Media and Communication
Media and communication is a discipline concerned with how information, stories, and culture are produced, distributed, and received in a world increasingly shaped by digital technologies. At Swansea University, the BA Media and Communication is a three-year full-time programme that develops your understanding of media as both a social institution and a set of production practices, giving you the critical literacy and practical skills needed to understand and participate in shaping the media landscape. As the current description notes, media literacy is essential not only for understanding the world but for actively shaping it.
The programme covers the range of media forms and platforms that constitute the contemporary media environment: broadcast television and radio, print journalism, digital news, social media, podcasting, film, and the algorithmic recommendation systems that increasingly determine what content audiences encounter. Media theory and cultural studies provide the critical frameworks for understanding how media texts construct meaning, how media industries operate commercially, and how audiences engage with and are affected by media content. Political economy of the media asks who owns and controls media platforms and what this means for the diversity of voices and perspectives that can be heard in public culture.
Practical production skills in writing, content creation, and digital media are developed alongside the critical dimension, giving you the ability to both analyse and produce media.
Graduates of media and communication programmes work across journalism, public relations, content marketing, broadcasting, social media management, corporate communications, and the creative industries. Roles including journalist, content editor, social media manager, digital marketing coordinator, public relations officer, and communications manager are all accessible to graduates. The combination of critical understanding and practical skill that the Swansea programme develops is valued by employers who need people who can both think about media strategically and produce compelling content.
Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in journalism, media studies, communications, or cultural policy. The critical literacy the degree develops is also valued in law, public policy, and any career that requires engaging seriously with how information is produced and consumed.