MA Media Writing (Full Time)

This course is designed for students who wish to specialise in the art of writing for a variety of media and to link the academic and practical witha detailed understanding of industry applications and practices.

The fast-changing world of the media in the twenty-first century calls for practitioners who are flexible both in delivery and in medium and content. If you would like to learn how to advance your skills and to shape your voice in a variety of media, including features, online writing, writing for business and non-fiction, this is the ideal master’s course.
Media Writing is part of our MA programme, one of the only postgraduate schemes in the country to offer a diverse range of pathways. We attract students with impressive portfolios of skills and interests, and encourage you to publish, exhibit and promote your work.

The staff team's qualifications and industry experience range from advertising and digital media to film-making, gaming, publishing, journalism, marketing and scriptwriting, as well as theoretical knowledge in cultural studies, English literature, global politics and film theory.

Industrial focus

In order to keep our fingers on the pulse in the fast-paced, rapidly changing media environment, many of the staff team continue to work as freelancers and consultants. You will complete a work placement or freelance commissions.

Course content

Professional Practice: This unit has been designed to enable you to plan your long-term career. You will explore and critically analyse the media, publishing and creative industries in the UK and around the world. You will also research the opportunities in your chosen industry and produce reflective and relevant professional development plans. You will be required to secure a work placement, freelance assignments or work-related experience for one month to strengthen your knowledge of the industry and refine your skills. This unit is complemented by a programme of guest lectures by representatives from the media, publishing and creative industries.

Master's Project: You will design, execute and present a demanding piece of work that deploys a systematic and in-depth understanding of the skills and debates relevant to your discipline. The project can take a number of different forms, depending on your discipline, and you will negotiate its structure and template with your supervisor. Your project should synthesise approaches and methodologies in the field and demonstrate initiative and autonomy in its execution.

Readings for Twenty-first-Century Writers: This unit will introduce and expand the idea of cultural written products as motivators and initiators for creative outputs by contemporary media writers. You will studydifferent forms of ‘readings’ and
texts – from the historic through to the modern and contemporary – analysing how narrative structure
and literary form have evolved to form new hybrids of media writing. Students will deconstruct texts and examine their influences on contemporary media writers.

Cultural Influences on Writing and the Media: This unit offers a broad introduction to late twentieth-century cultural theory framed by the notion of ‘post’ thinking, incorporating postmodernism, postfeminism, postcolonialism, posthumanism and poststructuralism. Drawing on these theories, you will examine the triangular relationship between societal discourses (relating to gender, sexuality and ethnicity, for example), cultural production and audience. The focus will be on analysing a wide range of fictional, non-fictional and promotional cultural texts, emphasising their complex, fluid and ambiguous nature.

Professional Writing: Media writing is an umbrella term for the various forms of writing for media. Advanced knowledge of this concept and its generic traits will enable you to develop a skills base you can apply across a range of writing practices. You will also enhance your understanding of the importance and values of industry knowledge and links. The unit will address current media practices and debates, with the emphasis on writing practice. Issues of audience reception and writing to task will also be explored.

&nbsp

Assessment

Assessment ranges from presentations of ideas and concepts through to written essays, portfolio work and reflective journals.

Key career skills

Writing, creative thinking, problem solving, teamwork, communication.