Media Studies

Media studies is the critical and theoretical analysis of media and communication in contemporary society. It examines how media texts, from films and television programmes to news, advertising, social media, and digital content, are produced, distributed, and consumed, and what their effects are on public life, culture, and individual experience. The discipline draws on sociology, cultural studies, linguistics, political economy, and film theory to develop frameworks for understanding how meaning is made and circulated through media, who controls that process, and what the consequences are for democracy, identity, and social relations.

At the University of Brighton, media studies is studied over three years of full-time study, with the programme including a sandwich year and a work placement. The curriculum covers the history of media institutions and technologies, theories of representation and ideology, audience studies, journalism and news production, digital and social media, and the political economy of the media industries. You will develop both critical analytical skills, the ability to read media texts closely and to situate them within their social and industrial contexts, and practical research skills, working with primary and secondary sources and a range of methodological approaches.

The work placement, embedded in the sandwich year, gives you direct professional experience in a media or communications environment and develops the practical awareness that complements the critical education of the degree.

Graduates from media studies enter careers across the media, communications, and creative industries. Roles in journalism, broadcasting, digital content production, social media management, public relations, and corporate communications are common destinations. The analytical skills developed in media studies are valued in market research, policy research, and roles in cultural organisations and public bodies where understanding media and communication is important.

Education, particularly at secondary and further education level, is another route for graduates who want to teach media-related subjects. Many graduates also work in film, television, and digital media production. Postgraduate study in media, cultural studies, journalism, or communications is available for those who want to develop their expertise further.