. Key concepts to be examined in relation to gender will include body, class, power, sexual difference, masculinity/femininity race/ethnicity, identity/non-identity, and subjectivity. These concepts will be introduced and examined in relation to case studies, media practices, and texts from a variety of historical and geopolitical contexts.

Media Ecologies 1 (Option)†

This module is designed to tackle critically the current disintegration between discrete media forms. It recognizes that long-established boundaries between modes, practices, and conventions of media have become diffuse. Where, in the past, individual media forms were comfortably self-contained and distinctive, today these forms are experienced as a type of informational content that we access on multiple devices and in multiple contexts.

The module understands contemporary media to be a complex, entangled ecology, a dynamic system in which any one product, device or image is always multiply connected, and in which our use of such media is necessarily informed by such connections. It insists that media activity is informed by a pattern of relations between individuals, political and economic institutions, commercial brands, and technologies.

How You Study

A wide range of approaches to teaching and learning are used in the program to reflect the ever-changing nature of the subject, spanning a range of genres, media, and audiences.

The communications-based modules aim to employ flexible and varied means of teaching, learning, and assessment tailored to the Master's experience and grounded in collaborative research-engaged learning. Media modules deal with the landscape of the media industry and the specific media skills that are required to work in the field of communications.

Students will have the chance to work as individuals and in groups, to produce solo and group presentations, reports, essays, projects, literature reviews, and a dissertation.

As well as the traditional skills of research, essay writing, speaking, and debating, students will be able to develop a range of writing and production skills associated with work in the discipline.

The composition and delivery of the course break down differently for each module and may include lectures, seminars, workshops, independent study, practicals, work placements, research, and one-to-one learning.

Weekly contact hours on this program vary depending on the module being delivered and the stage of study. Postgraduate-level study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour spent in class, students are expected to spend at least two to three hours in independent study. For more detailed information please contact the Programme Leader.

How You Are Assessed

This program uses a full range of assessment and feedback tools which may include written exams, written assignments, reports, a dissertation, portfolios, projects, oral assessments and presentations, practical skills assessments, and set exercises.

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly - usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

How You Study

A wide range of approaches to teaching and learning are used on the Program to reflect the ever-changing nature of the subject, spanning a range of genres, media, and audiences.

The communications-based modules aim to employ flexible and varied means of teaching, learning, and assessment tailored to the Master's experience and grounded in collaborative research-engaged learning. Media modules deal with the landscape of the media industry and the specific media skills that are required to work in the field of communications.

Students will have the chance to work as individuals and in groups, to produce solo and group presentations, reports, essays, projects, literature reviews, and a dissertation.

As well as the traditional skills of research, essay writing, speaking, and debating, students will be able to develop a range of writing and production skills associated with work in the discipline.

The composition and delivery for the course breaks down differently for each module and may include lectures, seminars, workshops, independent study, practicals, work placements, research, and one-to-one learning.

Weekly contact hours on this Program vary depending on the module being delivered and the stage of study. Postgraduate-level study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour spent in class, students are expected to spend at least two to three hours in independent study.

In our digitally connected world, there is an abundance of information readily available to audiences worldwide, meaning that companies are more vulnerable than ever to misinformation about their brand. Good communications and media relations are a key management function in any business and can be used as an essential strategy to manage reputation while establishing trust among the public, increasing news media and social media presence, and maintaining a consistent voice. Roles within the sector include publicist, copywriter, PR specialist, and social media manager, and can be based in-house or in an agency. This programme aims to equip graduates with the eloquence and confidence needed for a variety of career in media and communications.