Media and Communications

Media and communications is the study of how messages, meanings, and representations are produced, distributed, and received across different platforms and technologies, from print journalism and film to social media, streaming services, and online networks. The discipline combines empirical analysis of media industries and audiences with critical theory about how media shapes culture, politics, and identity. At its best, it asks why things are represented in certain ways, who benefits, and what the consequences are for how we understand the world.

At Goldsmiths, this three-year full-time programme takes a distinctively theoretical and critical approach, reflecting the college's long tradition of cultural and media studies. You will engage with foundational texts in media theory, cultural studies, and communications research, and you will develop the analytical tools to examine media texts, industries, and audiences with rigour and depth. Goldsmiths' location in south-east London gives the programme proximity to major media organisations, and the college's own strong creative culture means media studies here is embedded in a genuinely engaged intellectual community.

Graduates of media and communications programmes work across journalism, public relations, broadcasting, digital media, content production, advertising, social media management, policy, and research. Goldsmiths graduates in particular tend to bring a critical perspective that is valued in organisations that take communication seriously. Many go on to postgraduate study in media studies, cultural theory, journalism, or communications, while others move directly into professional roles in media companies, NGOs, public bodies, and the creative industries.