Subject Area: Sociology and Anthropology
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: Media, Culture and Technology

This course provides broad sociological and anthropological understandings of the media and theories of power and knowledge in the public sphere and social life. By introducing students to different ways of theorising media practices the course prepares students for key analysis of social and cultural relevance of media and emerging forms of popular culture. Topics are likely to include: the social relationship between 'public' and 'private' in the context of hyperpublicity, changing media devices and the role of social media; news making, film and visual culture; the relationship between revolutions in media technology and public debate; the changing relationship between publics, audiences and users; the role of media policy, institutions and regulation in shaping informed citizenship. In its current form, the course focusses on the intersection between notions of the public sphere and four interweaving subthemes: informed citizenship, the crisis of quality journalism, news cultures and populism.